# Can't parse a CSV file

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cant-parse-a-csv-file/26362>\
**Category:** Logstash\
**Created:** [July 27, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cant-parse-a-csv-file/26362 "2015-07-27T18:53:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Maruf789](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Maruf789](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Maruf789)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cant-parse-a-csv-file/26362/1 "2015-07-27T18:53:28Z")

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Hi,

I have a simple CSV which I want to parse using Logstash and create some simple graphs in Kibana. But for some reason (unknown to me), the CSV file doesn't get parsed and I cannot see the index in Elasticsearch. Here's my Logstash Conf file and some sample data in that CSV file:

```

input {  
      file {
          path => "C:\Users\ahmadmar\Desktop\edw_hana_comparison.csv"
          start_position => "beginning"
      }
}
filter {  
    csv {
        columns => ["subject_area","table_count_edw","size_in_gb_edw","db_used_space_bytes","db_defined_space_bytes"]
        separator => ","
      }
 }
output {  
   elasticsearch { 
        action => "index"
        host => "localhost"
        index => "edwhanacomparison"
        workers => 1
    }
  #stdout {
  # codec => rubydebug
  #}
}

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![magnusbaeck](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/magnusbaeck/32/44943_2.png) [@magnusbaeck](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/magnusbaeck)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cant-parse-a-csv-file/26362/2 "2015-07-27T20:39:38Z")

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Your configuration looks fine, but you've probably processed the file in question at some point (e.g. while you were testing) so the `start_position` parameter doesn't take effect. See the fine-print in the documentation. Delete the file's sincedb entry or create a new file.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Maruf789](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Maruf789](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Maruf789)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cant-parse-a-csv-file/26362/3 "2015-07-29T18:11:09Z")

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Thanks Magnus. I've figured it out.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 5:33am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cant-parse-a-csv-file/26362/4 "2017-07-06T05:33:28Z")

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