Provided by: visidata_2.2.1-1_all 
NAME
VisiData — a terminal utility for exploring and arranging tabular data
SYNOPSIS
vd [options] [input ...]
vd [options] --play cmdlog [-w waitsecs] [--batch] [-o output] [field=value]
vd [options] [input ...] +toplevel:subsheet:col:row
DESCRIPTION
VisiData is an easy-to-use multipurpose tool to explore, clean, edit, and restructure data.
Rows can be selected, filtered, and grouped; columns can be rearranged, transformed, and
derived via regex or Python expressions; and workflows can be saved, documented, and
replayed.
REPLAY MODE
-p, --play=cmdlog replay a saved cmdlog within the interface
-w, --replay-wait=seconds
wait seconds between commands
-b, --batch replay in batch mode (with no interface)
-o, --output=file save final visible sheet to file as .tsv
--replay-movement toggle --play to move cursor cell-by-cell
field=value replace "{field}" in cmdlog contents with value
Commands During Replay
^U pause/resume replay
^N execute next row in replaying sheet
^K cancel current replay
GLOBAL COMMANDS
All keystrokes are case sensitive. The ^ prefix is shorthand for Ctrl.
Keystrokes to start off with
^Q abort program immediately
^C cancel user input or abort all async threads on current sheet
g^C abort all secondary threads
q quit current sheet
gq quit all sheets (clean exit)
^H view this man page
z^H view sheet of command longnames and keybindings
Space longname execute command by its longname
U undo the most recent modification (requires enabled options.undo)
R redo the most recent undo (requires enabled options.undo)
Cursor Movement
Arrow PgUp Home go as expected
h j k l go left/down/up/right
gh gj gk gl go all the way to the left/bottom/top/right of sheet
G gg go all the way to the bottom/top of sheet
^B ^F scroll one page back/forward
zz scroll current row to center of screen
^^ (Ctrl+^) jump to previous sheet (swaps with current sheet)
/ ? regex search for regex forward/backward in current column
g/ g? regex search for regex forward/backward over all visible columns
z/ z? expr search by Python expr forward/backward in current column (with column names
as variables)
n N go to next/previous match from last regex search
< > go up/down current column to next value
z< z> go up/down current column to next null value
{ } go up/down current column to next selected row
c regex go to next column with name matching regex
r regex go to next row with key matching regex
zc zr number go to column/row number (0-based)
H J K L slide current row/column left/down/up/right
gH gJ gK gL slide current row/column all the way to the left/bottom/top/right of sheet
zH zJ zK zK number
slide current row/column number positions to the left/down/up/right
zh zj zk zl scroll one left/down/up/right
Column Manipulation
_ (underscore)
toggle width of current column between full and default width
g_ toggle widths of all visible columns between full and default width
z_ number adjust width of current column to number
gz_ number adjust widths of all visible columns to Ar number
- (hyphen) hide current column
z- reduce width of current column by half
gv unhide all columns
! z! toggle/unset current column as a key column
~ # % $ @ z#
set type of current column to str/int/float/currency/date/len
^ edit name of current column
g^ set names of all unnamed visible columns to contents of selected rows (or
current row)
z^ set name of current column to combined contents of current cell in selected
rows (or current row)
gz^ set name of all visible columns to combined contents of current column for
selected rows (or current row)
= expr create new column from Python expr, with column names, and attributes, as
variables
g= expr set current column for selected rows to result of Python expr
gz= expr set current column for selected rows to the items in result of Python
sequence expr
z= expr evaluate Python expression on current row and set current cell with result
of Python expr
i (iota) add column with incremental values
gi set current column for selected rows to incremental values
zi step add column with values at increment step
gzi step set current column for selected rows at increment step
' (tick) add a frozen copy of current column with all cells evaluated
g' open a frozen copy of current sheet with all visible columns evaluated
z' gz' add/reset cache for current/all visible column(s)
: regex add new columns from regex split; number of columns determined by example
row at cursor
; regex add new columns from capture groups of regex (also requires example row)
z; expr create new column from bash expr, with $columnNames as variables
* regex/subst add column derived from current column, replacing regex with subst (may
include \1 backrefs)
g* gz* regex/subst
modify selected rows in current/all visible column(s), replacing regex with
subst (may include \1 backrefs)
( g( expand current/all visible column(s) of lists (e.g. [3]) or dicts (e.g.
