Working With Large Cells¶
Sometimes, values in a dataset are too large to display entirely in a single row. VisiData provides a few ways to view these large cells:
- Multiline mode
- Scrolling within cells
- Diving into cells
In the examples below, we’ll examine the REMARKS column of the FAA dataset:
File Edit View Column Row Data Plot System Help Ctrl+H for help menu <PERSON | REMAINS_COLLECTED | REMARKS Tower | 0 | N9240F was right base to final on Runway 4, and he reported a bird s…║ Tower | 0 | ON FINAL, PILOT REPORTED HEARING IMPACT. AFTER LANDING AND INSPECTIN…║ Tower | 0 | N952G, P46T/G, bird strike, no injuries reported, damage to vortex g…║ Tower | 0 | NO EMERGENCY: AFTER THE AIRCRAFT WAS AT THE GATE THE PILOT OF DAL939…║ Tower | 0 | MEDFLY1, A BE9L, VFR, LANDED RY 15. UPON CONTACTING GC, PILOT ADVISE…║ Tower | 0 | DAL571 EXPERIENCED A BIRD INGESTION ON ARRIVAL TO STT ON JULY 17. TH…║ Tower | 0 | DAL1356 ADVISED LOCAL CONTROL OF A BIRD STRIKE SHORT FINAL/OVER THE …║ Tower | 0 | N999RK WAS DEPARTING TO 87I AND ON DEPARTURE STRUCK A BIRD AND IT WA…║ Tower | 0 | AAY843,MD80, ADVSD TPA APCH HE ENCOUNTERED BIRD STRIKE ON RADOME, BE…║ Tower | 0 | LOF3351 hit a large bird, thought it was an owl, over the threshold,…║ Tower | 0 | N5352K EXPERIENCED A BIRD STRIKE ON A 3-MILE FINAL FOR RWY 9R. THE A…║ Tower | 0 | POLICE1 reported being struck by a seagull on the left front side of…║ Tower | 0 | PILOT OF AAL1702 REPORTED BIRD STRIKE ON FINAL FOR RUNWAY 10L AT 150…║ Tower | 0 | ASQ2607 REPORTED A BIRD STRIKE DURING TAKE OFF. PILOT STATED IT WAS …║ Tower | 0 | ASH5753 WAS CLEARED TO LAND ON RY22L WHEN THEY HIT A BIRD IN THE FLA…║ Tower | 0 | CMD8 BIRD STRIKE. NEGATIVE EMERGENCY. MAKING PRECAUTIONARY LANDING …║ Tower | 0 | DAL 1253-BIRD STRIKE REPORTED AFTER LANDING. ║ Tower | 0 | Delta Airlines called to report a birdstrike on DAL2384 who had arri…║ Tower | 0 | DLH441 reported receiving bird strikes climbing through 100 approxim…║ Tower | 0 | AIRCRAFT ENCOUNTERED BIRD STRIKE OUTSIDE 5 MILES OF SFB WHILE ON APP…║ Tower | 0 | Aircraft reported bird strike climbing out of 12000ft and requested …║ 1› faa-wildlife-strikes| l go-right 73448 rows •0
Enabling multiline mode¶
By default, VisiData displays each row on a single line. You can switch to multiline mode (and toggle back out of it) by pressing v. Here’s what that looks like:
File Edit View Column Row Data Plot System Help Ctrl+H for help menu <PERSON | REMAINS_COLLECTED | REMARKS Tower | 0 | N9240F was right base to final on Runway 4, and he reported a bird ║ strike to the left wing. He did not need any assistance. He landed ║ and taxied to the ramp, and said there was only minor damage done to ║ the left wing. ║ Tower | 0 | ON FINAL, PILOT REPORTED HEARING IMPACT. AFTER LANDING AND ║ INSPECTING AIRCRAFT, PILOT DISCOVERED DENT IN TIRE BOOT. UPON RUNWAY ║ INSPECTION A BIRD CARCASS WAS