Lesson 6
CSV Debugging Workflow
Debug broken exports, row-length mismatches, type inference, and leading-zero problems.
When CSV conversion fails, avoid guessing. Inspect the table shape first.
A practical workflow
- Confirm the delimiter.
- Check whether the first row is a header.
- Preview the first rows as a table.
- Look for rows with too many or too few fields.
- Check quoted fields that contain commas, quotes, or line breaks.
- Decide whether type inference is safe.
- Convert a small sample before converting the full export.
Common failure signs
- One column contains the entire row: wrong delimiter.
- Rows split in the middle of notes: broken quotes.
- IDs lose leading zeros: type inference should be disabled.
- JSON has unexpected column names: missing, empty, or duplicate headers.
- CSV export has extra empty columns: spreadsheet formatting leaked into the data.
Key takeaway
Debug CSV by shape: delimiter, headers, rows, quoting, and types. Once the shape is right, conversion is much safer.
The CSV to JSON / JSON to CSV Converter reports row mismatches and shows a preview so you can catch these issues early.