Understanding Rows¶
Rows in VisiData are pretty straightforward. The most important things you need to know are how to select/unselect them, move them, and edit their cells.
Selecting and Unselecting Rows¶
Many VisiData commands — such as filtering — distinguish between selected and unselected rows. You can select and unselect rows in a few ways:
One row at a time¶
| Keystroke(s) | Action |
|---|---|
| s | Select the current row |
| u | Unselect the current row |
| t | Toggle the current row between selected/unselected |
For instance, pressing s while on the second row of the FAA dataset should have the following effect:
File Edit View Column Row Data Plot System Help | VisiData 3.0.2 | Alt+H for help men OPERATOR │ ATYPE │ INCIDENT_DATE │ STATE │ AIRPORT │ PHASE_OF_FLT> BUSINESS │ PA-28 │ 05/22/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ VERO BEACH MUNICIP…│ APPROACH │ •BUSINESS │ BE-1900 │ 06/18/15 00:00:00 │ AK │ KENAI MUNICIPAL AR…│ APPROACH │ BUSINESS │ PA-46 MALIBU │ 09/20/15 00:00:00 │ TX │ DAVID WAYNE HOOKS …│ │ DELTA AIR LINES │ B-717-200 │ 11/07/15 00:00:00 │ MO │ LAMBERT-ST LOUIS I…│ APPROACH │ BUSINESS │ BE-90 KING │ 12/17/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ POMPANO BEACH AIRP…│ LANDING ROLL │ DELTA AIR LINES │ B-757 │ 07/17/15 00:00:00 │ VI │ HENRY E ROHLSEN AR…│ │ DELTA AIR LINES │ B-717-200 │ 08/02/15 00:00:00 │ TX │ SAN ANTONIO INTL │ APPROACH │ BUSINESS │ C-414 │ 08/03/15 00:00:00 │ TX │ LONE STAR EXECUTIV…│ DEPARTURE │ ALLEGIANT AIR │ MD-80 │ 09/02/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ TAMPA INTL │ APPROACH │ TRANS STATES AIRLI…│ EMB-145 │ 09/07/15 00:00:00 │ MO │ LAMBERT-ST LOUIS I…│ APPROACH │ BUSINESS │ C-172 │ 11/28/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ OPA-LOCKA EXECUTIV…│ APPROACH │ GOVERNMENT │ EC120 │ 12/08/15 00:00:00 │ CA │ NORMAN Y. MINETA S…│ │ AMERICAN AIRLINES │ A-321 │ 05/06/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ FORT LAUDERDALE/HO…│ APPROACH │ EXPRESSJET AIRLINES│ CRJ100/200 │ 05/06/15 00:00:00 │ AR │ FORT SMITH REGIONA…│ CLIMB │ MESA AIRLINES │ CRJ900 │ 05/08/15 00:00:00 │ AR │ BILL AND HILLARY …│ LANDING ROLL │ BUSINESS │ HELICOPTER │ 05/06/15 00:00:00 │ │ UNKNOWN │ En Route │ DELTA AIR LINES │ A-320 │ 05/07/15 00:00:00 │ CA │ METRO OAKLAND INTL │ │ DELTA AIR LINES │ A-320 │ 05/08/15 00:00:00 │ UT │ SALT LAKE CITY INTL│ │ LUFTHANSA │ A-380 │ 05/10/15 00:00:00 │ TX │ GEORGE BUSH INTERC…│ CLIMB │ BUSINESS │ C-172 │ 05/08/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ ORLANDO SANFORD IN…│ APPROACH │ SPIRIT AIRLINES │ A-319 │ 05/10/15 00:00:00 │ IL │ CHICAGO O'HARE INT…│ CLIMB │ 1› faa-wildlife-strikes| s select-row 73448 rows •1
VisiData has highlighted that row and indicated the number of selected rows (the •1 in the bottom-right corner).
