csv2tsv
Convert CSV files to TSV files
TLDR
Convert from CSV to TSV
Convert field delimiter separated CSV to TSV
Convert semicolon separated CSV to TSV
SYNOPSIS
csv2tsv < input.csv > output.tsv
DESCRIPTION
The `csv2tsv` command is a simple utility used to convert Comma Separated Values (CSV) files to Tab Separated Values (TSV) files. This is useful when you need to work with data in a format that's easier to parse with tools that expect tab-delimited data.
Essentially, it replaces all commas within a CSV file with tab characters. The command reads from standard input and writes to standard output, allowing it to be easily piped with other command-line tools. It does not offer advanced options for handling quoted fields, escaping special characters, or customizing the delimiter beyond simply changing commas to tabs. Because of this simple, single-purpose design, it may not be suitable for complex CSV files that include commas within quoted strings. It is most effective for simple CSV files where the data elements do not contain embedded commas.
CAVEATS
The command doesn't handle quoted fields, so CSV files with commas inside quotes will not be converted correctly. It is a basic conversion tool suitable only for simple CSV files.
USAGE EXAMPLE
To convert a CSV file named 'data.csv' to a TSV file named 'data.tsv', you would use the following command: csv2tsv < data.csv > data.tsv
This will read the content of data.csv, replace the commas with tabs, and write the result to data.tsv.
PIPING
You can use the pipe symbol '|' to directly pass the output of one command to csv2tsv.
For example, if you had a command 'generate_csv' that outputs a CSV file to standard output, you could convert it to TSV and save it:generate_csv | csv2tsv > output.tsv