FOUND ON RUNWAY NORTH OF TAXIWAY ║ DELTA. ║ Tower | 0 | N952G, P46T/G, bird strike, no injuries reported, damage to vortex ║ generator, pilot's name is Robert Nipper, 713-539-0797. ║ ║ ║ Tower | 0 | NO EMERGENCY: AFTER THE AIRCRAFT WAS AT THE GATE THE PILOT OF DAL939 ║ ADVISED THAT THEY HAD A BIRD STRIKE ON A 2 MILE FINAL TO RWY30R. A ║ BIRD STRUCK THE RIGHT WING AND THE LANDING LIGHT. THE LANDING LIGHT ║ WAS SHATTERED AND THERE WAS NO DAMAGE ON THE RIGHT ║ Tower | 0 | MEDFLY1, A BE9L, VFR, LANDED RY 15. UPON CONTACTING GC, PILOT ║ ADVISED HE HAD EXPERIENCED A BIRD STRIKE AND REQUESTED INSTRUCTIONS ║ TO TAXI TO THE RAMP TO INSPECT THE ACFT. THE PILOT CALLED THE TOWER ║ AND ADVISED THE THAT THE AIRCRAFT HAD LIGHT DAMAGE TO THE ║ Tower | 0 | DAL571 EXPERIENCED A BIRD INGESTION ON ARRIVAL TO STT ON JULY 17. TH…║ 1› faa-wildlife-strikes| v visibility-sheet 73448 rows •0
Note
The default row height in multiline mode is 4 lines, but you can adjust this through VisiData’s default_height setting.
Scrolling within cells¶
To see more of a cell in single-line mode, you can scroll back and forth within a column using the following commands:
| Keystrokes | Action |
|---|---|
| zh | Scroll text left |
| zl | Scroll text right |
| zj | Scroll text down |
| zk | Scroll text up |
| gzh | Scroll back to leftmost character |
| gzk | Scroll back to topmost character |
Here’s how it looks in practice, starting with the same view as above:
File Edit View Column Row Data Plot System Help Ctrl+H for help menu <PERSON | REMAINS_COLLECTED | REMARKS Tower | 0 | N9240F was right base to final on Runway 4, and he reported a bird s…║ Tower | 0 | ON FINAL, PILOT REPORTED HEARING IMPACT. AFTER LANDING AND INSPECTIN…║ Tower | 0 | N952G, P46T/G, bird strike, no injuries reported, damage to vortex g…║ Tower | 0 | NO EMERGENCY: AFTER THE AIRCRAFT WAS AT THE GATE THE PILOT OF DAL939…║ Tower | 0 | MEDFLY1, A BE9L, VFR, LANDED RY 15. UPON CONTACTING GC, PILOT ADVISE…║ Tower | 0 | DAL571 EXPERIENCED A BIRD INGESTION ON ARRIVAL TO STT ON JULY 17. TH…║ Tower | 0 | DAL1356 ADVISED LOCAL CONTROL OF A BIRD STRIKE SHORT FINAL/OVER THE …║ Tower | 0 | N999RK WAS DEPARTING TO 87I AND ON DEPARTURE STRUCK A BIRD AND IT WA…║ Tower | 0 | AAY843,MD80, ADVSD TPA APCH HE ENCOUNTERED BIRD STRIKE ON RADOME, BE…║ Tower | 0 | LOF3351 hit a large bird, thought it was an owl, over the threshold,…║ Tower | 0 | N5352K EXPERIENCED A BIRD STRIKE ON A 3-MILE FINAL FOR RWY 9R. THE A…║ Tower | 0 | POLICE1 reported being struck by a seagull on the left front side of…║ Tower | 0 | PILOT OF AAL1702 REPORTED BIRD STRIKE ON FINAL FOR RUNWAY 10L AT 150…║ Tower | 0 | ASQ2607 REPORTED A BIRD STRIKE DURING TAKE OFF. PILOT STATED IT WAS …║ Tower | 0 | ASH5753 WAS CLEARED TO LAND ON RY22L WHEN THEY HIT A BIRD IN THE FLA…║ Tower | 0 | CMD8 BIRD STRIKE. NEGATIVE EMERGENCY. MAKING PRECAUTIONARY LANDING …║ Tower | 