All rows at the same time¶
| Keystroke(s) | Action |
|---|---|
| gs | Select all rows |
| gu | Unselect all rows |
| gt | Toggle all rows between selected/unselected |
By matching patterns¶
| Keystroke(s) | Action |
|---|---|
| | + term | Select all rows where term matches the current column |
| \ + term | Unselect all rows where term matches the current column |
| g| + term | Select all rows where term matches any column |
| g\ + term | Unselect all rows where term matches any column |
| , | Select all rows where the current column matches this row’s value for that column |
| g, | Select all rows matching the current row (for all non-hidden columns) |
For instance, if you take the following steps:
- Navigate to the
STATEcolumn - Press |
- Type
TX - Press Enter
… you should see this:
File Edit View Column Row Data Plot System Help | VisiData 3.0.2 | Alt+H for help men OPERATOR │ ATYPE │ INCIDENT_DATE │ STATE │ AIRPORT │ PHASE_OF_FLT> BUSINESS │ PA-28 │ 05/22/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ VERO BEACH MUNICIP…│ APPROACH │ BUSINESS │ BE-1900 │ 06/18/15 00:00:00 │ AK │ KENAI MUNICIPAL AR…│ APPROACH │ •BUSINESS │ PA-46 MALIBU │ 09/20/15 00:00:00 │ TX │ DAVID WAYNE HOOKS …│ │ DELTA AIR LINES │ B-717-200 │ 11/07/15 00:00:00 │ MO │ LAMBERT-ST LOUIS I…│ APPROACH │ BUSINESS │ BE-90 KING │ 12/17/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ POMPANO BEACH AIRP…│ LANDING ROLL │ DELTA AIR LINES │ B-757 │ 07/17/15 00:00:00 │ VI │ HENRY E ROHLSEN AR…│ │ •DELTA AIR LINES │ B-717-200 │ 08/02/15 00:00:00 │ TX │ SAN ANTONIO INTL │ APPROACH │ •BUSINESS │ C-414 │ 08/03/15 00:00:00 │ TX │ LONE STAR EXECUTIV…│ DEPARTURE │ ALLEGIANT AIR │ MD-80 │ 09/02/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ TAMPA INTL │ APPROACH │ TRANS STATES AIRLI…│ EMB-145 │ 09/07/15 00:00:00 │ MO │ LAMBERT-ST LOUIS I…│ APPROACH │ BUSINESS │ C-172 │ 11/28/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ OPA-LOCKA EXECUTIV…│ APPROACH │ GOVERNMENT │ EC120 │ 12/08/15 00:00:00 │ CA │ NORMAN Y. MINETA S…│ │ AMERICAN AIRLINES │ A-321 │ 05/06/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ FORT LAUDERDALE/HO…│ APPROACH │ EXPRESSJET AIRLINES│ CRJ100/200 │ 05/06/15 00:00:00 │ AR │ FORT SMITH REGIONA…│ CLIMB │ MESA AIRLINES │ CRJ900 │ 05/08/15 00:00:00 │ AR │ BILL AND HILLARY …│ LANDING ROLL │ BUSINESS │ HELICOPTER │ 05/06/15 00:00:00 │ │ UNKNOWN │ En Route │ DELTA AIR LINES │ A-320 │ 05/07/15 00:00:00 ┌─────────────────────────────| statuses |─┐│ DELTA AIR LINES │ A-320 │ 05/08/15 00:00:00 │ search wrapped ││ •LUFTHANSA │ A-380 │ 05/10/15 00:00:00 │ 7309 matches for /TX/ ││ BUSINESS │ C-172 │ 05/08/15 00:00:00 │ selected 7309 rows ││ SPIRIT AIRLINES │ A-319 │ 05/10/15 00:00:00 └──────────────────────────────────────────┘│ 1› faa-wildlife-strikes| | select-col-regex 73448 rows •7309
Via expressions¶
In VisiData, you can select rows by evaluating a given Python expression for every row in your dataset.
Tip
If you’re unfamiliar with Python, no worries. You can find an overview of simple and handy expressions here.