{3}) fully
z( gz( depth expand current/all visible column(s) of lists (e.g. [3]) or dicts (e.g.
{3}) to given depth (0= fully)
) unexpand current column; restore original column and remove other columns
at this level
zM row-wise expand current column of lists (e.g. [3]) or dicts (e.g. {3})
within that column
Row Selection
s t u select/toggle/unselect current row
gs gt gu select/toggle/unselect all rows
zs zt zu select/toggle/unselect all rows from top to cursor
gzs gzt gzu select/toggle/unselect all rows from cursor to bottom
| \ regex select/unselect rows matching regex in current column
g| g\ regex select/unselect rows matching regex in any visible column
z| z\ expr select/unselect rows matching Python expr in any visible column
, (comma) select rows matching display value of current cell in current column
g, select rows matching display value of current row in all visible columns
z, gz, select rows matching typed value of current cell/row in current column/all
visible columns
Row Sorting/Filtering
[ ] sort ascending/descending by current column; replace any existing sort
criteria
g[ g] sort ascending/descending by all key columns; replace any existing sort
criteria
z[ z] sort ascending/descending by current column; add to existing sort criteria
gz[ gz] sort ascending/descending by all key columns; add to existing sort criteria
" open duplicate sheet with only selected rows
g" open duplicate sheet with all rows
gz" open duplicate sheet with deepcopy of selected rows
Editing Rows and Cells
a za append a blank row/column; appended columns cannot be copied to clipboard
ga gza number append number blank rows/columns
d gd delete (cut) current/selected row(s) and move to clipboard
y gy yank (copy) current/all selected row(s) to clipboard
zy gzy yank (copy) contents of current column for current/selected row(s) to
clipboard
zd gzd delete (cut) contents of current column for current/selected row(s) and
move to clipboard
p P paste clipboard rows after/before current row
zp gzp set cells of current column for current/selected row(s) to last clipboard
value
Y gY yank (copy) current/all selected row(s) to system clipboard (using
options.clipboard_copy_cmd)
zY gzY yank (copy) contents of current column for current/selected row(s) to
system clipboard (using options.clipboard_copy_cmd)
f fill null cells in current column with contents of non-null cells up the
current column
e text edit contents of current cell
ge text set contents of current column for selected rows to text
Commands While Editing Input
Enter ^C accept/abort input
^O open external $EDITOR to edit contents
^R reload initial value
^A ^E go to beginning/end of line
^B ^F go back/forward one character
^← ^→ (arrow) go back/forward one word
^H ^D delete previous/current character
^T transpose previous and current characters
^U ^K clear from cursor to beginning/end of line
^Y paste from cell clipboard
Backspace Del delete previous/current character
Insert toggle insert mode
Up Down set contents to previous/next in history
Tab Shift+Tab autocomplete input (when available)
Shift+Arrow move cursor in direction of Arrow and re-enter edit mode
Data Toolkit
o input open input in VisiData
^S g^S filename save current/all sheet(s) to filename in format determined by extension
(default .tsv)
Note: if the format does not support multisave, or the filename ends in a
/, a directory will be created.
z^S filename save current column only to filename in format determined by extension
(default .tsv)
^D filename.vd save CommandLog to filename.vd file
A open new blank sheet with one column
T open new sheet that has rows and columns of current sheet transposed
+ aggregator add aggregator to current column (see Frequency Table)
z+ aggregator display result of aggregator over values in selected rows for current
column
& concatenate top two sheets in Sheets Stack
g& concatenate all sheets in Sheets Stack
Data Visualization
. (dot) plot current numeric column vs key columns. The numeric key column is used
for the x-axis; categorical key column values determine color.
g. plot a graph of all visible numeric columns vs key columns.
If rows on the current sheet represent plottable coordinates (as in .shp or vector .mbtiles
sources), . plots the current row, and g. plots all selected rows (or all rows if none
selected).
