Excel
Importing Excel Data Into SQL Server With OPENROWSET
Query an Excel file straight from T-SQL with OPENROWSET and the ACE provider, enable ad hoc distributed queries safely, and load into a staging table.
8 min read
Library
Everything you need to level up your coding skills.
CSV
How to Tell What Delimiter an Unknown CSV File Uses
Find a file's delimiter in four steps, from looking at the bytes to a quote aware check, and see where Python, DuckDB and qsv sniffers disagree.
9 min read
XML
Invalid Character in XML and Stripping Control Characters
Fix PCDATA invalid Char value and reference to invalid character number: which characters XML 1.0 forbids, how to strip them from 28 MB in 0.03 s and verify.
6 min read
PostgreSQLGuide
Setting Up PostgreSQL for Development Without Fighting It
Set up PostgreSQL for development: choose native or Docker, pick a version, create a user, connect, find the config files and fix common errors.
18 min read
Excel
Importing Excel Into SQL Server With the Import Wizard
Use the SQL Server Import and Export Wizard to load an Excel sheet, fix the ACE provider and 64-bit errors, and stop it from guessing column types wrongly.
8 min read
CSV
Does a CSV File Need a Header Row and What If It Has None
A CSV has no flag that says whether row one is a header, so readers guess. Test four files, set the header explicitly, and handle duplicate names.
8 min read
JSON
Unexpected End of JSON Input and How to Find the Cause
Unexpected end of JSON input means the text stopped too soon or was empty. Real messages for every cut point, and how to tell truncated from empty.
8 min read
Excel
Loading an Excel File Into SQLite With Python and the CLI
SQLite cannot read XLSX itself. Load a sheet through pandas to_sql or a CSV import, avoid type affinity traps and convert Excel serial dates.
7 min read
CSV
CSV Line Endings and the CR LF Trap in Shells and Loaders
A CSV from Windows leaves an invisible carriage return on every last column. See it in a shell loop and MySQL, and fix it without damaging quoted fields.
8 min read
XML
Premature End of Data in Tag and What Usually Caused It
Why XML fails with Premature end of data in tag: truncated downloads, cut gzip streams and empty responses, how each message differs, and what to check.
7 min read
YAML
The Norway Problem and YAML Boolean Surprises Explained
Why the country code NO becomes False in YAML 1.1, how keys collide, which parsers are affected and three fixes: quote, use a 1.2 parser or a schema.
5 min read
CSV
How CSV Quoting Works and Why Embedded Commas Break Things
See how a stray comma turns one column into two, what the four quoting states are, and why a backslash does not escape a quote in CSV the way it does in code.
8 min read
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