sc-im

Start sc-im with a new spreadsheet

$ sc-im

$ sc-im [path/to/file]

$ sc-im --sheet=[2] [file.xlsx]

$ sc-im --xlsx_readformulas [file.xlsx]

$ sc-im --quiet [file]

$ sc-im --quit_afterload [script.sc]

sc-im [options] [file]

sc-im (Spreadsheet Calculator Improvised) is a terminal-based spreadsheet application with vim-like keybindings. It supports up to 65,536 rows and 702 columns, making it suitable for substantial data manipulation directly in the terminal.
The program uses ncurses for its interface and supports importing and exporting CSV, TSV, and XLSX files. It features complex formula support, macro recording, undo/redo functionality, and GNUPlot integration for charting. Cells can be colorized with 256-color support, and formatting like bold or underline can be applied.
Navigation follows vim conventions: h, j, k, l move between cells, gg jumps to the first cell, G goes to the last row, and w/b move to the next/previous cell with content. Configuration is stored in ~/.config/sc-im/scimrc.

--sheet=SHEET

Open specific sheet from XLSX file (name or number, default: 1)

Print version number and enabled features, then exit

Run interactively without the ncurses interface

Save results to specified file

Quit after loading files; useful for running scripts

Suppress info, error, and debug messages

Enable automatic recalculation

Digit starts numeric value instead of command multiplier

Scroll half page instead of full page

Cursor movement after entry (j for down, l for right)

Enable external functions

Import formulas from XLSX rather than final cell values

XLSX import may not preserve all Excel features; complex formulas or formatting might be lost. Large files can be slow to load. The vim-like interface has a learning curve for users unfamiliar with modal editors.

The original sc (Spreadsheet Calculator) was created by James Gosling and Mark Weiser in 1981 at Carnegie Mellon University. Development stalled around 2002. In 2015, Andrés Martinelli forked the project as sc-im, adding modern features like XLSX support, 256 colors, undo/redo, and Lua scripting while maintaining the terminal-based, vim-like interface.

sc(1), vim(1), gnuplot(1), csvtool(1)