RB to CSV Converter

Online RB to CSV conversion — free plain text data

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Ebook to Structured Data

Pull text from obsolete RB ebooks and output it as CSV — the simplest structured data format for spreadsheets and databases.

Bulk Conversion Ready

Convert multiple RB ebook files to CSV in one session. Premium plans expand batch processing capacity even further.

Files Cleaned Up Fast

RB uploads are removed post-processing. CSV results are deleted from Convertio servers automatically within 24 hours.

How to convert RB to CSV

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose csv or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your csv file right afterwards

About formats

RB is the native ebook format of the Rocket eBook, one of the first commercially available dedicated e-reading devices, developed by NuvoMedia and released in October 1998. Founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning — who later co-founded Tesla Motors — NuvoMedia designed the Rocket eBook as a handheld device with a reflective LCD screen, capable of storing approximately ten books in its internal memory. The RB format packages HTML-based content along with embedded images, metadata, and a table of contents into a single binary container optimized for the device's limited hardware. Content was purchased and downloaded through NuvoMedia's RocketLibrarian desktop software. A notable advantage of the format was its early support for bookmarking, annotation, dictionary lookups, and adjustable font sizing — features now standard on modern e-readers but revolutionary in the late 1990s. The Rocket eBook demonstrated viable commercial demand for dedicated reading devices, paving the way for subsequent platforms from Sony, Amazon, and others. NuvoMedia was acquired by Gemstar-TV Guide International in 2000, which discontinued the device line in 2003. While RB files are largely a historical curiosity today, they can be converted to modern formats using ebook management tools, and the format remains significant as a pioneering chapter in the evolution of digital reading.
Developer: NuvoMedia
Initial release: 1998
CSV (Comma-Separated Values) is a plain-text format for storing tabular data, where each line represents a row and fields within a row are separated by commas. The format originated on IBM mainframes in the early 1970s for data interchange between programs and has since become the universal lowest-common-denominator format for structured data exchange. Despite its apparent simplicity, CSV has subtle complexities: fields containing commas, newlines, or quotation marks must be enclosed in double quotes, and embedded double quotes are escaped by doubling them. RFC 4180, published in 2005, codified these conventions but CSV implementations vary widely across software, with differences in delimiters (semicolons in many European locales), line endings, character encodings, and quoting rules. One advantage is absolute universality — every spreadsheet application, database system, programming language, and data analysis tool can read and write CSV, making it the safest format for data exchange between incompatible systems. The plain-text nature is another core strength: CSV files can be opened in any text editor, processed with command-line tools like awk and sed, version-controlled with Git, and streamed line-by-line without loading the entire dataset into memory. CSV remains the default export format for databases, web analytics platforms, scientific instruments, and government open data portals worldwide.
Developer: IBM
Initial release: 1972

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert RB to CSV?

RB is a dead 1998 ebook format. CSV extracts your ebook text into structured, comma-separated data importable by any spreadsheet or database.

What opens CSV files?

Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc, any text editor, Python, R, and virtually every data processing tool.

Is CSV good for book text?

CSV is ideal when you need structured data extraction. For narrative text, consider document formats — CSV works best with tabular content.

Can I import CSV into databases?

Absolutely — CSV is the universal data interchange format. Import directly into MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, or any database system.

Is this free?

Completely free on Convertio. Premium plans provide batch processing and higher file size support for power users.