±split

Split a CSV column into two columns, using a separator or a position

Description

Splits a column into two columns by inserting a new one after the current (named) column. The content is split between the current and the new column.

There are four modes of splitting:

split at the separator. The separator itself will be lost.
split/l (split left). The separator will be appended to the left (existing) column.
split/r (split right). The separator will be prepended to the right (new) column.
split/n (split at position). Split after the n'th character of the existing column.

Pattern

±split[CurrentColumn]@[NewColumn] ±split[CurrentColumn]@[NewColumn]=separator ±split/mode[CurrentColumn]@[NewColumn]=separator

The separator string (separator) is defined by the parameter. The character string behind the separator will be transferred to the new column.
If no separator is given, then the '/' is assumed.
If the separator is not found in the column contents, the new column remains empty.
The separator can be an expression, which is resolved. Examples:

Usage examples:

csvfox fullnames.csv -split[Name]@["Last Name"]=" " +rename[Name]=["First Name"] firstlastnames.csv

This CSV table will be used in the following examples:

fullnames.csv
City	Name	Birth	Driver License
Rome	Andrea Bocelli	1958	y
Los Angeles	Lieutnant Columbo	1927	y
London	Hercule Poirot	1910	-
New York	Theodoros Kojak	1922	y

The new column Last Name shall become separated from the current column Name by a whitespace. That whitespace is lost.
After this, the column Name was renamed to First Name for correctness.The resulting CSV table is written to firstlastnames.csv.

firstlastnames.csv
City	First Name	Last Name	Birth	Driver License
Rome	Andrea	Bocelli	1958	y
Los Angeles	Lieutnant	Columbo	1927	y
London	Hercule	Poirot	1910	-
New York	Theodoros	Kojak	1922	y

-split/l[Name]@["Right Part"]="o" +rename[Name]=["Left Part"]

The new column is separated from the existing column Name at the first occurrence of the character "o". The "o" is appended to the current (left) column.

City	Left Part	Right Part	Birth	Driver License
Rome	Andrea Bo	celli	1958	y
Los Angeles	Lieutnant Co	lumbo	1927	y
London	Hercule Po	irot	1910	-
New York	Theo	doros Kojak	1922	y

-split/r[Name]@["Right Part"]="o" +rename[Name]=["Left Part"]

The new column is separated from the existing column Name at the first occurrence of the character "o". The "o" is prepended to the new (right) column.

City	Left Part	Right Part	Birth	Driver License
Rome	Andrea B	ocelli	1958	y
Los Angeles	Lieutnant C	olumbo	1927	y
London	Hercule P	oirot	1910	-
New York	The	odoros Kojak	1922	y

-split/n[Name]@["Right Part"]=5 +rename[Name]=["Left Part"]

The new column is separated from the existing column Name after the fifth character.

City	Left Part	Right Part	Birth	Driver License
Rome	Andre	a Bocelli	1958	y
Los Angeles	Lieut	nant Columbo	1927	y
London	Hercu	le Poirot	1910	-
New York	Theod	oros Kojak	1922	y

-split/n[Name]@["Right Part"]=-5 +rename[Name]=["Left Part"]

A negative number means counting the position from the right end: The new column will consist of the last five characters of the existing column Name.

City	Left Part	Right Part	Birth	Driver License
Rome	Andrea Bo	celli	1958	y
Los Angeles	Lieutnant Co	lumbo	1927	y
London	Hercule P	oirot	1910	-
New York	Theodoros	Kojak	1922	y

Hint

You cannot swap or change the column destinations at this point in a way that the new column with the last part of the contents will be on the left side to the existing one. Instead, you will control the output visibility and order of the columns with the ±columns command. There you can specify any desired order of the columns.