Canvas-specific Commands
+ - increase/decrease zoom level, centered on cursor
_ (underscore) zoom to fit full extent
z_ (underscore) set aspect ratio
x xmin xmax set xmin/xmax on graph
y ymin ymax set ymin/ymax on graph
s t u select/toggle/unselect rows on source sheet contained within canvas
cursor
gs gt gu select/toggle/unselect rows on source sheet visible on screen
d delete rows on source sheet contained within canvas cursor
gd delete rows on source sheet visible on screen
Enter open sheet of source rows contained within canvas cursor
gEnter open sheet of source rows visible on screen
1 - 9 toggle display of layers
^L redraw all pixels on canvas
v toggle show_graph_labels option
mouse scrollwheel zoom in/out of canvas
left click-drag set canvas cursor
right click-drag scroll canvas
Split Screen
Z split screen in half, so that second sheet on the stack is visible in a
second pane
zZ split screen, and queries for height of second pane
Split Window specific Commands
gZ close an already split screen, current pane full screens
Tab jump to other pane
^^ (Ctrl+^) swap which sheet is in current pane
Other Commands
Q quit current sheet and remove it from the CommandLog
v toggle sheet-specific visibility (multi-line rows on Sheet, legends/axes on
Graph)
^E g^E view traceback for most recent error(s)
z^E view traceback for error in current cell
^L refresh screen
^R reload current sheet
z^R clear cache for current column
^Z suspend VisiData process
^G show cursor position and bounds of current sheet on status line
^V show version and copyright information on status line
^P open Status History
m keystroke first, begin recording macro; second, prompt for keystroke No, and complete
recording. Macro can then be executed everytime provided keystroke is used.
Will override existing keybinding. Macros will run on current row, column,
sheet.
gm open an index of all existing macros. Can be directly viewed with Enter,
and then modified with ^S.
^Y z^Y g^Y open current row/cell/sheet as Python object
^X expr evaluate Python expr and opens result as Python object
z^X expr evaluate Python expr, in context of current row, and open result as Python
object
g^X stmt execute Python stmt in the global scope
Internal Sheets List
. VisiDataMenu (Shift+V) browse list of core sheets
. Directory Sheet browse properties of files in a directory
. Plugins Sheet browse, install, and (de)activate plugins
Metasheets
. Columns Sheet (Shift+C) edit column properties
. Sheets Sheet (Shift+S) jump between sheets or join them together
. Options Sheet (Shift+O) edit configuration options
. Commandlog (Shift+D) modify and save commands for replay
. Error Sheet (Ctrl+E) view last error
. Status History (Ctrl+P) view history of status messages
. Threads Sheet (Ctrl+T) view, cancel, and profile asynchronous threads
Derived Sheets
. Frequency Table (Shift+F) group rows by column value, with aggregations of other
columns
. Describe Sheet (Shift+I) view summary statistics for each column
. Pivot Table (Shift+W) group rows by key and summarize current column
. Melted Sheet (Shift+M) unpivot non-key columns into variable/value columns
. Transposed Sheet (Shift+T) open new sheet with rows and columns transposed
INTERNAL SHEETS
VisiDataMenu (Shift+V)
(sheet-specific commands)
Enter load sheet in current row
Directory Sheet
(global commands)
Space open-dir-current
open the Directory Sheet for the current directory
(sheet-specific commands)
Enter gEnter open current/selected file(s) as new sheet(s)
^O g^O open current/selected file(s) in external $EDITOR
^R z^R gz^R reload information for all/current/selected file(s)
Plugins Sheet
Browse through a list of available plugins. VisiData needs to be restarted before plugin
activation takes effect. Installation may require internet access.
(global commands)
Space open-plugins
open the Plugins Sheet
(sheet-specific commands)
a install and activate current plugin
d deactivate current plugin
METASHEETS
Columns Sheet (Shift+C)
Properties of columns on the source sheet can be changed with standard editing commands (e
ge g= Del) on the Columns Sheet. Multiple aggregators can be set by listing them (separated
by spaces) in the aggregators column. The 'g' commands affect the selected rows, which are
the literal columns on the source sheet.
