Downloading and using a CSV file
CSV stands for "Comma Separated Values". It is a very simple
way of formatting data within a plain text file in which each
row of data forms a line in the text file and each value in the row
is separated from the next using a comma. Sometimes values
may themselves contain commas, if they are text values such
as names or places, so they may be surrounded by
quotation marks The advantage of this format is that it can be used
on any type of computer (PC, Macintosh, Unix, etc.) and understood
by a very wide range of software.
A file in this format can be read by spreadsheet or database
software very easily. Indeed, if you have Microsoft Excel installed
on your computer, you need only double-click on a CSV file and it
will be loaded into Excel automatically. Once you have the data
loaded into such software on your computer you can view it, print
it, sort it, or analyse it in any way you want - perhaps in
combination with other data you already have.
To download a CSV file:
- Click the [CSV File] button
- The requested file will be generated and then the page
will be redisplayed with a link at the bottom to download the
file
- Click on this link
- What happens next depends on your browser and the way you have
it configured, but you will probably be prompted to choose where on
your machine to save the file. If this happens, choose a directory
and click the [OK] (or [Open]) button. Alternatively, your browser
may have the destination directory preset and will just go ahead
and do it.
- The download should proceed (unless you computer, or your
organisation's network system, is configured to prevent files
being downloaded - in which case you may or may not get some sort
of a message telling you that the download has been blocked!).