These expressions can reference any column in your dataset (so long as the column name contains only letters, underscores, and numbers, and doesn’t start with a number; in the next chapter, you’ll learn how to rename columns). The two keystrokes for this are z| and z\:
| Keystroke(s) | Action |
|---|---|
| z| + expr | Select all rows where expr evaluates to True |
| z\ + expr | Unselect all rows where expr evaluates to True |
For instance, if you take the following steps:
- Type gu to unselect all rows
- Type z|
- Type
OPERATOR == "BUSINESS" and STATE == "FL" - Press Enter
… you should see this:
File Edit View Column Row Data Plot System Help | VisiData 3.0.2 | Alt+H for help men OPERATOR │ ATYPE │ INCIDENT_DATE │ STATE │ AIRPORT │ PHASE_OF_FLT> •BUSINESS │ PA-28 │ 05/22/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ VERO BEACH MUNICIP…│ APPROACH │ BUSINESS │ BE-1900 │ 06/18/15 00:00:00 │ AK │ KENAI MUNICIPAL AR…│ APPROACH │ BUSINESS │ PA-46 MALIBU │ 09/20/15 00:00:00 │ TX │ DAVID WAYNE HOOKS …│ │ DELTA AIR LINES │ B-717-200 │ 11/07/15 00:00:00 │ MO │ LAMBERT-ST LOUIS I…│ APPROACH │ •BUSINESS │ BE-90 KING │ 12/17/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ POMPANO BEACH AIRP…│ LANDING ROLL │ DELTA AIR LINES │ B-757 │ 07/17/15 00:00:00 │ VI │ HENRY E ROHLSEN AR…│ │ DELTA AIR LINES │ B-717-200 │ 08/02/15 00:00:00 │ TX │ SAN ANTONIO INTL │ APPROACH │ BUSINESS │ C-414 │ 08/03/15 00:00:00 │ TX │ LONE STAR EXECUTIV…│ DEPARTURE │ ALLEGIANT AIR │ MD-80 │ 09/02/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ TAMPA INTL │ APPROACH │ TRANS STATES AIRLI…│ EMB-145 │ 09/07/15 00:00:00 │ MO │ LAMBERT-ST LOUIS I…│ APPROACH │ •BUSINESS │ C-172 │ 11/28/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ OPA-LOCKA EXECUTIV…│ APPROACH │ GOVERNMENT │ EC120 │ 12/08/15 00:00:00 │ CA │ NORMAN Y. MINETA S…│ │ AMERICAN AIRLINES │ A-321 │ 05/06/15 00:00:00 │ FL │ FORT LAUDERDALE/HO…│ APPROACH │ EXPRESSJET AIRLINES│ CRJ100/200 │ 05/06/15 00:00:00 │ AR │ FORT SMITH REGIONA…│ CLIMB │ MESA AIRLINES │ CRJ900 │ 05/08/15 00:00:00 │ AR │ BILL AND HILLARY …│ LANDING ROLL │ BUSINESS │ HELICOPTER │ 05/06/15 00:00:00 │ │ UNKNOWN │ En Route │ DELTA AIR LINES │ A-320 │ 05/07/15 00:00:00 │ CA │ METRO OAKLAND INTL │ │ DELTA AIR LINES │ A-320 │ 05/08/15 00:00:00 │ UT │ SALT LAKE CITY INTL│ │ LUFTHANSA │ A-380 │ 05/10/15 00:00:00 ┌─────────────────────────────| statuses |─┐│ •BUSINESS │ C-172 │ 05/08/15 00:00:00 │ selected 625 rows ││ SPIRIT AIRLINES │ A-319 │ 05/10/15 00:00:00 └──────────────────────────────────────────┘│ 1› faa-wildlife-strikes| z| select-expr 73448 rows •625
Tip
Likewise, you can search via expressions using z/ (search forward) and z? (search backward).
Moving Rows¶
You can move the position of row up or down using the following commands:
| Keystroke(s) | Action |
|---|---|
| Shift-K | Move row up one spot |
| Shift-J | Move row down one spot |
Editing Row Cells¶
Even if you don’t want to edit your raw data in VisiData, knowing how to edit cells will still come in handy, since virtually everything — including settings — in VisiData is represented as columns and rows.
Here are the most basic commands:
| Keystroke(s) | Action |
|---|---|
| e | Begin editing current cell |
| Enter | Finish editing |
| Control-c | Cancel editing |
| Control-a | Move to beginning of line |
| Control-e | Move to end of line |
| Control-k | Clear contents from cursor’s position to end of line |
Other keys — such as Delete, standard characters, and the arrow keys — work as expected. You can find a handful of additional special commands in VisiData’s quick reference.