(global commands)
gC open Columns Sheet with all visible columns from all sheets
(sheet-specific commands)
& add column from concatenating selected source columns
g! gz! toggle/unset selected columns as key columns on source sheet
g+ aggregator add Ar aggregator No to selected source columns
g- (hyphen) hide selected columns on source sheet
g~ g# g% g$ g@ gz# z%
set type of selected columns on source sheet to
str/int/float/currency/date/len/floatsi
Enter open a Frequency Table sheet grouped by column referenced in current row
Sheets Sheet (Shift+S)
open Sheets Stack, which contains only the active sheets on the current stack
(global commands)
gS open Sheets Sheet, which contains all sheets from current session,
active and inactive
Alt number jump to sheet number
(sheet-specific commands)
Enter jump to sheet referenced in current row
gEnter push selected sheets to top of sheet stack
a add row to reference a new blank sheet
gC gI open Columns Sheet/Describe Sheet with all visible columns from selected
sheets
g^R reload all selected sheets
z^C gz^C abort async threads for current/selected sheets(s)
g^S save selected or all sheets
& jointype merge selected sheets with visible columns from all, keeping rows
according to jointype:
. inner keep only rows which match keys on all sheets
. outer keep all rows from first selected sheet
. full keep all rows from all sheets (union)
. diff keep only rows NOT in all sheets
. append keep all rows from all sheets (concatenation)
. extend copy first selected sheet, keeping all rows and sheet type,
and extend with columns from other sheets
. merge mostly keep all rows from first selected sheet, except
prioritise cells with non-null/non-error values
Options Sheet (Shift+O)
(global commands)
Shift+O edit global options (apply to all sheets)
zO edit sheet options (apply to current sheet only)
gO open options.config as TextSheet
(sheet-specific commands)
Enter e edit option at current row
d remove option override for this context
CommandLog (Shift+D)
(global commands)
D open current sheet's CommandLog with all other loose ends removed;
includes commands from parent sheets
gD open global CommandLog for all commands executed in the current session
zD open current sheet's CommandLog with the parent sheets commands' removed
(sheet-specific commands)
x replay command in current row
gx replay contents of entire CommandLog
^C abort replay
DERIVED SHEETS
Frequency Table (Shift+F)
A Frequency Table groups rows by one or more columns, and includes summary columns for those
with aggregators.
(global commands)
gF open Frequency Table, grouped by all key columns on source sheet
zF open one-line summary for all rows and selected rows
(sheet-specific commands)
s t u select/toggle/unselect these entries in source sheet
Enter gEnter open copy of source sheet with rows that are grouped in current cell /
selected rows
Describe Sheet (Shift+I)
A Describe Sheet contains descriptive statistics for all visible columns.
(global commands)
gI open Describe Sheet for all visible columns on all sheets
(sheet-specific commands)
zs zu select/unselect rows on source sheet that are being described in current
cell
! toggle/unset current column as a key column on source sheet
Enter open a Frequency Table sheet grouped on column referenced in current row
zEnter open copy of source sheet with rows described in current cell
Pivot Table (Shift+W)
Set key column(s) and aggregators on column(s) before pressing Shift+W on the column to
pivot.
(sheet-specific commands)
Enter open sheet of source rows aggregated in current pivot row
zEnter open sheet of source rows aggregated in current pivot cell
Melted Sheet (Shift+M)
Open Melted Sheet (unpivot), with key columns retained and all non-key columns reduced to
Variable-Value rows.
(global commands)
gM regex open Melted Sheet (unpivot), with key columns retained and regex capture
groups determining how the non-key columns will be reduced to
Variable-Value rows.
Python Object Sheet (^X ^Y g^Y z^Y)
(sheet-specific commands)
Enter dive further into Python object
v toggle show/hide for methods and hidden properties
gv zv show/hide methods and hidden properties
COMMANDLINE OPTIONS
Add -n/--nonglobal to make subsequent CLI options sheet-specific (applying only to paths
specified directly on the CLI). By default, CLI options apply to all sheets.
