The reliance on terminal programming environments is increasing in the world of computer engineering, especially among engineers and developers who work on embedded systems or in high-performance computing. From here, the need emerges for tools that support handling spreadsheet files such as Excel without having to move to the well-known graphical user interfaces. In this article, we review five effective tools that work through the command line on Linux systems, allowing reading, editing, and viewing Excel files as well as CSV files, serving various programming and analytical uses.
💻 Introduction: The Importance of Command-Line Tools in Computer Engineering
In the field of computer engineering, engineers often need to deal with large, structured data within programmed projects or embedded systems, where a desktop environment is not available or using the graphical interface is not practical.
Therefore, Command-Line Tools play an important role in facilitating the entry, modification, and viewing of data associated with spreadsheet files such as Excel and CSV files. These tools focus on speed, lightweight design, and the ability to automate through scripts, making them an excellent partner for compilers and high-performance computing platforms.
⚙️ The Five Tools for Controlling Excel Files via the Terminal
1. Sheets: A simple tool for editing CSV files with a terminal interface
CSV files are among the simplest spreadsheet formats, as they contain plain text data without formulas or complex formatting. The Sheets tool relies on an interactive text user interface (TUI) that allows browsing and editing these files flexibly, using common shortcuts such as those in the Vim editor.
Sheets supports navigation, text editing, row deletion, and many basic data operations, in addition to the ability to handle sequential input through Pipes, which makes it easy to integrate with other command-line tools.
- Works only with CSV files (not XLSX).
- A simple interface based on text and Vim bindings.
- Supports precise editing and modification of data through the command line.
2. excelchop: Extracting Excel data in text form
The excelchop tool focuses on extracting data from modern Excel files in XLSX format directly into organized text output.
This tool is suitable for programmers and engineers who need to convert Excel files into simpler formats such as tab-separated text for use in database updates or programmatic analysis.
- Full support for XLSX format (the open standard for Excel).
- Does not support old binary XLS files.
- Allows specifying certain data ranges (Ranges) for extraction.
3. xleak: A fast Excel file viewer and interactive user interface
xleak offers a viewing experience for Excel files through the terminal, with support for old XLS files alongside the latest XLSX formats.
The tool is characterized by responsiveness and an interactive interface based on ASCII-Art for displaying data, with some limited filtering and search features, making it suitable for quick tasks to review spreadsheet content without advanced editing.
- Full support for XLS and XLSX formats.
- A dynamic text viewing interface with keyboard shortcuts.
- Designed for viewing and searching, not editing.
4. VisiData: A multi-purpose tool for data analysis and visualization
VisiData is distinguished by being a powerful tool that uses an advanced TUI supporting colors, menus, and full mouse support within the terminal.
It is an ideal tool for interactive data analysis, including capabilities for data summarization, displaying statistical tables, and obtaining an initial visualization such as histograms within the interface.
It supports large files over broad ranges, in addition to the ability to work with multiple formats not limited to Excel only, such as JSON and SQLite, making it flexible in computer engineering environments where multiple data sources are common.
- Advanced data analysis with simplified statistical and graphical display.
- Easy support for very large files.
- Multiple supported formats and the ability to save and filter.
5. Vex: An Excel and CSV file editor through the terminal with filtering support
Vex targets users who want to modify the content of Excel and CSV files while providing an interactive user interface based on the usual interactions in text editors such as Vim.
The Vex tool supports filtering and data filtering, cell editing, row deletion, and inserting new data smoothly through easy-to-use shortcuts.
Although it supports XLS files, there are some limitations in handling this format because of third-party libraries, but performance with modern formats is good and stable.
- An advanced terminal editing interface similar to Vim.
- Good support for CSV files and modern XLSX formats.
- Direct filtering and editing capabilities within the terminal.
📡 Applications and the Importance of These Tools in the Era of the Internet of Things and Embedded Computing
These tools gain great importance in work environments that rely on embedded systems (Embedded Systems) and the Internet of Things (IoT), where access to large spreadsheet data is necessary but requires lightweight techniques that do not depend on graphical environments.
Developers and engineers in these fields benefit from these solutions to easily integrate data analytics into their software, while ensuring low resource consumption and smooth automation mechanisms with their CPU and SoC processors.
🔍 Conclusion: Developments and Future Prospects in Terminal Tools for Computer Engineering
Command-line tools have seen remarkable development to become more interactive and richer, meeting the usage details of developers and engineers who deal with data on a daily basis.
We can expect broader support for more complex formats and integration with AI tools on hardware (AI Accelerators), which would help speed up analysis processes directly from the terminal.
These systems also play a role in hardware security by enabling auditing and analysis of computer system data through methods that do not rely on graphical interfaces, thereby enhancing transparency and technical control aspects.
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