diff --git a/src/tagui_header.js b/src/tagui_header.js
index 202c04a1..54a5ed65 100644
--- a/src/tagui_header.js
+++ b/src/tagui_header.js
@@ -516,7 +516,7 @@ chrome.captureSelector = function(filename,selector) { // capture screenshot of
 // first capture entire screen, then use casperjs / phantomjs browser to crop image base on selector dimensions
 chrome.capture(filename); var selector_rect = chrome.getRect(selector); // so that there is no extra dependency
 if (selector_rect.width > 0 && selector_rect.height > 0) // from using other libraries or creating html canvas 
-casper.thenOpen(filename, function() {casper . capture(filename, // spaces around . intentional to avoid replacing 
+casper.thenOpen(file_url(filename), function() {casper . capture(filename, // spaces around . to avoid replacing 
 {top: selector_rect.top, left: selector_rect.left, width: selector_rect.width, height: selector_rect.height});
 casper.thenOpen('about:blank');});}; // reset phantomjs browser state
 
@@ -760,6 +760,11 @@ if ((raw_intent.substr(0,2) == '//') || (raw_intent.charAt(raw_intent.length-1)
 // assume = is assignment statement, kinda acceptable as this is checked at the very end
 if (raw_intent.indexOf('=') > -1) return true; return false;}
 
+function file_url(absolute_filename) { // helper function to append file:// according for opening local files
+if (!absolute_filename || absolute_filename == '') return '';
+if (absolute_filename.substr(0,1) == '/') return 'file://' + absolute_filename;
+if (absolute_filename.substr(1,1) == ':') return 'file:///' + absolute_filename; return absolute_filename;}
+
 function abs_file(filename) { // helper function to return absolute filename
 if (filename == '') return ''; // unlike tagui_parse.php not deriving path from script variable
 if (filename.substr(0,1) == '/') return filename; // return mac/linux absolute filename directly
diff --git a/src/test/positive_test.signature b/src/test/positive_test.signature
index d885ac72..9604c5cd 100644
--- a/src/test/positive_test.signature
+++ b/src/test/positive_test.signature
@@ -224,6 +224,10 @@ if (casper.exists(x('//*[@href="'+locator+'"]'))) return true;
 if (casper.exists(x('//*[contains(@href,"'+locator+'")]'))) return true;
 return false;}
 
+/**
+ * Extra TagUI helper methods
+ */
+
 // friendlier name to use check_tx() in if condition in flow
 function present(element_locator) {if (!element_locator) return false; else return check_tx(element_locator);}
 
@@ -255,6 +259,44 @@ function sleep(ms) { // helper to add delay during loops
 var time_now = new Date().getTime(); var time_end = time_now + ms;
 while(time_now < time_end) {time_now = new Date().getTime();}}
 
+/**
+ * string cell data sanitiser, returns a CSV formatted string
+ * @param {string} cell_data
+ */
+function sanitise_csv_cell(cell_data) {
+    // Replace all double quotes with 2 double quotes
+    cell_data = cell_data.replace(/"/g, '\"\"')
+    var whitespaceCheckRegex = /\s/
+    // if cell_data has a comma, or new line, or its first or last character is a
+    // whitespace, then wrap the entire expression in double quotes
+    if (
+        cell_data.indexOf(',') >= 0
+        || cell_data.indexOf('\n') >= 0
+        || whitespaceCheckRegex.test(cell_data.charAt(0))
+        || whitespaceCheckRegex.test(cell_data.charAt(cell_data.length - 1))
+    ) {
+        cell_data = '\"' + cell_data + '\"'
+    }
+    return cell_data
+}
+
+/**
+ * Returns a CSV-formatted string that denotes a row in a CSV file
+ * @param {string[]} row_data a 1-D array of strings denoting data to
+ * encode as a CSV row
+ */
+function csv_row(row_data) {
+  // if row_data has at least 1 element, extract and sanitise first element
+  // else start_element is empty string
+  var start_element = (row_data.length > 0)
+    ? sanitise_csv_cell(row_data.shift())
+    : ''
+  // concat each row_data with a comma
+  return row_data.reduce(function(accumulator, currentValue) {
+    return accumulator + ',' + sanitise_csv_cell(currentValue)
+  }, start_element)
+}
+
 // for initialising integration with sikuli visual automation
 function sikuli_handshake() { // techo('[connecting to sikuli process]');
 var ds; if (flow_path.indexOf('/') !== -1) ds = '/'; else ds = '\\'; clear_sikuli_text();
@@ -501,7 +543,7 @@ chrome.captureSelector = function(filename,selector) { // capture screenshot of
 // first capture entire screen, then use casperjs / phantomjs browser to crop image base on selector dimensions
 chrome.capture(filename); var selector_rect = chrome.getRect(selector); // so that there is no extra dependency
 if (selector_rect.width > 0 && selector_rect.height > 0) // from using other libraries or creating html canvas 
-casper.thenOpen(filename, function() {casper . capture(filename, // spaces around . intentional to avoid replacing 
+casper.thenOpen(file_url(filename), function() {casper . capture(filename, // spaces around . to avoid replacing 
 {top: selector_rect.top, left: selector_rect.left, width: selector_rect.width, height: selector_rect.height});
 casper.thenOpen('about:blank');});}; // reset phantomjs browser state
 
@@ -745,6 +787,11 @@ if ((raw_intent.substr(0,2) == '//') || (raw_intent.charAt(raw_intent.length-1)
 // assume = is assignment statement, kinda acceptable as this is checked at the very end
 if (raw_intent.indexOf('=') > -1) return true; return false;}
 
+function file_url(absolute_filename) { // helper function to append file:// according for opening local files
+if (!absolute_filename || absolute_filename == '') return '';
+if (absolute_filename.substr(0,1) == '/') return 'file://' + absolute_filename;
+if (absolute_filename.substr(1,1) == ':') return 'file:///' + absolute_filename; return absolute_filename;}
+
 function abs_file(filename) { // helper function to return absolute filename
 if (filename == '') return ''; // unlike tagui_parse.php not deriving path from script variable
 if (filename.substr(0,1) == '/') return filename; // return mac/linux absolute filename directly