#csvlens

csvlens is a command line CSV file viewer. It is like less but made for CSV.

#Usage

Run csvlens by providing the CSV filename:

csvlens <filename>

Pipe CSV data directly to csvlens:

<your commands producing some csv data> | csvlens

#Key bindings

#Optional parameters

• -d <char>: Use this delimiter when parsing the CSV (e.g. csvlens file.csv -d '\t').

  Specify -d auto to auto-detect the delimiter.

• -t, --tab-separated: Use tab as the delimiter (when specified, -d is ignored).

• -i, --ignore-case: Ignore case when searching. This flag is ignored if any uppercase letters are present in the search string.

• --no-headers: Do not interpret the first row as headers.

• --columns <regex>: Use this regex to select columns to display by default.

  Example: "column1|column2" matches "column1", "column2", and also column names like "column11", "column22".

• --filter <regex>: Use this regex to filter rows to display by default.

  The regex is matched against each cell in every column.

  Example: "value1|value2" filters rows with any cells containing "value1", "value2", or text like "my_value1" or "value234".

• --find <regex>: Use this regex to find and highlight matches by default.

  The regex is matched against each cell in every column.

  Example: "value1|value2" highlights text in any cells containing "value1", "value2", or longer text like "value1_ok".

• --echo-column <column_name>: Print the value of this column at the selected row to stdout on Enter key and then exit.

• --prompt <prompt>: Show a custom prompt message in the status bar. Supports ANSI escape codes for colored or styled text.

  Example:

  csvlens Pokemon.csv --prompt $'\e[1m\e[32mSelect a Pokémon!\e[0m'
  

• --color-columns (or --colorful): Display each column in a different color.

#Installation

#Direct download

You can download the tar.xz or zip file matching your operating system from the releases page, extract it and execute the csvlens binary.

#Homebrew

For macOS, csvlens is available on Homebrew. You can install it using:

brew install csvlens

#Arch Linux

csvlens is available in the official repositories. You can install it using:

pacman -S csvlens

#Windows

For Windows, csvlens is available on winget. You can install it using:

winget install --id YS-L.csvlens

#FreeBSD

csvlens is available as a FreeBSD pkg. You can install it using:

pkg install csvlens

#NetBSD

csvlens is available on pkgsrc. If you're using NetBSD you can install it using:

pkgin install csvlens

#OpenBSD

csvlens is available as an OpenBSD port. If you're using OpenBSD 7.6-current or later, you can install it using:

doas pkg_add csvlens

#Cargo

If you have Rust installed, csvlens is available on crates.io and you can install it using:

cargo install csvlens

Or, build and install from source after cloning this repo:

cargo install --path $(pwd)

Requires Rust 1.88.0 or newer.

#Library Usage

This crate allows you to use csvlens as a library.

In your Cargo.toml, add the following:

[dependencies]
csvlens = { version = "0.12.0", default-features = false, features = ["clipboard"] }

#Example

Here's a simple example of how to use csvlens as a library (Documentation):

use csvlens::run_csvlens;

let out = run_csvlens(&["/path/to/your.csv"]).unwrap();
if let Some(selected_cell) = out {
    println!("Selected: {}", selected_cell);
}

For more advanced usage, you can use CsvlensOptions to customize the behavior:

use csvlens::{run_csvlens_with_options, CsvlensOptions};

let options = CsvlensOptions {
    filename: "/path/to/your.csv".to_string(),
    delimiter: Some("|".to_string()),
    ignore_case: true,
    debug: true,
    ..Default::default()
};
let out = run_csvlens_with_options(options).unwrap();
if let Some(selected_cell) = out {
    println!("Selected: {}", selected_cell);
}

See how qsv uses csvlens as a library here.