sqlite-utils insert --code option, closes #684

docs/changelog.rst

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ Unreleased
 ----------
 
 - ``sqlite-utils query`` can now read the SQL query from standard input by passing ``-`` in place of the query, for example ``echo "select * from dogs" | sqlite-utils query dogs.db -``. (:issue:`765`)
+- ``sqlite-utils insert`` and ``sqlite-utils upsert`` now accept a ``--code`` option for providing a block of Python code (or a path to a ``.py`` file) that defines a ``rows()`` function or ``rows`` iterable of rows to insert, as an alternative to importing from a file. (:issue:`684`)
 
 .. _v4_0:
 

docs/cli-reference.rst

@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ See :ref:`cli_inserting_data`, :ref:`cli_insert_csv_tsv`, :ref:`cli_insert_unstr
 
 ::
 
-    Usage: sqlite-utils insert [OPTIONS] PATH TABLE FILE
+    Usage: sqlite-utils insert [OPTIONS] PATH TABLE [FILE]
 
       Insert records from FILE into a table, creating the table if it does not
       already exist.
@@ -272,8 +272,20 @@ See :ref:`cli_inserting_data`, :ref:`cli_insert_csv_tsv`, :ref:`cli_insert_unstr
           echo 'A bunch of words' | sqlite-utils insert words.db words - \
             --text --convert '({"word": w} for w in text.split())'
 
+      Instead of a FILE you can use --code to provide a block of Python code that
+      defines the rows to insert, as either a rows() function that yields
+      dictionaries or a "rows" iterable. --code can also be a path to a .py file:
+
+          sqlite-utils insert data.db creatures --code '
+          def rows():
+              yield {"id": 1, "name": "Cleo"}
+              yield {"id": 2, "name": "Suna"}
+          ' --pk id
+
     Options:
       --pk TEXT                 Columns to use as the primary key, e.g. id
+      --code TEXT               Python code defining a rows() function or iterable
+                                of rows to insert
       --flatten                 Flatten nested JSON objects, so {"a": {"b": 1}}
                                 becomes {"a_b": 1}
       --nl                      Expect newline-delimited JSON
@@ -315,7 +327,7 @@ See :ref:`cli_upsert`.
 
 ::
 
-    Usage: sqlite-utils upsert [OPTIONS] PATH TABLE FILE
+    Usage: sqlite-utils upsert [OPTIONS] PATH TABLE [FILE]
 
       Upsert records based on their primary key. Works like 'insert' but if an
       incoming record has a primary key that matches an existing record the existing
@@ -332,6 +344,8 @@ See :ref:`cli_upsert`.
 
     Options:
       --pk TEXT                 Columns to use as the primary key, e.g. id
+      --code TEXT               Python code defining a rows() function or iterable
+                                of rows to insert
       --flatten                 Flatten nested JSON objects, so {"a": {"b": 1}}
                                 becomes {"a_b": 1}
       --nl                      Expect newline-delimited JSON

docs/cli.rst

@@ -1561,6 +1561,27 @@ The result looks like this:
     COMMIT;
 
 
+.. _cli_insert_code:
+
+Inserting rows generated by Python code
+=======================================
+
+Instead of providing a ``FILE`` to import, you can use the ``--code`` option to pass a block of Python code that generates the rows to insert. This is the command-line equivalent of calling ``db["creatures"].insert_all(rows())`` from the :ref:`Python API <python_api>`.
+
+Your code should define either a ``rows()`` function that returns or yields dictionaries, or a ``rows`` iterable such as a list of dictionaries:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    sqlite-utils insert data.db creatures --code '
+    def rows():
+        yield {"id": 1, "name": "Cleo"}
+        yield {"id": 2, "name": "Suna"}
+    ' --pk id
+
+``--code`` can also be given a path to a Python ``.py`` file.
+
+The ``--code`` option works with both ``sqlite-utils insert`` and ``sqlite-utils upsert``, and composes with table options such as ``--pk``, ``--replace``, ``--alter``, ``--not-null`` and ``--default``. It cannot be combined with a ``FILE`` argument or with input format options such as ``--csv`` or ``--convert``.
+
 .. _cli_insert_replace:
 
 Insert-replacing data