On Wed, 2 May 2018 16:01:01 -0700, Adrian Klaver
<adrian.klaver@aklaver.com> wrote:
>On 05/02/2018 02:29 PM, Jim Michaels wrote:
>
>>
>> - the microsoft patented CSV would be required for implementation. it
>> handles special data with commas and double-quotes in them
>
>Huh?:
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values#History
Disclaimer ... I haven't investigated the claim.
However, I would not discount the possibility that Microsoft really
has patented some variation of CSV. They absolutely did *try* to
copyright the use of + and - symbols for specifying addition and
subtraction operations in VisualBASIC.
It's possible that they slipped something past the examiners. But
more likely the use of a CSV-like format was specified to be part of a
larger process. In that case the format itself might not be claimed,
but rather only the *use* of the format for some specific purpose.
IANAL,
George