Options can also be set via the Options Sheet or a .visidatarc (see FILES).
-P=longname preplay longname before replay or regular launch; limited to
Base Sheet bound commands
+toplevel:subsheet:col:row launch vd with subsheet of toplevel at top-of-stack, and cursor
at col and row; all arguments are optional
-f, --filetype=filetype tsv set loader to use for filetype instead of
file extension
-y, --confirm-overwrite=F True overwrite existing files without
confirmation
--mouse-interval=int 1 max time between press/release for click
(ms)
--null-value=NoneType None a value to be counted as null
--undo=bool True enable undo/redo
--col-cache-size=int 0 max number of cache entries in each cached
column
--clean-names False clean column/sheet names to be valid Python
identifiers
--default-width=int 20 default column width
--default-height=int 10 default column height
--textwrap-cells=bool True wordwrap text for multiline rows
--quitguard False confirm before quitting last sheet
--debug False exit on error and display stacktrace
--skip=int 0 skip N rows before header
--header=int 1 parse first N rows as column names
--load-lazy False load subsheets always (False) or lazily
(True)
--force-256-colors False use 256 colors even if curses reports fewer
--use-default-colors False curses use default terminal colors
--note-pending=str ⌛ note to display for pending cells
--note-format-exc=str ? cell note for an exception during formatting
--note-getter-exc=str ! cell note for an exception during
computation
--note-type-exc=str ! cell note for an exception during type
conversion
--scroll-incr=int 3 amount to scroll with scrollwheel
--name-joiner=str _ string to join sheet or column names
--value-joiner=str string to join display values
--wrap False wrap text to fit window width on TextSheet
--save-filetype=str tsv specify default file type to save as
--profile=str filename to save binary profiling data
--min-memory-mb=int 0 minimum memory to continue loading and async
processing
--input-history=str basename of file to store persistent input
history
--encoding=str utf-8 encoding passed to codecs.open
--encoding-errors=str surrogateescape encoding_errors passed to codecs.open
--bulk-select-clear False clear selected rows before new bulk
selections
--some-selected-rows False if no rows selected, if True,
someSelectedRows returns all rows; if False,
fails
--delimiter=str field delimiter to use for tsv/usv filetype
--row-delimiter=str " row delimiter to use for tsv/usv filetype
--tsv-safe-newline=str replacement for newline character when
saving to tsv
--tsv-safe-tab=str replacement for tab character when saving to
tsv
--visibility=int 0 visibility level (0=low, 1=high)
--expand-col-scanrows=int 1000 number of rows to check when expanding
columns (0 = all)
--json-indent=NoneType None indent to use when saving json
--json-sort-keys False sort object keys when saving to json
--default-colname=str column name to use for non-dict rows
--filetype=str specify file type
--confirm-overwrite=bool True whether to prompt for overwrite confirmation
on save
--safe-error=str #ERR error string to use while saving
--clipboard-copy-cmd=str command to copy stdin to system clipboard
--clipboard-paste-cmd=str command to get contents of system clipboard
--fancy-chooser False a nicer selection interface for aggregators
and jointype
--describe-aggrs=str mean stdev numeric aggregators to calculate on Describe
sheet
--histogram-bins=int 0 number of bins for histogram of numeric
columns
--numeric-binning False bin numeric columns into ranges
--replay-wait=float 0.0 time to wait between replayed commands, in
seconds
--replay-movement False insert movements during replay
--visidata-dir=str ~/.visidata/ directory to load and store additional files
--rowkey-prefix=str キ string prefix for rowkey in the cmdlog
--cmdlog-histfile=str file to autorecord each cmdlog action to
--regex-flags=str I flags to pass to re.compile() [AILMSUX]
--regex-maxsplit=int 0 maxsplit to pass to regex.split
--default-sample-size=int 100 number of rows to sample for regex.split
--show-graph-labels=bool True show axes and legend on graph
--plot-colors=str list of distinct colors to use for plotting
distinct objects
--zoom-incr=float 2.0 amount to multiply current zoomlevel when
