csvpeek-rs

csvpeek-rs aims to be a simple yet powerful addition to your command-line data toolkit, combining the performance of Rust with a user-friendly interface for common CSV operations.

Examples

First, let's assume we have a CSV file named songs.csv with the following content:

Title,Artist,Album,Year,Genre,Rating
Bohemian Rhapsody,Queen,A Night at the Opera,1975,Rock,5
Hey Jude,The Beatles,Hey Jude,1968,Rock,4
Stairway to Heaven,Led Zeppelin,Led Zeppelin IV,1971,Rock,5
Imagine,John Lennon,Imagine,1971,Pop,4
Like a Rolling Stone,Bob Dylan,Highway 61 Revisited,1965,Rock,4
Smells Like Teen Spirit,Nirvana,Nevermind,1991,Grunge,5
Wonderwall,Oasis,Morning Glory,1995,Britpop,3
Waterloo Sunset,The Kinks,Something Else,1967,Rock,4

Here are some ways you can use csvpeek-rs:

1. List all song titles (default first column)

This command lists the content of the first column ("Title") for all rows.

csvpeek-rs -f songs.csv --list

Output will be similar to:

Reading CSV file: songs.csv
List from file 'songs.csv' (displaying column(s): Title)
Number of entries: 8
1. Bohemian Rhapsody
2. Hey Jude
3. Stairway to Heaven
4. Imagine
5. Like a Rolling Stone
6. Smells Like Teen Spirit
7. Wonderwall
8. Waterloo Sunset

2. List specific columns (e.g., Title and Artist)

You can specify one or more columns to display using -c or --columns.

csvpeek-rs -f songs.csv --list -c "Title,Artist"

Or using repeated flags:

csvpeek-rs -f songs.csv --list -c Title -c Artist

Output (values will be tab-separated):

Reading CSV file: songs.csv
List from file 'songs.csv' (displaying column(s): Title, Artist)
Number of entries: 8
1. Bohemian Rhapsody	Queen
2. Hey Jude	The Beatles
3. Stairway to Heaven	Led Zeppelin
4. Imagine	John Lennon
5. Like a Rolling Stone	Bob Dylan
6. Smells Like Teen Spirit	Nirvana
7. Wonderwall	Oasis
8. Waterloo Sunset	The Kinks

3. Get a random song (showing default first column: Title)

If --list is not specified, csvpeek-rs shows a random entry.

csvpeek-rs -f songs.csv

Output (will vary):

Reading CSV file: songs.csv
Random entry (from column(s) 'Title' in file 'songs.csv'): Hey Jude

4. Get a random song, showing specific columns (Artist and Year)

csvpeek-rs -f songs.csv -c "Artist,Year"

Output (will vary, values tab-separated):

Reading CSV file: songs.csv
Random entry (from column(s) 'Artist, Year' in file 'songs.csv'): Nirvana	1991

5. Filter songs by a specific artist

Use the --filter flag with the format COLUMN_NAME=VALUE.

csvpeek-rs -f songs.csv --list --filter "Artist=The Beatles" -c Title

Output:

Reading CSV file: songs.csv
List from file 'songs.csv' (displaying column(s): Title) filtered where Artist = 'The Beatles'
Number of entries: 2
1. Hey Jude
2. Waterloo Sunset

csvpeek-rs -f songs.csv --list --filter "Artist=The Beatles" -c Title

Output:

Reading CSV file: songs.csv
List from file 'songs.csv' (displaying column(s): Title) filtered where Artist = 'The Beatles'
Number of entries: 1
1. Hey Jude

6. Filter songs by year using a numeric operator

Filter for songs released in or after 1990.

csvpeek-rs -f songs.csv --list --filter "Year>=1990" -c "Title,Year"

Output:

Reading CSV file: songs.csv
List from file 'songs.csv' (displaying column(s): Title, Year) filtered where Year >= '1990'
Number of entries: 2
1. Smells Like Teen Spirit	1991
2. Wonderwall	1995

7. Combine multiple filters (AND logic)

List Rock songs with a Rating greater than or equal to 4.

csvpeek-rs -f songs.csv --list --filter "Genre=Rock" --filter "Rating>=4" -c "Title,Artist,Rating"

Output:

Reading CSV file: songs.csv
List from file 'songs.csv' (displaying column(s): Title, Artist, Rating) filtered where Genre = 'Rock' AND Rating >= '4'
Number of entries: 4
1. Bohemian Rhapsody	Queen	5
2. Hey Jude	The Beatles	4
3. Stairway to Heaven	Led Zeppelin	4 
4. Like a Rolling Stone	Bob Dylan	4

csvpeek-rs -f songs.csv --list --filter "Genre=Rock" --filter "Rating>=4" -c "Title,Artist,Rating"

Output:

Reading CSV file: songs.csv
List from file 'songs.csv' (displaying column(s): Title, Artist, Rating) filtered where Genre = 'Rock' AND Rating >= '4'
Number of entries: 5
1. Bohemian Rhapsody	Queen	5
2. Hey Jude	The Beatles	4
3. Stairway to Heaven	Led Zeppelin	5
4. Like a Rolling Stone	Bob Dylan	4
5. Waterloo Sunset	The Kinks	4

8. Filter and display specific columns with raw output (for piping)

Get Titles and Artists of Pop songs, raw tab-separated output.

csvpeek-rs -f songs.csv --list --filter "Genre=Pop" -c "Title,Artist" --raw

Output:

Imagine	John Lennon

9. Read from stdin

You can pipe data into csvpeek-rs using -f - or by direct pipe.

cat songs.csv | csvpeek-rs -f - --list --filter "Artist=Queen" -c Title --raw

Or implicitly:

cat songs.csv | csvpeek-rs --list --filter "Artist=Queen" -c Title --raw

Output for both:

Bohemian Rhapsody

10. Read from a directory of CSV files

If you have a directory my_song_collection/ containing multiple CSV files (rock_songs.csv, pop_songs.csv) with the same headers:

csvpeek-rs -d my_song_collection/ --list --filter "Year<1970" -c "Title,Artist,Year"

This command would:

1. Inform you it's reading from the directory.
2. Read each CSV file (e.g., Reading file: my_song_collection/rock_songs.csv).
3. Warn about and skip files with non-matching headers.
4. Merge data from files with matching headers.
5. Apply the filter (Year < 1970).
6. Display the "Title", "Artist", and "Year" for matching songs from all processed files.

These examples should cover the main ways to use csvpeek-rs!