ColumnSort 2.0

Version 2.0 adds settings and with this the possibility to either
specify a column-separation character or let ColumnSort auto-detect the
separation character. The user can also specify to skip the column
header and the sorting order.

Author: MatiMax

ColumnSort.py

@@ -1,23 +1,29 @@
 #    Plugin: ColumnSort
 #    Author: Matthias M. Schneider
-#   Verison: 1.0
-# Copyright: None - Published under the GPL
+#   Verison: 2.0
+# Copyright: IDC (I Don't Care) - Published under the GPL
 #   Purpose: Sort lines by detecting columns separated by a tab character.
 #	         The user can then choose the column to be used as sort key from a quick panel.
 #            The plugin uses two commands as the handler of the pick panel has no access to the edit token,
 #            so a second command is called with parameters to sort and replace the text.
 import sublime, sublime_plugin
 
+AUTO_FIELD_SEPARATORS = "\t,;:|/#"
 
 class ColumnSortCommand(sublime_plugin.TextCommand):
 	"""
 	Command: column_sort
 	"""
-	def run(self, edit, rows_cols, col_num):
+	def run(self, edit, rows_cols, col_num, field_separator, skip_header, ascending):
+		# Check if the first line of the selection should be skipped
+		starting_row = 1 if skip_header is True else 0
 		# Sort the array of arrays with columns using a lambda function (see the Python Sort How-to)
-		rows_cols.sort(key=lambda col:col[col_num])
-		# Produce the text for replacement by using a generator and according join function calls. Mind the trailing new-line character
-		sorded = "\n".join(["\t".join(row) for row in rows_cols]) + "\n"
+		rows_cols_head = rows_cols[0:starting_row]
+		rows_cols_tail = rows_cols[starting_row:]
+		rows_cols_tail.sort(key=lambda col:col[col_num], reverse=ascending)
+		rows_cols = rows_cols_head + rows_cols_tail
+		# Produce the text for replacement by using a generator and according join function calls. Mind the trailling new-line character.
+		sorded = "\n".join([field_separator.join(row) for row in rows_cols]) + "\n"
 		# Now replace the selected text
 		self.view.replace(edit, self.view.sel()[0], sorded)
 
@@ -26,19 +32,48 @@ class ColumnPickCommand(sublime_plugin.TextCommand):
 	"""
 	Command: column_pick
 	"""
-
 	rows_cols = None
+	field_separator = None
+	skip_header = None
+	ascending = None
 
 	def run(self, edit):
 		# Get the selected text and split it in lines using a Sublime function
 		text_lines = self.view.substr(self.view.sel()[0]).splitlines()
-		# Use a generator with the split function to get an array of arrays containing lines with its columns
-		self.rows_cols = [line.split('\t') for line in text_lines]
+		# Return early if there is no selection
+		if text_lines is None or len(text_lines) == 0: return
+
+		# Load the settings afresh for each run
+		settings = sublime.load_settings("ColumnSort.sublime-settings")
 
+		# Set up the instance variables
+		self.field_separator = settings.get('columnsort_field_separator')
+		self.skip_header = settings.get('columnsort_skip_header')
+		self.ascending = {'ascending': False, 'descending': True}[settings.get('columnsort_sort_direction')]
+
+		# Check the field separator setting and try to find one if the setting is "auto"
+		if self.field_separator == "auto":
+			self.field_separator = None
+			for fs in AUTO_FIELD_SEPARATORS:
+				if len(text_lines[0].split(fs)) > 1:
+					self.field_separator = fs
+					break
+
+		# Return if no field separator could be detected, so sorting will not be promoted
+		if self.field_separator is None: return
+		
+		# Use a generator with the split function to get an array of arrays containing lines with its columns
+		self.rows_cols = [line.split(self.field_separator) for line in text_lines]
 		# Show a quick panel containing the values of the columns of the first line
 		self.view.window().show_quick_panel(self.rows_cols[0], self.column_selected)
 
 	def column_selected(self, col_num):
 		# If the user didn't abort the action actually run the column_sort command
 		if col_num >= 0:
-			self.view.run_command('column_sort', {'rows_cols':self.rows_cols, 'col_num':col_num})
+			self.view.run_command('column_sort', {
+				'rows_cols':self.rows_cols,
+				'col_num':col_num,
+				'field_separator': self.field_separator,
+				'skip_header': self.skip_header,
+				'ascending': self.ascending
+			})

ColumnSort.sublime-settings

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+{
+	/*
+	Field separation character, or "auto" if ColumnSort should try to detect columns separated by
+	one of the following characters:
+		● Tabulator (\t)
+		● Comma (,)
+		● Semicolon (;)
+		● Colon (:)
+		● Vertical Bar (|)
+		● Forward Slash (/)
+		● Hash (#)
+
+	NOTE 1: The order of the field separation characters listed here is also defining their priority in
+	        which they will be detected and processed. As a consequence, a file which contains more than
+	        one field separation character will be split into columns by the first occurrence of those
+	        characters in top to bottom order.
+	NOTE 2: Currently "string escaping" using single or double quotes is not supported by the splitting
+	        method used. It is therefore highly recommended to stick with tab-separation for a hasslefree
+	        and reliable operation.
+	*/
+	"columnsort_field_separator": "auto",
+	
+	/*
+	ColumnSort cannot predict if the selected text contains a header line or not. Set this property to
+	either true or false to indicate if you want to force a default.
+	If the property is set to true the first row of the selection will be only used for	column heading
+	display purposes and left alone during sorting which will then begin with the second line of the
+	selection.
+	*/
+	"columnsort_skip_header": true,
+
+	/*
+	The sorting can be defined to be "ascending" or "descending" by default.
+	*/
+	"columnsort_sort_direction": "ascending"
+}