zooming
--motd-url=str source of randomized startup messages
--dir-recurse False walk source path recursively on DirSheet
--dir-hidden False load hidden files on DirSheet
--config=str ~/.visidatarc config file to exec in Python
--play=str file.vd to replay
--batch False replay in batch mode (with no interface and
all status sent to stdout)
--output=NoneType None save the final visible sheet to output at
the end of replay
--preplay=str longnames to preplay before replay
--imports=str plugins imports to preload before .visidatarc
(command-line only)
--incr-base=float 1.0 start value for column increments
--csv-dialect=str excel dialect passed to csv.reader
--csv-delimiter=str , delimiter passed to csv.reader
--csv-quotechar=str " quotechar passed to csv.reader
--csv-skipinitialspace=bool True skipinitialspace passed to csv.reader
--csv-escapechar=NoneType None escapechar passed to csv.reader
--csv-lineterminator=str " lineterminator passed to csv.writer
--safety-first False sanitize input/output to handle edge cases,
with a performance cost
--fixed-rows=int 1000 number of rows to check for fixed width
columns
--fixed-maxcols=int 0 max number of fixed-width columns to create
(0 is no max)
--postgres-schema=str public The desired schema for the Postgres database
--http-max-next=int 0 max next.url pages to follow in http
response
--html-title=str <h2>{sheet.name}</h2>
table header when saving to html
--pcap-internet=str n (y/s/n) if save_dot includes all internet
hosts separately (y), combined (s), or does
not include the internet (n)
--graphviz-edge-labels=bool True whether to include edge labels on graphviz
diagrams
--pdf-tables False parse PDF for tables instead of pages of
text
--plugins-url=str https://visidata.org/plugins/plugins.jsonl
source of plugins sheet
DISPLAY OPTIONS
Display options can only be set via the Options Sheet or a .visidatarc (see FILES).
disp_splitwin_pct 0 height of second sheet on screen
disp_currency_fmt %.02f default fmtstr to format for currency values
disp_float_fmt {:.02f} default fmtstr to format for float values
disp_int_fmt {:.0f} default fmtstr to format for int values
disp_date_fmt %Y-%m-%d default fmtstr to strftime for date values
disp_note_none ⌀ visible contents of a cell whose value is None
disp_truncator … indicator that the contents are only partially
visible
disp_oddspace · displayable character for odd whitespace
disp_more_left < header note indicating more columns to the left
disp_more_right > header note indicating more columns to the right
disp_error_val displayed contents for computation exception
disp_ambig_width 1 width to use for unicode chars marked ambiguous
disp_pending string to display in pending cells
color_note_pending bold magenta color of note in pending cells
color_note_type 226 yellow color of cell note for non-str types in anytype
columns
color_note_row 220 yellow color of row note on left edge
disp_column_sep | separator between columns
disp_keycol_sep ║ separator between key columns and rest of columns
disp_rowtop_sep |
disp_rowmid_sep ⁝
disp_rowbot_sep ⁝
disp_rowend_sep ║
disp_keytop_sep ║
disp_keymid_sep ║
disp_keybot_sep ║
disp_endtop_sep ║
disp_endmid_sep ║
disp_endbot_sep ║
disp_selected_note •
disp_sort_asc ↑↟⇞⇡⇧⇑ characters for ascending sort
disp_sort_desc ↓↡⇟⇣⇩⇓ characters for descending sort
color_default normal the default color
color_default_hdr bold color of the column headers
color_bottom_hdr underline color of the bottom header row
color_current_row reverse color of the cursor row
color_current_col bold color of the cursor column
color_current_hdr bold reverse color of the header for the cursor column
color_column_sep 246 blue color of column separators
color_key_col 81 cyan color of key columns
color_hidden_col 8 color of hidden columns on metasheets
color_selected_row 215 yellow color of selected rows
disp_rstatus_fmt {sheet.longname} {sheet.nRows:9d} {sheet.rowtype}
right-side status format string
disp_status_fmt {sheet.shortcut}› {sheet.name}|
status line prefix
disp_lstatus_max 0 maximum length of left status line
disp_status_sep | separator between statuses
color_keystrokes white color of input keystrokes on status line
color_status bold status line color
