±columns

Description

This command rearranges the table columns from reading (when input) or for output (when writing).
It defines which columns in which order shall be processed further and returned. It is also possible to omit some columns, and give a subset of all columns in a different order.

You can specify a comma-separated list of fields for output.
And you can also specify column ranges denoted with a hyphen. This way, all fields in between will be handled as if they were listed explicitly in their order.

Pattern

Usage examples

csvfox names.csv -columns=[City],[LastName],[Birth],[Driver License] nofirstnames.csv

This denotes all columns in the original order, but omits the column FirstName. The resulting CSV table is written to nofirstnames.csv.

nofirstnames.csv

City	LastName	Birth	Driver License
Rome	Bocelli	1958	y
Los Angeles	Columbo	1927	y
London	Poirot	1910	-
New York	Kojak	1922	y

csvfox names.csv -columns=[Driver License],[Birth],[LastName],[City] reverse_nofirstnames.csv

This reverses all columns order, and again omits the column FirstName. The resulting CSV table is written to reverse_nofirstnames.csv.

reverse_nofirstnames.csv

Driver License	Birth	LastName	City
y	1958	Bocelli	Rome
y	1927	Columbo	Los Angeles
-	1910	Poirot	London
y	1922	Kojak	New York

csvfox names.csv -columns=[City]-[LastName] city_names.csv

This command defines a range of three columns ( City, FirstName, and LastName) and the filename city_names.csv for output.

city_names.csv

City	FirstName	LastName
Rome	Andrea	Bocelli
Los Angeles	Lieutnant	Columbo
London	Hercule	Poirot
New York	Theodoros	Kojak

[Also an example for -columns=1,2,3,4,7 ?]

Hint

This command is meant for rearranging column output completely, or for writing only a few of many columns.
If you just want to prevent output of one or two CSV columns, consider using ±delete instead.