# Sheeter
Convert, inspect, and transform data files across **ten formats** — with streaming where it matters and auto-detection where it can.
Formats: `csv`, `tsv`, `json`, `ndjson`, `yaml`, `xml`, `toml`, `xlsx`, `ods`, `sql`.
> **Status: feature-complete.** v0.12.0 is the final minor release before v1.0.0.
> The CLI, `Format` enum, `CanonicalValue` variants, and `convert`/`convert_workbook`
> signatures are frozen. Remaining work before 1.0.0 is bug fixes and docs.
## Install
cargo install sheeter-engine
The installed binary is `sheeter`.
## Usage
sheeter convert --from <FMT> --to <FMT> [OPTIONS] <input> <output>
`--from` is optional: the format is detected from the file extension, or from
content when reading stdin. Use `-` for stdin or stdout. ZIP-based formats
(XLSX, ODS) are detected by inspecting the container.
### The Unix pipeline use case
# CSV from anywhere, filtered, as NDJSON, into jq
cat data.csv | sheeter convert --to ndjson --filter "age > 30" - - | jq -c .
# NDJSON from an API, as a CSV
curl -s api.example.com/users | sheeter convert --to csv - - | head
# Auto-detect anything from stdin (including XLSX and ODS)
some-tool emit | sheeter convert --to json - -
# What format is this, anyway?
sheeter detect mystery.bin
### Options
--sheet NAME Select one sheet (XLSX/ODS input only)
--dialect NAME SQL dialect: generic, postgresql, sqlite, mysql
--filter EXPR Filter rows (e.g. "age > 30 and city == 'SP'")
--select COLS Keep only these columns (comma-separated)
--rename PAIRS Rename columns (e.g. "old=new,foo=bar")
--limit N Keep at most N rows
--sort SPEC Sort by column(s) (e.g. "age desc,name")
--dedup Drop duplicate rows (whole row)
--dedup-by COLS Drop duplicates by column(s)
### Examples
# CSV → ODS, round-trip
sheeter convert --from csv --to ods data.csv data.ods
sheeter convert --from ods --to csv data.ods back.csv
# Multi-sheet XLSX → one CSV per sheet
sheeter convert --from xlsx --to csv report.xlsx report.csv
# Sort large CSV in bounded memory
sheeter convert --from csv --to csv --sort "age desc" big.csv sorted.csv
# Inspect any data file
sheeter inspect --format xlsx report.xlsx
## How it works
Every reader produces a `CanonicalValue`; every writer consumes one. Adding
a new format costs one reader and one writer, not `N-1` pairwise converters.
`CanonicalValue::Bytes` carries binary columns from Parquet-capable readers
(XLSX, future Parquet), round-tripping them through JSON via `{"$binary": ...}`
and through SQL via `X'hex'`.
## Streaming vs buffered
| CSV/TSV → CSV/TSV (no `--sort`) | Constant | Per row |
| CSV/TSV → CSV/TSV (`--sort`) | Bounded by 50k-row chunk | With external sort |
| CSV/TSV ↔ NDJSON | Constant | Per row |
| NDJSON ↔ NDJSON | Constant | Per row |
| Any other pair | Full document in memory | Via hub round-trip |
## How this compares
| **Sheeter** | 10 | CSV/TSV/NDJSON | Yes | filter, select, rename, limit, sort, dedup |
| `dasel` | 7 | No | No | Limited |
| `yq` | 3 (YAML/JSON/XML) | No | No | jq syntax |
| `miller` | 5 | CSV/TSV/JSON | No | DSL |
| `qsv` | CSV only | Yes | Schema sniff | Rich |
| `dkit` | 6 | No | Yes | Limited |
## Versioning
This project follows [Semantic Versioning 2.0.0](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
Changelog follows [Keep a Changelog 1.1.0](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/).
Commit messages follow [Conventional Commits 1.0.0](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/).