visidata(1)

vd(1) Quick Reference Guide vd(1)

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

ˆU

pause/resume replay

ˆN

execute next row in replaying sheet

ˆK

cancel current replay

GLOBAL COMMANDS

All keystrokes are case sensitive. The ˆ prefix is shorthand for Ctrl.

Keystrokes to start off with

ˆQ

abort program immediately

ˆC

cancel user input or abort all async threads on current sheet

gˆC

abort all secondary threads

q

quit current sheet or menu

Q

quit current sheet and free associated memory

gq

quit all sheets (clean exit)

ˆH

activate help menu (Enter/left-mouse to expand submenu or execute command)

gˆH

view this man page

zˆH

view sheet of command longnames and keybindings for current sheet

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

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

Ic. End Home

go all the way to the bottom/top of sheet

ˆB ˆF

scroll one page back/forward

ˆLeft ˆRight

scroll one page left/right

zz

scroll current row to center of screen

ˆˆ (Ctrl+ˆ)

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

_ (underbar)

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

ˆ

rename current column

gˆ

rename all unnamed visible columns to contents of selected rows (or current row)

zˆ

rename current column to combined contents of current cell in selected rows (or current row)

gzˆ

rename 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

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}) one level

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

The rows in these duplicated sheets (except deepcopy) are references to rows on the original source sheets, and so edits to the filtered rows will naturally be reflected in the original rows. Use g’ to freeze sheet contents in a deliberate copy.

Editing Rows and Cells

a za

append blank row/column; appended columns cannot be copied to clipboard

ga gza number

append number blank rows/columns

d gd

delete current/selected row(s)

y gy

yank (copy) current/all selected row(s) to clipboard in Memory Sheet

x gx

cut (copy and delete) current/all selected row(s) to clipboard in Memory Sheet

zy gzy

yank (copy) contents of current column for current/selected row(s) to clipboard in Memory Sheet

zd gzd

set contents of current column for current/selected row(s) to options.null_value

zx gzx

cut (copy and delete) contents of current column for current/selected row(s) to clipboard in Memory Sheet

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

zP gzP

paste to cells of current column for current/selected row(s) using the system clipboard

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 ˆC

accept/abort input

ˆO gˆO

open external $EDITOR to edit contents of current/selected rows in current column

ˆR

reload initial value

ˆA ˆE

go to beginning/end of line

ˆB ˆF

go back/forward one character

ˆ← ˆ→ (arrow)

go back/forward one word

ˆH ˆD

delete previous/current character

ˆT

transpose previous and current characters

ˆU ˆK

clear from cursor to beginning/end of line

ˆY

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

zo

open file or url from path in current cell

ˆS gˆS 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.

zˆS filename

save current column only to filename in format determined by extension (default .tsv)

ˆD filename.vdj

save CommandLog to filename.vdj 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; store result in Memory Sheet

&

append top two sheets in Sheets Stack

g&

append all sheets in Sheets Stack

w nBefore nAfter

add column where each row contains a list of that row, nBefore rows, and nAfter rows

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

_ (underbar)

zoom to fit full extent

z_ (underbar)

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

ˆL

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

Z

push second sheet on current pane’s stack to the top of the other pane’s stack

Tab

jump to other pane

gTab

swap panes

g Ctrl+ˆ

cycle through sheets

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)

ˆE gˆE

view traceback for most recent error(s)

zˆE

view traceback for error in current cell

ˆL

refresh screen

ˆR

reload current sheet

ˆZ

suspend VisiData process

ˆG

show cursor position and bounds of current sheet on status line

ˆV

show version and copyright information on status line

ˆP

open Status History

m keystroke

first, begin recording macro; second, prompt for keystroke , 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 ˆS.

ˆY zˆY gˆY

open current row/cell/sheet as Python object

ˆX expr

evaluate Python expr and opens result as Python object

zˆX expr

evaluate Python expr, in context of current row, and open result as Python object

gˆX module

import Python module in the global scope

Internal Sheets List

.