color_error red error message color
color_warning yellow warning message color
color_top_status underline top window status bar color
color_active_status bold active window status bar color
color_inactive_status 8 inactive window status bar color
color_working green color of system running smoothly
color_edit_cell normal cell color to use when editing cell
disp_edit_fill _ edit field fill character
disp_unprintable · substitute character for unprintables
disp_histogram * histogram element character
disp_histolen 50 width of histogram column
disp_replay_play ▶ status indicator for active replay
disp_replay_pause ‖ status indicator for paused replay
color_status_replay green color of replay status indicator
disp_pixel_random False randomly choose attr from set of pixels instead of
most common
color_graph_hidden 238 blue color of legend for hidden attribute
color_graph_selected bold color of selected graph points
color_graph_axis bold color for graph axis labels
color_add_pending green color for rows pending add
color_change_pending reverse yellow color for cells pending modification
color_delete_pending red color for rows pending delete
color_xword_active green color of active clue
EXAMPLES
vd foo.tsv
open the file foo.tsv in the current directory
vd -f sqlite bar.db
open the file bar.db as a sqlite database
vd foo.tsv -n -f sqlite bar.db
open foo.tsv as tsv and bar.db as a sqlite database
vd -f sqlite foo.tsv bar.db
open both foo.tsv and bar.db as a sqlite database
vd -b countries.fixed -o countries.tsv
convert countries.fixed (in fixed width format) to countries.tsv (in tsv format)
vd postgres://username:password@hostname:port/database
open a connection to the given postgres database
vd --play tests/pivot.vd --replay-wait 1 --output tests/pivot.tsv
replay tests/pivot.vd, waiting 1 second between commands, and output the final sheet to
test/pivot.tsv
ls -l | vd -f fixed --skip 1 --header 0
parse the output of ls -l into usable data
ls | vd | lpr
interactively select a list of filenames to send to the printer
vd newfile.tsv
open a blank sheet named newfile if file does not exist
vd sample.xlsx +:sheet1:2:3
launch with sheet1 at top-of-stack, and cursor at column 2 and row 3
vd -P open-plugins
preplay longname open-plugins before starting the session
FILES
At the start of every session, VisiData looks for $HOME/.visidatarc, and calls Python exec()
on its contents if it exists. For example:
options.min_memory_mb=100 # stop processing without 100MB free
bindkey('0', 'go-leftmost') # alias '0' to go to first column, like vim
def median(values):
L = sorted(values)
return L[len(L)//2]
aggregator('median', median)
Functions defined in .visidatarc are available in python expressions (e.g. in derived
columns).
SUPPORTED SOURCES
Core VisiData includes these sources:
tsv (tab-separated value)
Plain and simple. VisiData writes tsv format by default. See the --tsv-delimiter
option.
csv (comma-separated value)
.csv files are a scourge upon the earth, and still regrettably common.
See the --csv-dialect, --csv-delimiter, --csv-quotechar, and --csv-skipinitialspace
options.
Accepted dialects are excel-tab, unix, and excel.
fixed (fixed width text)
Columns are autodetected from the first 1000 rows (adjustable with --fixed-rows).
json (single object) and jsonl/ndjson/ldjson (one object per line).
Cells containing lists (e.g. [3]) or dicts ({3}) can be expanded into new columns with
( and unexpanded with ).
sqlite
May include multiple tables. The initial sheet is the table directory; Enter loads the
entire table into memory. z^S saves modifications to source.
URL schemes are also supported:
http (requires requests); can be used as transport for with another filetype
For a list of all remaining formats supported by VisiData, see https://visidata.org/formats.
In addition, .zip, .gz, .bz2, and .xz files are decompressed on the fly.
SUPPORTED OUTPUT FORMATS
These are the supported savers:
tsv (tab-separated value)
csv (comma-separated value)
json (one object with all rows)
jsonl/ndjson/ldjson (one object per line/row)
All expanded subcolumns must be closed (with )) to retain the same structure.
sqlite (save to source with z^S)
md (markdown table)
AUTHOR
VisiData was made by Saul Pwanson <vd@saul.pw>.