How to prevent numeric conversion when importing with Import[path, "tsv"]?

Question

I want to import a TSV file where many of the columns have entries like 00966.

When I use Import[path, "tsv"] to import this file, such entries get converted to integers (e.g. 00966 gets read as the integer 966).

I want instead to preserve those entries as strings. IOW, 00966 should be read in as the string "00966", not the integer 966.

I know that SemanticImport provides ways to specify the types for individual columns, but I want to avoid SemanticImport at all cost, because I've found it to be horribly buggy.

Is there some way to get Import to just read each line as a list of strings (by doing nothing more to each line than stripping the trailing newline, and splitting the remainder at the tabs)?

Answer 1

Documentation >> TSV >> Options:

• With "Numeric"-> False, numbers will be imported as strings in the form they appear in the file.

So, you can use

Import[path, "tsv", "Numeric" -> False]