Default.sublime-commands

@@ -1,4 +1,11 @@
 [
+    {
+        "caption": "Preferences: ColumnSort – Default",
+        "command": "open_file",
+        "args": {
+            "file": "${packages}/ColumnSort/ColumnSort.sublime-settings",
+        }
+    },
     {
         "caption": "Preferences: ColumnSort Key Bindings – Default",
         "command": "open_file",
@@ -23,6 +30,13 @@
             "platform": "Linux"
         }
     },
+    {
+        "caption": "Preferences: ColumnSort – User",
+        "command": "open_file",
+        "args": {
+            "file": "${packages}/User/ColumnSort.sublime-settings",
+        }
+    },
     {
         "caption": "Preferences: ColumnSort Key Bindings – User",
         "command": "open_file",

Main.sublime-menu

@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@
                         "caption": "ColumnSort",
                         "children":
                         [
+                            { "command": "open_file", "args": { "file": "${packages}/ColumnSort/ColumnSort.sublime-settings",                               }, "caption": "Settings – Default"      },
+                            { "command": "open_file", "args": { "file": "${packages}/User/ColumnSort.sublime-settings",                                     }, "caption": "Settings – User"         },
                             { "command": "open_file", "args": { "file": "${packages}/ColumnSort/Default (Windows).sublime-keymap",  "platform": "Windows"   }, "caption": "Key Bindings – Default"  },
                             { "command": "open_file", "args": { "file": "${packages}/ColumnSort/Default (OSX).sublime-keymap",      "platform": "OSX"       }, "caption": "Key Bindings – Default"  },
                             { "command": "open_file", "args": { "file": "${packages}/ColumnSort/Default (Linux).sublime-keymap",    "platform": "Linux"     }, "caption": "Key Bindings – Default"  },

README.md

@@ -1,15 +1,50 @@
 # ColumnSort
 ColumnSort is a plugin package for Sublime Text version 3 which provides a simple means of sorting tab-separated text by column.
 ## Limitations
-* ColumnSort currently only works with tabular text which has its columns separated with a tab character ('\t' or '\x09').
-* Currently only ascending sorting is available.
+* ColumnSort allows to either specify the column (field) separation character, or let ColumnSort try to auto-detect the separator via the settings.
+* Either ascending or descending sorting is available via the settings.
 
 ## Usage
 1. Install the package either
    * by copyping the package to Sublime's package folder using the menu entry <kbd>Browse Packages…</kbd>, or
    * by using the very convenient [Package Control](https://packagecontrol.io) plugin and choosing the <kbd>Install Package</kbd> command from the command palette.
-2. Open a file with tab-separated content, or produce or paste suchlike text in a buffer.
+2. Open a file with column-separated content, or produce or paste suchlike text in a buffer.
 3. Select the lines you want to include to be sorted.
 4. Press <kbd>Cmd Ctrl X</kbd> on the Mac, <kbd>Ctrl Meta X</kbd> on Linux or <kbd>Ctrl Alt X</kbd> on Windows. This will produce a popup window which displays the content of the first row as separate entries to choose from. The idea behind this is that often the first row contains header descriptions which makes identifying the data in the columns much easier.
 5. Select an entry in the popup window with the up and down arrow keys and press <kbd>Return</kbd> or <kbd>Enter</kbd>, or click on an entry with the mouse.
 6. The selected text will be **replaced** with the sorted text.
+
+## Settings
+The settings file currently has the following options to tinkle with:
+
+### <kbd>columnsort\_field\_separator</kbd> (default: <kbd>"auto"</kbd>)
+
+Field separation character, or "auto" if ColumnSort should try to detect columns separated by
+one of the following characters:
+* Tabulator (\t)
+* Comma (,)
+* Semicolon (;)
+* Colon (:)
+* Vertical Bar (|)
+* Forward Slash (/)
+* Hash (#)
+
+NOTE 1: The order of the field separation characters listed here is also defining their priority in
+        which they will be detected and processed. As a consequence, a file which contains more than
+        one field separation character will be split into columns by the first occurrence of those
+        characters in top to bottom order.
+
+NOTE 2: Currently "string escaping" using single or double quotes is not supported by the splitting
+        method used. It is therefore highly recommended to stick with tab-separation for a hasslefree
+        and reliable operation.
+
+### <kbd>columnsort\_skip\_header</kbd> (default: <kbd>true</kbd>)
+ColumnSort cannot predict if the selected text contains a header line or not. Set this property to
+either true or false to indicate if you want to force a default.
+
+If the property is set to true the first row of the selection will be only used for	column heading
+display purposes and left alone during sorting which will then begin with the second line of the
+selection.
+
+### <kbd>columnsort\_sort\_direction</kbd> (default: <kbd>"ascending"</kbd>)
+The sorting can be defined to be <kbd>"ascending"</kbd> or <kbd>"descending"</kbd> by default.