here is a list of the possibilities suggested to date.
additions? amplifications?
Delimiter Candidates:
comma [,]
pro:
- natural seperator - people will use it whether or not
it is the official delimiter
- widely used (and even recommended) now
con:
- occurs in formal schemas now
- occurs in names ordered by family name in common
default encodings
semicolon [;]
pro:
- less commonly found in atomic data
- nearly as intuitive as the comma in common usage as a
seperator
con:
- occasionally appears in data
colon [:]
arguments pretty much the same as for semicolon;
slightly less common in data than above alternatives,
but also slightly less intuitive for common usage.
double semicolon (or comma) [,,] [;;] [::]
pro:
- unlikely to be encountered in data
con:
- may be mistaken for missing data placeholder?
- parsing is slightly more complicated
- not intuitive... no chance you'll get it right by
accident
vertical bar [|]
pro:
- unlikely to be encountered in data
con:
- not intuitive
? - does this character appear on keyboards everywhere?
multiple delimiters: any of an approved set of characters can
be used [, or ; or : or |]
pro:
- more chances to get it right
con:
- parsing slightly more complicated
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