label1,label2
item1a,item2a
item1c,"item2c,c"
item1b,item2b

1.  label1,label2 
2.  item1a,item2a 
3.  item1c,"item2c,c" 
4.  item1b,item2b 

var my_object_array = [
     { my_col1_val: 'item1a', my_col2_val: 'item2a' },
     { my_col1_val: 'item1b', my_col2_val: 'item2b' },
     { my_col1_val: 'item1c', my_col2_val: 'item2c,c' }
];

1.  var my_object_array = [ 
2.       { my_col1_val: 'item1a', my_col2_val: 'item2a' }, 
3.       { my_col1_val: 'item1b', my_col2_val: 'item2b' }, 
4.       { my_col1_val: 'item1c', my_col2_val: 'item2c,c' } 
5.  ]; 

function populate_array_from_csv(this_file){

        // using deprecated XMLHttpRequest to read file
        // (works at time of print (2015-10-05))
        var xhr = !window.XMLHttpRequest ? new ActiveXObject('Microsoft.XMLHTTP') : new XMLHttpRequest();

        // open the file
        // use GET for faster performance but use POST (no size limits) for large files
        xhr.open('POST', this_file, false);  

        // set header to CSV mimetype
        xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'text/csv');

        // send request to the server
        xhr.send();

        // return contents of target file to JS variable
        var my_csv_file_contents = xhr.responseText;

        // split contents into array of rows
        // store each line of the CSV file into a JS array
        var my_csv_rows_array = my_csv_file_contents.split("\n");

        // declare a blank array to store file contents
        var obj_temp = [];

        // loop through JS array using Array.prototype.forEach()
        my_csv_rows_array.forEach( function (row_content, row_index) {

                // clear and declare the array
                var column_values = [];         
                
                // regex to ignore commas between double-quotes
                var column_values = row_content.split(/,(?=(?:(?:[^"]*"){2})*[^"]*$)/);

                // prevents JS error where results unmatched
                column_values = column_values || [];    

                // ignore row if first item is blank (allows for blank excel lines)
                if(column_values[0] != ''){

                        // remove any/all double-quotes in this column value  // found this method more reliable than using regex
                        removed_quotes = column_values[1].split('"').join('');

                        // populate my array with an object
                        obj_temp.push({ my_col1_val: column_values[0], my_col2_val: removed_quotes });
                }
        });

        // sorts the array by values in column 2 (string: my_col2_val)
        obj_temp.sort(function(a,b) {
                var x = a.my_col2_val.toLowerCase();
                var y = b.my_col2_val.toLowerCase();
                return x < y ? -1 : x > y ? 1 : 0;
        });

        // return the array of objects
        return obj_temp;
}

// usage:
//      where "this_file_url" is the target CSV to read (relative URL from the HTML file launching this function (not from the if external JS))
//      add parameters to this function to specify rows based on a criteria
var my_array = populate_array_from_csv(this_file_url);

// eg. var my_array = populate_array_from_csv('./mydata/data.csv');
// ---- End-ofFile

1.  function populate_array_from_csv(this_file){ 
2.   
3.          // using deprecated XMLHttpRequest to read file 
4.          // (works at time of print (2015-10-05)) 
5.          var xhr = !window.XMLHttpRequest ? new ActiveXObject('Microsoft.XMLHTTP') : new XMLHttpRequest(); 
6.   
7.          // open the file 
8.          // use GET for faster performance but use POST (no size limits) for large files 
9.          xhr.open('POST', this_file, false); 
10.   
11.          // set header to CSV mimetype 
12.          xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'text/csv'); 
13.   
14.          // send request to the server 
15.          xhr.send(); 
16.   
17.          // return contents of target file to JS variable 
18.          var my_csv_file_contents = xhr.responseText; 
19.   
20.          // split contents into array of rows 
21.          // store each line of the CSV file into a JS array 
22.          var my_csv_rows_array = my_csv_file_contents.split("\n"); 
23.   
24.          // declare a blank array to store file contents 
25.          var obj_temp = []; 
26.   
27.          // loop through JS array using Array.prototype.forEach() 
28.          my_csv_rows_array.forEach( function (row_content, row_index) { 
29.   
30.                  // clear and declare the array 
31.                  var column_values = []; 
32.   
33.                  // regex to ignore commas between double-quotes 
34.                  var column_values = row_content.split(/,(?=(?:(?:[^"]*"){2})*[^"]*$)/); 
35.   
36.                  // prevents JS error where results unmatched 
37.                  column_values = column_values || []; 
38.   
39.                  // ignore row if first item is blank (allows for blank excel lines) 
40.                  if(column_values[0] != ''){ 
41.   
42.                          // remove any/all double-quotes in this column value  // found this method more reliable than using regex 
43.                          removed_quotes = column_values[1].split('"').join(''); 
44.   
45.                          // populate my array with an object 
46.                          obj_temp.push({ my_col1_val: column_values[0], my_col2_val: removed_quotes }); 
47.                  } 
48.          }); 
49.   
50.          // sorts the array by values in column 2 (string: my_col2_val) 
51.          obj_temp.sort(function(a,b) { 
52.                  var x = a.my_col2_val.toLowerCase(); 
53.                  var y = b.my_col2_val.toLowerCase(); 
54.                  return x < y ? -1 : x > y ? 1 : 0; 
55.          }); 
56.   
57.          // return the array of objects 
58.          return obj_temp; 
59.  } 
60.   
61.  // usage: 
62.  //      where "this_file_url" is the target CSV to read (relative URL from the HTML file launching this function (not from the if external JS)) 
63.  //      add parameters to this function to specify rows based on a criteria 
64.  var my_array = populate_array_from_csv(this_file_url); 
65.   
66.  // eg. var my_array = populate_array_from_csv('./mydata/data.csv'); 
67.  // ---- End-ofFile