diff --git a/lua/pl/data.lua b/lua/pl/data.lua
index 24cd33ed..2bc443f7 100644
--- a/lua/pl/data.lua
+++ b/lua/pl/data.lua
@@ -201,34 +201,42 @@ end
 
 --- read a delimited file in a Lua table.
 -- By default, attempts to treat first line as separated list of fieldnames.
--- @param file a filename or a file-like object (default stdin)
--- @tab cnfg options table: can override `delim` (a string pattern), `fieldnames` (a list),
--- specify `no_convert` (default is to conversion), `numfields` (indices of columns known
--- to be numbers) and `thousands_dot` (thousands separator in Excel CSV is '.').
--- If `csv` is set then fields may be double-quoted and contain commas;
+-- @param file a filename or a file-like object
+-- @tab cnfg parsing options
+-- @string cnfg.delim a string pattern to split fields
+-- @array cnfg.fieldnames (i.e. don't read from first line)
+-- @bool cnfg.no_convert (default is to try conversion on first data line)
+-- @tab cnfg.convert table of custom conversion functions with column keys
+-- @int cnfg.numfields indices of columns known to be numbers
+-- @bool cnfg.last_field_collect only split as many fields as fieldnames.
+-- @int cnfg.thousands_dot thousands separator in Excel CSV is '.'
+-- @bool cnfg.csv fields may be double-quoted and contain commas;
+-- Also, empty fields are considered to be equivalent to zero.
 -- @return `data` object, or `nil`
 -- @return error message. May be a file error, 'not a file-like object'
 -- or a conversion error
 function data.read(file,cnfg)
-    local err,opened,count,line,csv
+    local err,opened,count,line
     local D = {}
     if not cnfg then cnfg = {} end
     local f,err,opened = open_file(file,'r')
     if not f then return nil, err end
     local thousands_dot = cnfg.thousands_dot
+    local csv = cnfg.csv
+    if csv then cnfg.delim = ',' end
 
     -- note that using dot as the thousands separator (@thousands_dot)
-    -- requires a special conversion function!
+    -- requires a special conversion function! For CSV, _empty fields_ are
+    -- considered to default to numerial zeroes.
     local tonumber = tonumber
     local function try_number(x)
         if thousands_dot then x = x:gsub('%.(...)','%1') end
+        if csv and x == '' then x = '0' end
         local v = tonumber(x)
         if v == nil then return nil,"not a number" end
         return v
     end
 
-    csv = cnfg.csv
-    if csv then cnfg.delim = ',' end
     count = 1
     line = f:read()
     if not line then return nil, "empty file" end
@@ -297,7 +305,7 @@ function data.read(file,cnfg)
         if not cnfg.no_convert then
             local fields = split(line,D.delim,csv,nfields)
             for i = 1,#fields do
-                if not find(numfields,i) and tonumber(fields[i]) then
+                if not find(numfields,i) and try_number(fields[i]) then
                     append_conversion(i,try_number)
                 end
             end
@@ -346,20 +354,22 @@ end
 -- @param file filename or file-like object
 -- @tparam[opt] {string} fieldnames list of fields (optional)
 -- @string[opt='\t'] delim delimiter (default tab)
+-- @return true or nil, error
 function data.write (data,file,fieldnames,delim)
     local f,err,opened = open_file(file,'w')
     if not f then return nil, err end
     if not fieldnames then
         fieldnames = data.fieldnames
     end
+    delim = delim or '\t'
     if fieldnames and #fieldnames > 0 then
         f:write(concat(fieldnames,delim),'\n')
     end
-    delim = delim or '\t'
     for i = 1,#data do
         write_row(data,f,data[i],delim)
     end
     if opened then f:close() end
+    return true
 end
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test-data.lua b/tests/test-data.lua
index 3a9c2922..9db0d855 100644
--- a/tests/test-data.lua
+++ b/tests/test-data.lua
@@ -218,3 +218,31 @@ d = data.read(f,{convert={[1]=date_convert},last_field_collect=true})
 
 asserteq(#d[1],2)
 asserteq(d[2][1]:year(),2010)
+
+d = {{1,2,3},{10,20,30}}
+out = stringio.create()
+data.write(d,out,{'A','B','C'},',')
+asserteq(out:value(),
+[[
+A,B,C
+1,2,3
+10,20,30
+]])
+
+out = stringio.create()
+d.fieldnames = {'A','B','C'}
+data.write(d,out)
+
+asserteq(out:value(),
+[[
+A	B	C
+1	2	3
+10	20	30
+]])
+
+
+d = data.read(stringio.open 'One,Two\n1,\n,20\n',{csv=true})
+asserteq(d,{
+    {1,0},{0,20},
+    original_fieldnames={"One","Two"},fieldnames={"One","Two"},delim=","
+})