Install csvlens on Ubuntu 24.04

The csvlens is a command line tool specifically designed for viewing CSV (Comma-Separated Values) files. It offers a range of functionalities that make it easy to inspect and navigate through the contents of CSV files. It works like the less command but is made specifically for CSV files. This tutorial shows how to install csvlens on Ubuntu 24.04.

Install csvlens

Download the newest version of csvlens from GitHub:

wget -qO csvlens.tar.xz https://github.com/YS-L/csvlens/releases/latest/download/csvlens-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.xz

Create temporary directory and extract a tar.xz file:

mkdir csvlens-temp

tar xf csvlens.tar.xz --strip-components=1 -C csvlens-temp

Place the executable in the /usr/local/bin directory:

sudo mv csvlens-temp/csvlens /usr/local/bin

We can check csvlens version with command:

csvlens --version

Delete the downloaded file and the temporary directory:

rm -rf csvlens.tar.xz csvlens-temp

Testing csvlens

Create simple CSV file:

echo -e 'name,age\nJohn,25\nJames,29\nOliver,35\nEmma,31' > test.csv

Execute csvlens command with the CSV file name as an argument:

csvlens test.csv

Now, you can navigate through the CSV file to view different parts of the data. Use the arrow keys to scroll through the content. Press the q key to exit the viewer.

Uninstall csvlens

To remove csvlens completely, delete its corresponding file:

sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/csvlens