Directory Sheet browse properties of files in a directory

.

Plugins Sheet browse, install, and (de)activate plugins

.

Memory Sheet (Alt+Shift+M) browse saved values, including clipboard

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
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)

ˆO gˆO

open current/selected file(s) in external $EDITOR

ˆR zˆR gzˆR

reload information for all/current/selected file(s)

d gd

delete current/selected file(s) from filesystem, upon commit

y gy directory

copy current/selected file(s) to given directory, upon commit

e ge name

rename current/selected file(s) to name

‘ (backtick)

open parent directory

zˆS

commit changes to file system

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

Memory Sheet

Browse through a list of stored values, referanceable in expressions through their name.
(global commands)
Alt+Shift+M

open the Memory Sheet

Alt+M name

store value in current cell in Memory Sheet under name

(sheet-specific commands)
e

edit either value or name, to edit reference

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 appending 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

gˆR

reload all selected sheets

zˆC gzˆC

abort async threads for current/selected sheets(s)

gˆS

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 combine all rows from all sheets

.

concat similar to ’append’ but keep first sheet type and columns

.

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

ˆS

save option configuration to foo.visidatarc

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

ˆC

abort replay

Threads Sheet (Ctrl+T)

(global commands)
ˆT

open global Threads Sheet for all asynchronous threads running

zˆT

open current sheet’s Threads Sheet

(sheet-specific commands)
ˆC

abort thread at current row

gˆC

abort all threads on current Threads Sheet

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 (ˆX ˆY gˆY zˆY)

(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

-d, --delimiter=delimiter

\t field delimiter to use for tsv/usv filetype

-y, --confirm-overwrite=F

True overwrite existing files without confirmation

-N, --nothing=T

False disable loading .visidatarc and plugin addons

--visidata-dir=str ˜/.visidata/

directory to load and store additional files

--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 4

default column height

--textwrap-cells=bool True

wordwrap text for multiline rows

--quitguard False

confirm before quitting modified 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

--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 False

enable profiling on threads

--min-memory-mb=int 0

minimum memory to continue loading and async processing

--encoding=str utf-8

encoding passed to codecs.open

--encoding-errors=str surrogateescape

encoding_errors passed to codecs.open

--input-history=str

basename of file to store persistent input history

--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)

--default-sample-size=int 100

number of rows to sample for regex.split (0=all)

--fmt-expand-dict=str %s.%s

format str to use for names of columns expanded from dict (colname, key)

--fmt-expand-list=str %s[%s]

format str to use for names of columns expanded from list (colname, index)

--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

--replay-wait=float 0.0

time to wait between replayed commands, in seconds

--replay-movement False

insert movements during replay

--rowkey-prefix=str キ

string prefix for rowkey in the cmdlog

--cmdlog-histfile=str

file to autorecord each cmdlog action to

--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 xclip -selection clipboard -filter

command to copy stdin to system clipboard

--clipboard-paste-cmd=str xclip -selection clipboard -o

command to send contents of system clipboard to stdout

--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

--regex-flags=str I

flags to pass to re.compile() [AILMSUX]

--regex-maxsplit=int 0

maxsplit to pass to 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=Path /home/kefala/.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)

--nothing False

no config, no plugins, nothing extra

--unfurl-empty False

if unfurl includes rows for empty containers

--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

--xlsx-meta-columns False

include columns for cell objects, font colors, and fill colors

--sqlite-onconnect=str

sqlite statement to execute after opening a connection

--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

--http-req-headers=dict {}

http headers to send to requests

--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)

--xml-parser-huge-tree=bool True

allow very deep trees and very long text content

--graphviz-edge-labels=bool True

whether to include edge labels on graphviz diagrams

--npy-allow-pickle False

numpy allow unpickling objects (unsafe)

