vd - Man Page

a terminal utility for exploring and arranging tabular data

Synopsis

vd[options] [input ...]
vd[options] --play cmdlog [-w waitsecs] [--batch] [-i] [-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)

-i, --interactive

launch VisiData in interactive mode after batch

-o, --output=file

save final visible sheet to file as .tsv

field=value

replace "{field}" in cmdlog contents with value

Commands During Replay

^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 or menu

Q

quit current sheet and free associated memory

gq

quit all sheets (clean exit)

Alt+H

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

g^H

view this man page

z^H

view sheet of command longnames and keybindings for current sheet

gb

open sidebar in a new sheet

b

toggle sidebar

U

undo the most recent modification (requires enabled options.undo)

R

redo the most recent undo (requires enabled options.undo)

Space longname

open command palette; Enter to execute top command by its longname

Command Palette

Tab

Move to command palette, and cycle through commands

0-9

Execute numbered command

Enter

Execute highlighted command

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

^B ^F

scroll one page back/forward

^Left ^Right

scroll one page left/right

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

_ (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

Alt++ Alt+-

show more/less precision in current numerical column

^

rename current column

g^

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

z^

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

gz^

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)

) g(

unexpand current/all visible column(s); restore original column and remove other columns at this level

z) gz) depth

contract current/all visible column(s) of former lists (e.g. [3]) or dicts (e.g. {3}) to given depth (0= fully)

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 ^C

accept/abort input

^O g^O

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

^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

move cursor left/right and re-enter edit mode

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

^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.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

^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

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+^

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)

^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

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 , 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 module

import Python module in the global scope

Internal Sheets List

.

Directory Sheet browse properties of files in a directory

.

Guide Index read documentation from within VisiData

.

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)

^O g^O

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

^R z^R gz^R

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

z^S

commit changes to file system

Guide Index

Browse through a list of available guides. Each guide shows you how to use a particular feature. Gray guides have not been written yet.
(global commands)
Space open-guide-index

open the Guide Index

(sheet-specific commands)
Enter

open a guide

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

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 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 keep all rows from first sheet, updating any False-y cells with non-False-y values from second sheet; add unique rows from second sheet

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

^S

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

^C

abort replay

Threads Sheet (Ctrl+T)

(global commands)
^T

open global Threads Sheet for all asynchronous threads running

z^T

open current sheet's Threads Sheet

(sheet-specific commands)
^C

abort thread at current row

g^C

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 (^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

--overwrite=c

Overwrite with confirmation

--guides

open Guide Index

-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, --overwrite=y

y overwrite existing files without confirmation

-ro, --overwrite=n

n do not overwrite existing files

-N, --nothing=T

False disable loading .visidatarc and plugin addons

--visidata-dir=str ~/.visidata/

directory to load and store additional files

--debug False

exit on error and display stacktrace

--undo=bool True

enable undo/redo

--col-cache-size=int 0

max number of cache entries in each cached column

--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

--force-256-colors False

use 256 colors even if curses reports fewer

--quitguard False

confirm before quitting modified sheet

--default-width=int 20

default column width

--default-height=int 4

default column height

--textwrap-cells=bool True

wordwrap text for multiline rows

--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-sig

encoding passed to codecs.open when reading a file

--encoding-errors=str surrogateescape

encoding_errors passed to codecs.open

--mouse-interval=int 1

max time between press/release for click (ms)

--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

--regex-skip=str

regex of lines to skip in text sources

--regex-flags=str I

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

--load-lazy False

load subsheets always (False) or lazily (True)

