Today I learned that there is a specific #unicode "record separator" symbol, formally known as "U+001E Information Separator Two".

https://codepoints.net/U+001E

It is meant to be used to indicate a separation between two units of information. An example of where this could be used is in a separated-value file, e.g. a CSV, but using this symbol instead of a comma.

This is interesting because there are vanishingly few instances where the record separator symbol would appear in most contexts, but many instances where a comma appears. Using this symbol instead of a comma (or a semi-colon, or an exclamation point, or any one of the usual separators) could make some data hygiene scenarios much more straightforward.

U+001E INFORMATION SEPARATOR TWO*: ␞ – Unicode

␞, codepoint U+001E INFORMATION SEPARATOR TWO* in Unicode, is located in the block β€œBasic Latin”. It belongs to the Common script and is a Control.

Codepoints.net
KYLI - because it is superior to JSON

This is a (silly) attempt to fix some of the shortcomings of JSON. Hence it is named after the goddess of music. It uses C0 Control Characters Here is an example: ␜ ␁ This is a KYLI document ␂ ␝ GroupName ␞ data ␟ value ␛ Comments are supported too! They can be multilined easily. ␙ I've used Unicode Control Pictures so you can see what's happening.…

Terence Eden’s Blog

@Edent
@phrawzty
Yeah, here is some repository which put even more effort into this: https://github.com/SixArm/usv (2022, so your blogpost predates it)

The issue, obviously, is that the symbols are non-printable and non-tech people do not know how to deal with it.

GitHub - SixArm/usv: Unicode Separated Values (USV) data markup for units, records, groups, files, streaming, and more.

Unicode Separated Values (USV) data markup for units, records, groups, files, streaming, and more. - SixArm/usv

GitHub
@tajpulo @phrawzty
Are non-techies going to be looking at JSON?
@Edent
Yes. πŸ˜…
@tajpulo