--tsv output option, closes #193

docs/cli.rst

@@ -122,14 +122,14 @@ You can use the ``--json-cols`` option to automatically detect these JSON column
                 }
             ]
         }
-    ]
+    ]-
 
 .. _cli_query_csv:
 
 Running queries and returning CSV
 =================================
 
-You can use the ``--csv`` option (or ``-c`` shortcut) to return results as CSV::
+You can use the ``--csv`` option to return results as CSV::
 
     $ sqlite-utils dogs.db "select * from dogs" --csv
     id,age,name
@@ -142,6 +142,13 @@ This will default to including the column names as a header row. To exclude the
     1,4,Cleo
     2,2,Pancakes
 
+Use ``--tsv`` instead of ``--csv`` to get back tab-separated values::
+
+    $ sqlite-utils dogs.db "select * from dogs" --tsv
+    id	age	name
+    1	4	Cleo
+    2	2	Pancakes
+
 .. _cli_query_table:
 
 Running queries and outputting a table
@@ -189,7 +196,7 @@ You can return every row in a specified table using the ``rows`` command::
     [{"id": 1, "age": 4, "name": "Cleo"},
      {"id": 2, "age": 2, "name": "Pancakes"}]
 
-This command accepts the same output options as ``query`` - so you can pass ``--nl``, ``--csv``, ``--no-headers``, ``--table`` and ``--fmt``.
+This command accepts the same output options as ``query`` - so you can pass ``--nl``, ``--csv``, ``--tsv``, ``--no-headers``, ``--table`` and ``--fmt``.
 
 .. _cli_tables:
 
@@ -203,7 +210,7 @@ You can list the names of tables in a database using the ``tables`` command::
      {"table": "cats"},
      {"table": "chickens"}]
 
-You can output this list in CSV using the ``--csv`` option::
+You can output this list in CSV using the ``--csv`` or ``--tsv`` options::
 
     $ sqlite-utils tables mydb.db --csv --no-headers
     dogs
@@ -241,7 +248,7 @@ Use ``--schema`` to include the schema of each table::
                [age] INTEGER,
                [name] TEXT)
 
-The ``--nl``, ``--csv`` and ``--table`` options are all available.
+The ``--nl``, ``--csv``, ``--tsv`` and ``--table`` options are all available.
 
 .. _cli_views:
 
@@ -263,6 +270,7 @@ It takes the same options as the ``tables`` command:
 * ``--counts``
 * ``--nl``
 * ``--csv``
+* ``--tsv``
 * ``--table``
 
 .. _cli_inserting_data:
@@ -894,7 +902,7 @@ Once you have configured full-text search for a table, you can search it using `
 
     $ sqlite-utils search mydb.db documents searchterm
 
-This command accepts the same output options as ``sqlite-utils query``: ``--table``, ``--csv``, ``--nl`` etc.
+This command accepts the same output options as ``sqlite-utils query``: ``--table``, ``--csv``, ``--tsv``, ``--nl`` etc.
 
 By default it shows the most relevant matches first. You can specify a different sort order using the ``-o`` option, which can take a column or a column followed by ``desc``::
 

sqlite_utils/cli.py

@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ def output_options(fn):
                 default=False,
             ),
             click.option("--csv", is_flag=True, help="Output CSV"),
+            click.option("--tsv", is_flag=True, help="Output TSV"),
             click.option("--no-headers", is_flag=True, help="Omit CSV headers"),
             click.option("-t", "--table", is_flag=True, help="Output as a table"),
             click.option(
@@ -120,6 +121,7 @@ def tables(
     nl,
     arrays,
     csv,
+    tsv,
     no_headers,
     table,
     fmt,
@@ -161,8 +163,8 @@ def tables(
 