--skip=int 0

skip N rows before header

--header=int 1

parse first N rows as column names

--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

--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

--json-ensure-ascii=bool True

ensure ascii encode when saving json

--default-colname=str

column name to use for non-dict rows

--filetype=str

specify file type

--safe-error=str #ERR

error string to use while saving

--save-encoding=str utf-8

encoding passed to codecs.open when saving a file

--clean-names False

clean column/sheet names to be valid Python identifiers

--replay-wait=float 0.0

time to wait between replayed commands, in seconds

--rowkey-prefix=str キ

string prefix for rowkey in the cmdlog

--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

--null-value=NoneType None

a value to be counted as null

--histogram-bins=int 0

number of bins for histogram of numeric columns

--numeric-binning False

bin numeric columns into ranges

--plot-colors=str

list of distinct colors to use for plotting distinct objects

--motd-url=str

source of randomized startup messages

--dir-depth=int 0

folder recursion depth on DirSheet

--dir-hidden False

load hidden files on DirSheet

--config=Path ~/.visidatarc

config file to exec in Python

--play=str

file.vdj 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

--interactive False

run interactive mode after batch replay

--overwrite=str c

overwrite existing files {y=yes|c=confirm|n=no}

--plugins-autoload=bool True

do not autoload plugins if False

--theme=str

display/color theme to use

--airtable-auth-token=str

Airtable API key from https://airtable.com/account

--matrix-token=str

matrix API token

--matrix-user-id=str

matrix user ID associated with token

--matrix-device-id=str VisiData

device ID associated with matrix login

--reddit-client-id=str

client_id for reddit api

--reddit-client-secret=str

client_secret for reddit api

--reddit-user-agent=str 3.0.2

user_agent for reddit api

--zulip-batch-size=int -100

number of messages to fetch per call (<0 to fetch before anchor)

--zulip-anchor=int 1000000000

message id to start fetching from

--zulip-delay-s=float 1e-05

seconds to wait between calls (0 to stop after first)

--zulip-api-key=str

Zulip API key

--zulip-email=str

Email for use with Zulip API key

--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

--f5log-object-regex=NoneType None

A regex to perform on the object name, useful where object names have a structure to extract. Use the (?P<foo>...) named groups form to get column names.

--f5log-log-year=NoneType None

Override the default year used for log parsing. Use all four digits of the year (e.g., 2022). By default (None) use the year from the ctime of the file, or failing that the current year.

--f5log-log-timezone=str UTC

The timezone the source file is in, by default UTC.

--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)

--graphviz-edge-labels=bool True

whether to include edge labels on graphviz diagrams

--html-title=str <h2>{sheet.name}</h2>

table header when saving to html

--http-max-next=int 0

max next.url pages to follow in http response

--http-req-headers=dict {}

http headers to send to requests

--http-ssl-verify=bool True

verify host and certificates for https

--npy-allow-pickle False

numpy allow unpickling objects (unsafe)

--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)

--pdf-tables False

parse PDF for tables instead of pages of text

--postgres-schema=str public

The desired schema for the Postgres database

--s3-endpoint=str

alternate S3 endpoint, used for local testing or alternative S3-compatible services

--s3-glob=bool True

enable glob-matching for S3 paths

--s3-version-aware False

show all object versions in a versioned bucket

--sqlite-onconnect=str

sqlite statement to execute after opening a connection

--xlsx-meta-columns False

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

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

allow very deep trees and very long text content

--plt-marker=str .

matplotlib.markers

--plot-palette=str Set3

colorbrewer palette to use

--server-addr=str 127.0.0.1

IP address to listen for commands

--server-port=int 0

port to listen for commands

--fixer-api-key=str

API Key for api.apilayer.com/fixer

--fixer-cache-days=int 1

Cache days for currency conversions

--describe-aggrs=str mean stdev

numeric aggregators to calculate on Describe sheet

--hello-world=str ¡Hola mundo!

shown by the hello-world command

--incr-base=float 1.0

start value for column increments

--ping-count=int 3

send this many pings to each host

--ping-interval=float 0.1

wait between ping rounds, in seconds

--regex-maxsplit=int 0

maxsplit to pass to regex.split

--rename-cascade False

cascade column renames into expressions

--faker-locale=str en_US

default locale to use for Faker

--faker-extra-providers=NoneType None

list of additional Provider classes to load via add_provider()

--faker-salt=str

Use a non-empty string to enable deterministic fakes

--mailcap-mimetype=str

force mimetype for sysopen-mailcap

--unfurl-empty False

if unfurl includes rows for empty containers

Display Options

Display options can only be set via the Options Sheet or a .visidatarc (see Files).