0 | DAL 1253-BIRD STRIKE REPORTED AFTER LANDING. ║ Tower | 0 | Delta Airlines called to report a birdstrike on DAL2384 who had arri…║ Tower | 0 | DLH441 reported receiving bird strikes climbing through 100 approxim…║ Tower | 0 | AIRCRAFT ENCOUNTERED BIRD STRIKE OUTSIDE 5 MILES OF SFB WHILE ON APP…║ Tower | 0 | Aircraft reported bird strike climbing out of 12000ft and requested …║ 1› faa-wildlife-strikes| v visibility-sheet 73448 rows •0
After typing zh, the REMARKS column now looks like this:
File Edit View Column Row Data Plot System Help Ctrl+H for help menu <PERSON | REMAINS_COLLECTED | REMARKS Tower | 0 |…trike to the left wing. He did not need any assistance. He landed …║ Tower | 0 |…G AIRCRAFT, PILOT DISCOVERED DENT IN TIRE BOOT. UPON RUNWAY INSPECTI…║ Tower | 0 |…enerator, pilot's name is Robert Nipper, 713-539-0797. ║ Tower | 0 |… ADVISED THAT THEY HAD A BIRD STRIKE ON A 2 MILE FINAL TO RWY30R. A …║ Tower | 0 |…D HE HAD EXPERIENCED A BIRD STRIKE AND REQUESTED INSTRUCTIONS TO TAX…║ Tower | 0 |…E PILOT DID NOT REPORT A BIRD STRIKE TO THE ATCT. THE ATCT DID NOT F…║ Tower | 0 |…NUMBERS TO RY12R. THE B717 LANDED WITHOUT INCIDENT. PILOT ADVISED …║ Tower | 0 |…S INJESTED INTO THE RIGHT ENGINE. THE AIRCRAFT HAD MADE A PRECAUTION…║ Tower | 0 |…LOW 1ST OFFICERS' WINDOW, 30 NNE PIE AT 6,000 FT. PILOT KEVIN VAN TA…║ Tower | 0 |… taxied in and his taxi light was not working. ║ Tower | 0 |…IRCRAFT LANDED WITHOUT INCIDENT. THE STUDENT THINKS IT WAS A LARGER …║ Tower | 0 |… the windshield. Pilot: Chris Dominguez, (408) 219-8588, Moderate to…║ Tower | 0 |…0FT. NO DAMAGE REPORTED. SMALL BIRD ON WINDSHIELD. ║ Tower | 0 |…A SMALL BIRD. NO DAMAGE WAS REPORTED. ASQ2607 CLIMB WITHOUT ISSUE AN…║ Tower | 0 |…RE OVER THE RUNWAY. BIRD WAS DESCRIBED AS SMALL AND BLACK. RY OPS …║ Tower | 0 |…AT OAK. ║ Tower | 0 |… ║ Tower | 0 |…ved RWY16R. ║ Tower | 0 |…ately 13 miles east of IAH. The aircraft was IMC and unable to deter…║ Tower | 0 |…ROACH CONTROL FREQUENCY. AIRCRAFT RETURNED BACK TO SFB AND LANDED RW…║ Tower | 0 |…leveling at 13000. Declared emergency with stall indication in one e…║ 1› faa-wildlife-strikes| zl scroll-cells-right 73448 rows •0
Diving into cells¶
Pressing z + Enter “dives” into your current cell, opening a “Text Sheet” that contains only that cell’s value:
File Edit View Column Row Data Plot System Help Ctrl+H for help menu text N9240F was right base to final on Runway 4, and he reported a bird strike to the left wing. He d… 2› faa-wildlife-strikes[['0']].REMARKS| zEnter 1 lines •0
If your cell’s value contains newlines, they’ll appear as such in the Text Sheet. From a Text Sheet, you also can press Control-o to open the cell in your terminal’s default text editor.
Tip
Similarly, whenever you’re editing a cell within VisiData (i.e., via the e command), you can also run Control-o to open that cell in your terminal’s default text editor.