github.com/hugorut/terraform@v1.1.3/website/docs/language/functions/csvdecode.mdx (about) 1 --- 2 page_title: csvdecode - Functions - Configuration Language 3 description: The csvdecode function decodes CSV data into a list of maps. 4 --- 5 6 # `csvdecode` Function 7 8 `csvdecode` decodes a string containing CSV-formatted data and produces a 9 list of maps representing that data. 10 11 CSV is _Comma-separated Values_, an encoding format for tabular data. There 12 are many variants of CSV, but this function implements the format defined 13 in [RFC 4180](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4180). 14 15 The first line of the CSV data is interpreted as a "header" row: the values 16 given are used as the keys in the resulting maps. Each subsequent line becomes 17 a single map in the resulting list, matching the keys from the header row 18 with the given values by index. All lines in the file must contain the same 19 number of fields, or this function will produce an error. 20 21 ## Examples 22 23 ``` 24 > csvdecode("a,b,c\n1,2,3\n4,5,6") 25 [ 26 { 27 "a" = "1" 28 "b" = "2" 29 "c" = "3" 30 }, 31 { 32 "a" = "4" 33 "b" = "5" 34 "c" = "6" 35 } 36 ] 37 ``` 38 39 ## Use with the `for_each` meta-argument 40 41 You can use the result of `csvdecode` with 42 [the `for_each` meta-argument](/language/meta-arguments/for_each) 43 to describe a collection of similar objects whose differences are 44 described by the rows in the given CSV file. 45 46 There must be one column in the CSV file that can serve as a unique id for each 47 row, which we can then use as the tracking key for the individual instances in 48 the `for_each` expression. For example: 49 50 ```hcl 51 locals { 52 # We've included this inline to create a complete example, but in practice 53 # this is more likely to be loaded from a file using the "file" function. 54 csv_data = <<-CSV 55 local_id,instance_type,ami 56 foo1,t2.micro,ami-54d2a63b 57 foo2,t2.micro,ami-54d2a63b 58 foo3,t2.micro,ami-54d2a63b 59 bar1,m3.large,ami-54d2a63b 60 CSV 61 62 instances = csvdecode(local.csv_data) 63 } 64 65 resource "aws_instance" "example" { 66 for_each = { for inst in local.instances : inst.local_id => inst } 67 68 instance_type = each.value.instance_type 69 ami = each.value.ami 70 } 71 ``` 72 73 The `for` expression in our `for_each` argument transforms the list produced 74 by `csvdecode` into a map using the `local_id` as a key, which tells 75 Terraform to use the `local_id` value to track each instance it creates. 76 Terraform will create and manage the following instance addresses: 77 78 - `aws_instance.example["foo1"]` 79 - `aws_instance.example["foo2"]` 80 - `aws_instance.example["foo3"]` 81 - `aws_instance.example["bar1"]` 82 83 If you modify a row in the CSV on a subsequent plan, Terraform will interpret 84 that as an update to the existing object as long as the `local_id` value is 85 unchanged. If you add or remove rows from the CSV then Terraform will plan to 86 create or destroy associated instances as appropriate. 87 88 If there is no reasonable value you can use as a unique identifier in your CSV 89 then you could instead use 90 [the `count` meta-argument](/language/meta-arguments/count) 91 to define an object for each CSV row, with each one identified by its index into 92 the list returned by `csvdecode`. However, in that case any future updates to 93 the CSV may be disruptive if they change the positions of particular objects in 94 the list. We recommend using `for_each` with a unique id column to make 95 behavior more predictable on future changes.