disp_menu True

show menu on top line when not active

disp_menu_keys True

show keystrokes inline in submenus

color_menu black on 68 blue

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 68 blue

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 | VisiData {vd.version} | Alt+H for help menu

right-side menu format string

disp_float_fmt {:.02f}

default fmtstr to format float values

disp_int_fmt {:d}

default fmtstr to format int values

disp_formatter generic

formatter to create the text in each cell (also used by text savers)

disp_displayer generic

displayer to render the text in each cell

disp_splitwin_pct 0

height of second sheet on screen

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_cell

color of current cell, if different from color_current_row+color_current_col

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

color_clickable underline

color of internally clickable item

color_code bold white on 237

color of code sample

color_heading bold 200

color of header

color_guide_unwritten 243 on black

color of unwritten guides in GuideGuide

disp_rstatus_fmt {sheet.threadStatus} {sheet.keystrokeStatus} [:longname]{sheet.longname}[/] {sheet.nRows:9d} {sheet.rowtype} {sheet.modifiedStatus}{sheet.selectedStatus}{vd.replayStatus}

right-side status format string

disp_status_fmt [:onclick sheets-stack]{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 white on 237

color of input keystrokes

color_longname bold 52 on 114 green

color of command longnames

color_keys bold

color of keystrokes in help

color_status bold on 238

status line color

color_error 202 1

error message color

color_warning 166 15

warning message color

color_top_status underline

top window status bar color

color_active_status black on 68 blue

active window status bar color

color_inactive_status 8 on black

inactive window status bar color

color_highlight_status black on green

color of highlighted elements in statusbar

color_working 118 5

color of system running smoothly

color_edit_unfocused 238 on 110

display color for unfocused input in form

color_edit_cell 233 on 110

cell color to use when editing cell

disp_edit_fill _

edit field fill character

disp_unprintable ·

substitute character for unprintables

disp_date_fmt %Y-%m-%d

default fmtstr passed to strftime for date values

disp_currency_fmt %.02f

default fmtstr to format for currency values

color_currency_neg red

color for negative values in currency displayer

disp_replay_play ▶

status indicator for active replay

color_status_replay green

color of replay status indicator

disp_histogram ■

histogram element character

disp_graph_labels True

show axes and legend on graph

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

disp_zoom_incr 2.0

amount to multiply current zoomlevel when zooming

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

disp_graph_tick_x ╵

character for graph x-axis ticks

disp_help 2

show help panel during input

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

disp_sidebar True

whether to display sidebar

disp_sidebar_fmt {guide}

format string for default sidebar

disp_sidebar_width 0

max width for sidebar

disp_sidebar_height 0

max height for sidebar

color_sidebar black on 114 blue

base color of sidebar

color_sidebar_title black on yellow

color of sidebar title

color_match red

color for matching chars in palette chooser

color_f5log_mon_up green

color of f5log monitor status up

color_f5log_mon_down red

color of f5log monitor status down

color_f5log_mon_unknown blue

color of f5log monitor status unknown

color_f5log_mon_checking magenta

color of monitor status checking

color_f5log_mon_disabled black

color of monitor status disabled

color_f5log_logid_alarm red

color of alarms

color_f5log_logid_warn yellow

color of warnings

color_f5log_logid_notice cyan

color of notice

color_f5log_logid_info green

color of info

color_xword_active green

color of active clue

color_cmdpalette black on 72

base color of command palette

disp_cmdpal_max 10

max number of suggestions for command palette

color_shellcmd 21 on 114 green
color_colname underline
disp_scroll_context 0

minimum number of lines to keep visible above/below cursor when scrolling

disp_sparkline ▁▂▃▄▅▆▇

characters to display sparkline

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.vdj --replay-wait 1 --output tests/pivot.tsv

replay tests/pivot.vdj, 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. 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, .xz, ,zstd, and .zst files are decompressed on the fly.

Author

VisiData was made by Saul Pwanson <vd@saul.pw>.

Referenced By

The man page visidata(1) is an alias of vd(1).

January 15, 2024