fix(file-based): strip trailing empty CSV headers instead of rejecting them

[devin-ai-integration]

Summary

Fixes a compatibility regression introduced in CDK v7.19.1 (#1010) where CSV files with trailing empty/whitespace-only column names (common in externally generated CSVs with trailing delimiters) started failing with a config_error. This broke existing source-s3 streams that were syncing successfully before the upgrade.

Root cause: The empty header validation in _CsvReader._get_headers treated all empty column names identically — both trailing empties from trailing delimiters and genuine interior empties from malformed schemas.

Fix:

• Trailing empty/whitespace-only headers are now silently stripped with a warning log, and their corresponding data values are discarded from each row.
• Non-trailing empty headers (interior or leading positions) still raise config_error, as these indicate genuine schema problems.

This restores backward compatibility for the common case (trailing delimiters) while preserving error detection for genuinely malformed CSV headers.

Not a breaking change — this strictly relaxes validation. No public API, spec, schema, or state changes.

Resolves: airbytehq/oncall#12736

Review & Testing Checklist for Human

• Verify the fix handles CSV files with trailing delimiters correctly (e.g., col1,col2,,\nv1,v2,v3,v4 should yield {"col1": "v1", "col2": "v2"} and log a warning)
• Verify that CSVs with empty headers in non-trailing positions (e.g., col1,,col3) still raise config_error
• Consider whether this needs a CDK patch release to unblock the affected source-s3 connector version

Notes

• The _get_headers method signature changed (added logger param, returns Tuple[List[str], int]), but this is a private method on the private _CsvReader class — no public API impact.
• All 63 existing CSV parser tests pass. Added new parametrized tests covering trailing strip behavior, non-trailing error behavior, and end-to-end read_data integration with trailing empty columns.

Link to Devin session: https://app.devin.ai/sessions/1eee4b15c3594dfc9f644a490b7f1753

[devin-ai-integration]

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[github-actions]

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[github-actions]

PyTest Results (Fast)

4 084 tests  +3   4 073 ✅ +3   8m 10s ⏱️ -8s
    1 suites ±0      11 💤 ±0 
    1 files   ±0       0 ❌ ±0 

Results for commit 85caa6a. ± Comparison against base commit f4c0779.

This pull request removes 6 and adds 9 tests. Note that renamed tests count towards both.

unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_accepts_valid_headers
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_raises_on_empty_column_names[leading_empty_column]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_raises_on_empty_column_names[middle_empty_column]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_raises_on_empty_column_names[trailing_empty_columns]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_raises_on_empty_column_names[whitespace_only_column]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_read_data_raises_on_empty_column_names

unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_raises_on_non_trailing_empty_column_names[interior_empty_after_trailing_strip]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_raises_on_non_trailing_empty_column_names[leading_empty_column]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_raises_on_non_trailing_empty_column_names[middle_empty_column]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_strips_trailing_empty_columns[no_empty_columns]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_strips_trailing_empty_columns[trailing_empty_columns]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_strips_trailing_empty_columns[trailing_mixed_empty_whitespace]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_strips_trailing_empty_columns[trailing_whitespace_column]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_read_data_raises_on_non_trailing_empty_column_names
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_read_data_strips_trailing_empty_columns

[github-actions]

PyTest Results (Full)

4 087 tests  +3   4 075 ✅ +3   11m 53s ⏱️ +21s
    1 suites ±0      12 💤 ±0 
    1 files   ±0       0 ❌ ±0 

Results for commit 85caa6a. ± Comparison against base commit f4c0779.

This pull request removes 6 and adds 9 tests. Note that renamed tests count towards both.

unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_accepts_valid_headers
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_raises_on_empty_column_names[leading_empty_column]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_raises_on_empty_column_names[middle_empty_column]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_raises_on_empty_column_names[trailing_empty_columns]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_raises_on_empty_column_names[whitespace_only_column]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_read_data_raises_on_empty_column_names

unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_raises_on_non_trailing_empty_column_names[interior_empty_after_trailing_strip]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_raises_on_non_trailing_empty_column_names[leading_empty_column]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_raises_on_non_trailing_empty_column_names[middle_empty_column]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_strips_trailing_empty_columns[no_empty_columns]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_strips_trailing_empty_columns[trailing_empty_columns]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_strips_trailing_empty_columns[trailing_mixed_empty_whitespace]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_get_headers_strips_trailing_empty_columns[trailing_whitespace_column]
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_read_data_raises_on_non_trailing_empty_column_names
unit_tests.sources.file_based.file_types.test_csv_parser ‑ test_read_data_strips_trailing_empty_columns

[Patrick Nilan (pnilan)]

closing in favor of #1044