Re: [Gretl-users] thousands separator in delimited-text data

Here is a different perspective. CSV mean "comma-separated values". There is a specification: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4180 Nothing else should be called CSV. Real data sets may alternatively be space-separated (SSV) or tab-separated (TSV). These should not be called CSV. In addition, the use of "," as a decimal separator should be avoided. Outside of spreadsheets, use of "." as the decimal separator is practically an international standard and should be encouraged. The only thing really standing in the way of this are arguments that prioritize national practices over scientific practice. Automatic detection of numeric separators is just asking for eventual disaster. It should be avoided in scientific software. Cheers, Alan Isaac