CSV cleanup with preserved product IDs

Independent portfolio demonstration using fictional data, not a client project.

This sample cleans a four-row CSV while preserving product identifiers as text. Outer whitespace is removed; the repeated record is flagged and retained for a client decision.

Source CSV

sku,product,country
001, Blue notebook , IT 
002,Desk lamp,DE
001, Blue notebook , IT 
003,Travel pouch, FR 

Cleaned CSV

sku,product,country
001,Blue notebook,IT
002,Desk lamp,DE
001,Blue notebook,IT
003,Travel pouch,FR

Checks completed

• Four source records reconcile to four output records.
• Product IDs 001, 002 and 003 retain their leading zeros.
• Five whitespace changes are recorded in the audit.
• Source CSV row 4 is flagged as an exact duplicate after trimming; no record is silently deleted.
• The original file is preserved and its checksum is recorded.

Prepared with Python and AI-assisted tooling. The transformation, row counts, identifiers and audit were checked locally. For commissioned work, the cleanup rules and permitted use of AI are agreed with the client before production.