Preprocessing data from different file types

When working with a large amount of data, it's not feasible to put all of it on the page itself. Instead, the data is retrieved from an external source such as a file, database, or an API. Before using this data with Highcharts, it's crucial to process it so that it can be plotted correctly. This process of fetching the data and formatting it correctly before it can be plotted is called preprocessing.

In the current section, we will take a look at preprocessing data from a number of file formats, including CSV, XML, and JSON. We will also look at JavaScript libraries that make working with these formats easier and also provide a handful of methods to achieve different tasks rather quickly.

Preprocessing data from a CSV file

Comma Separated Values or Character Separated Values (CSV) is a common format to store tabular data in plain text. It contains records, each in its own row. These records contain fields separated by a character, usually a comma...