--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

--plugins-autoload=bool True

do not autoload plugins if False

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

color_sidebar black on 114 blue

color of sidebar

disp_float_fmt {:.02f}

default fmtstr to format for float values

disp_int_fmt {:d}

default fmtstr to format for int 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 white on black

the default fg and bg colors

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} {sheet.modifiedStatus} {sheet.options.disp_selected_note}{sheet.nSelectedRows}

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 bold 233 black on 110 cyan

color of input keystrokes on status line

color_status bold black on 110 cyan

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 black on 110 cyan

active window status bar color

color_inactive_status 8 on black

inactive window status bar color

color_working green

color of system running smoothly

color_edit_cell white

cell color to use when editing cell

disp_edit_fill _

edit field fill character

disp_unprintable ·

substitute character for unprintables

disp_currency_fmt %.02f

default fmtstr to format for currency values

disp_date_fmt %Y-%m-%d

default fmtstr to strftime for date values

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_formatter generic

formatter to use for display and saving

disp_menu True

show menu on top line when not active

disp_menu_keys True

show keystrokes inline in submenus

color_menu black on 110 cyan

color of menu items in general

color_menu_active 223 yellow on black

color of active menu items

color_menu_spec black on 34 green

color of sheet-specific menu items

color_menu_help black italic on 110 cyan

color of helpbox

disp_menu_boxchars ││──┌┐└┘├┤

box characters to use for menus

disp_menu_more »

command submenu indicator

disp_menu_push ⎘

indicator if command pushes sheet onto sheet stack

disp_menu_input …

indicator if input required for command

disp_menu_fmt Ctrl+H for help menu

right-side menu format string

disp_histogram *

histogram element character

disp_histolen 50

width of histogram column

disp_canvas_charset ⠀⠁⠂⠃⠄⠅⠆⠇⠈⠉⠊⠋⠌⠍⠎⠏⠐⠑⠒⠓⠔⠕⠖⠗⠘⠙⠚⠛⠜⠝⠞⠟⠠⠡⠢⠣⠤⠥⠦⠧⠨⠩⠪⠫⠬⠭⠮⠯⠰⠱⠲⠳⠴⠵⠶⠷⠸⠹⠺⠻⠼⠽⠾⠿⡀⡁⡂⡃⡄⡅⡆⡇⡈⡉⡊⡋⡌⡍⡎⡏⡐⡑⡒⡓⡔⡕⡖⡗⡘⡙⡚⡛⡜⡝⡞⡟⡠⡡⡢⡣⡤⡥⡦⡧⡨⡩⡪⡫⡬⡭⡮⡯⡰⡱⡲⡳⡴⡵⡶⡷⡸⡹⡺⡻⡼⡽⡾⡿⢀⢁⢂⢃⢄⢅⢆⢇⢈⢉⢊⢋⢌⢍⢎⢏⢐⢑⢒⢓⢔⢕⢖⢗⢘⢙⢚⢛⢜⢝⢞⢟⢠⢡⢢⢣⢤⢥⢦⢧⢨⢩⢪⢫⢬⢭⢮⢯⢰⢱⢲⢳⢴⢵⢶⢷⢸⢹⢺⢻⢼⢽⢾⢿⣀⣁⣂⣃⣄⣅⣆⣇⣈⣉⣊⣋⣌⣍⣎⣏⣐⣑⣒⣓⣔⣕⣖⣗⣘⣙⣚⣛⣜⣝⣞⣟⣠⣡⣢⣣⣤⣥⣦⣧⣨⣩⣪⣫⣬⣭⣮⣯⣰⣱⣲⣳⣴⣵⣶⣷⣸⣹⣺⣻⣼⣽⣾⣿

charset to render 2x4 blocks on canvas

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

launch DirSheet for current directory

vd foo.tsv

open the file foo.tsv in the current directory

vd -f ddw

open blank sheet of type ddw

vd new.tsv

open new blank tsv sheet named new

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]

vd.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. zˆS 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, .xz, ,zstd, and .zst files are decompressed on the fly.

AUTHOR

VisiData was made by Saul Pwanson <vd@saul.pw>. Linux/MacOS January 11, 2023 vd(1)