This SerDe adds real CSV input and ouput support to hive using the excellent opencsv library.

add jar path/to/csv-serde.jar;

create table my_table(a string, b string, ...)
  row format serde 'com.bizo.hive.serde.csv.CSVSerde'
  stored as textfile
;

The default separator, quote, and escape characters from the opencsv library are:

DEFAULT_ESCAPE_CHARACTER \
DEFAULT_QUOTE_CHARACTER  "
DEFAULT_SEPARATOR        ,

You can also specify custom separator, quote, or escape characters.

add jar path/to/csv-serde.jar;

create table my_table(a string, b string, ...)
 row format serde 'com.bizo.hive.serde.csv.CSVSerde'
 with serdeproperties (
   "separatorChar" = "\t",
   "quoteChar"     = "'",
   "escapeChar"    = "\\"
  )	  
 stored as textfile
;

The following include opencsv along with the serde, so only the single jar is needed. Currently built against Hive 0.11.0, but should be compatible with other hive versions.

• csv-serde-1.1.2-0.11.0-all.jar

Run mvn package to build. Both a basic artifact as well as a "fat jar" (with opencsv) are produced.

Run mvn eclipse:eclipse to generate .project and .classpath files for eclipse.

csv-serde is open source and licensed under the Apache 2 License.