what is a delimiter?

A delimiter is any character chosen to separate one element in a string from another element. As Ronnie pointed out above it is commonly used in files to separate the fields in each record (comma or tab), and the records from each other (carriage return and/or line feed).

A delimiter is also used in dates (dash or slash): 12/25/2012 or 12-25-2012

A delimiter is used in times (colon): 10:32:00 AM

A delimiter is used to separate parameters in a call to a subroutine (comma):

    SubroutineName Parameter1, Parameter2, Parameter3

or in a function call in a cell:

    =SUM(A1,B1,C1)

A space is even considered a delimiter in a line of code:

   A = B + C

Kevin

Hi

On other words, it is showing to some application how to split data (or a list) so that it gets organised into column instead as a single line.

I prefer the    ; (semi-column) when the standard separator ( as defined in  the regional settings) is the   , (comma).

For example, a csv file (comma separeted values)  could correctly be displayed when opened in XL if the separator used matches the one set in the Regional settings.

To add : the most important saparator is the Date separator ( and its format)

 - or / or space.

To insist again on what csv files are really, just open the with NotePad.

HTH

regards

JY

I run into this term many times but never had a good definition of it.  I see it in VBA,Excel, and others.

Hi

Delimited files are a simple way to store data and import or export it between various applications. Delimited in essence means, data that’s separated by specific delimiter characters. Common delimiters are tab, comma and semicolon.

More information.

Import or export text (.txt or .csv) files - Excel - Office.com:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/import-or-export-text-txt-or-csv-files-HP010099725.aspx

Regards