     if table:
         print(tabulate.tabulate(_iter(), headers=headers, tablefmt=fmt))
-    elif csv:
-        writer = csv_std.writer(sys.stdout)
+    elif csv or tsv:
+        writer = csv_std.writer(sys.stdout, dialect="excel-tab" if tsv else "excel")
         if not no_headers:
             writer.writerow(headers)
         for row in _iter():
@@ -201,6 +203,7 @@ def views(
     nl,
     arrays,
     csv,
+    tsv,
     no_headers,
     table,
     fmt,
@@ -218,6 +221,7 @@ def views(
         nl=nl,
         arrays=arrays,
         csv=csv,
+        tsv=tsv,
         no_headers=no_headers,
         table=table,
         fmt=fmt,
@@ -930,6 +934,7 @@ def query(
     nl,
     arrays,
     csv,
+    tsv,
     no_headers,
     table,
     fmt,
@@ -958,8 +963,8 @@ def query(
                 sys.stdout.write(str(data))
         elif table:
             print(tabulate.tabulate(list(cursor), headers=headers, tablefmt=fmt))
-        elif csv:
-            writer = csv_std.writer(sys.stdout)
+        elif csv or tsv:
+            writer = csv_std.writer(sys.stdout, dialect="excel-tab" if tsv else "excel")
             if not no_headers:
                 writer.writerow(headers)
             for row in cursor:
@@ -1003,6 +1008,7 @@ def search(
     nl,
     arrays,
     csv,
+    tsv,
     no_headers,
     table,
     fmt,
@@ -1039,6 +1045,7 @@ def search(
         nl=nl,
         arrays=arrays,
         csv=csv,
+        tsv=tsv,
         no_headers=no_headers,
         table=table,
         fmt=fmt,
@@ -1065,6 +1072,7 @@ def rows(
     nl,
     arrays,
     csv,
+    tsv,
     no_headers,
     table,
     fmt,
@@ -1079,6 +1087,7 @@ def rows(
         nl=nl,
         arrays=arrays,
         csv=csv,
+        tsv=tsv,
         no_headers=no_headers,
         table=table,
         fmt=fmt,

tests/test_cli.py

@@ -62,24 +62,37 @@ def test_tables_counts_and_columns(db_path):
     ) == result.output.strip()
 
 
-def test_tables_counts_and_columns_csv(db_path):
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "format,expected",
+    [
+        (
+            "--csv",
+            (
+                "table,count,columns\n"
+                'Gosh,0,"c1\n'
+                "c2\n"
+                'c3"\n'
+                'Gosh2,0,"c1\n'
+                "c2\n"
+                'c3"\n'
+                'lots,30,"id\n'
+                'age"'
+            ),
+        ),
+        (
+            "--tsv",
+            "table\tcount\tcolumns\nGosh\t0\t['c1', 'c2', 'c3']\nGosh2\t0\t['c1', 'c2', 'c3']\nlots\t30\t['id', 'age']",
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_tables_counts_and_columns_csv(db_path, format, expected):
     db = Database(db_path)
     with db.conn:
         db["lots"].insert_all([{"id": i, "age": i + 1} for i in range(30)])
     result = CliRunner().invoke(
-        cli.cli, ["tables", "--counts", "--columns", "--csv", db_path]
+        cli.cli, ["tables", "--counts", "--columns", format, db_path]
     )
-    assert (
-        "table,count,columns\n"
-        'Gosh,0,"c1\n'
-        "c2\n"
-        'c3"\n'
-        'Gosh2,0,"c1\n'
-        "c2\n"
-        'c3"\n'
-        'lots,30,"id\n'
-        'age"'
-    ) == result.output.strip()
+    assert result.output.strip() == expected
 
 
 def test_tables_schema(db_path):
@@ -809,7 +822,14 @@ def test_insert_alter(db_path, tmpdir):
     ] == db.execute_returning_dicts("select foo, n, baz from from_json_nl")
 
 
-def test_query_csv(db_path):
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "format,expected",
+    [
+        ("--csv", "id,name,age\n1,Cleo,4\n2,Pancakes,2\n"),
+        ("--tsv", "id\tname\tage\n1\tCleo\t4\n2\tPancakes\t2\n"),
+    ],
+)
+def test_query_csv(db_path, format, expected):
     db = Database(db_path)
     with db.conn:
         db["dogs"].insert_all(
@@ -819,15 +839,15 @@ def test_query_csv(db_path):
             ]
         )
     result = CliRunner().invoke(
-        cli.cli, [db_path, "select id, name, age from dogs", "--csv"]
+        cli.cli, [db_path, "select id, name, age from dogs", format]
     )
     assert 0 == result.exit_code
-    assert "id,name,age\n1,Cleo,4\n2,Pancakes,2\n" == result.output
+    assert result.output == expected
     # Test the no-headers option:
     result = CliRunner().invoke(
-        cli.cli, [db_path, "select id, name, age from dogs", "--no-headers", "--csv"]
+        cli.cli, [db_path, "select id, name, age from dogs", "--no-headers", format]
     )
-    assert "1,Cleo,4\n2,Pancakes,2\n" == result.output
+    assert result.output.strip() == "\n".join(expected.split("\n")[1:]).strip()
 
 
 _all_query = "select id, name, age from dogs"