Detecting the delimiter in a CSV file

[maurobio]

Dear ALL,

Python csv module has a class with a handy method sniff() which allows to deduce the format of a CSV file, with an optional parameter containing possible valid delimiter characters.

It would be very useful to have a similar function in (Free) Pascal, which would return simply a char indicating the delimiter character:

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. function Sniff(sample: string; validchars: TSysCharSet = [',', ';', '|', #8]): char;

Such a function could be used as:

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. var
2.    S: string;
3.  
4. begin
5.    S := 'Col1; Col2; Col3';
6.    WriteLn('Delimiter = "', Sniff(S), '"');
7. end.
8.  

which should return ";" in the above example.

Has someone implemented something like that? It should be simple enough, but I could not figure out how to implement it taking into account the possible existence of the delimiter character inside each data column, eg.:

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. S := '"Col 1, valid data", "Col2", "Col3"';

Any hints?

Best regards,