updated Changelog

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -4,6 +4,26 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/) and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org).
 
+## [v1.0.10](https://github.com/TLINDEN/tablizer/tree/v1.0.10) - 2022-10-15
+
+### Added
+
+- Added various sort modes: sort by time, by duration, numerical (-a -t -i)
+
+- Added possibility to modify sort order to descending (-D)
+
+- Added support  to specify a regexp in column  selector -c, which can
+  also be mixed with numerical column spec
+  
+- More unit tests
+
+### Fixed
+
+- Column specification  allowed to specify duplicate  columns like `-c
+  1,2,1,2` unchecked. Now this list will be deduplicated before use.
+
+
+
 ## [v1.0.9](https://github.com/TLINDEN/tablizer/tree/v1.0.9) - 2022-10-14
 
 [Full Changelog](https://github.com/TLINDEN/tablizer/compare/v1.0.8...v1.0.9)

CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md

@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 # No Code of Conduct
 
-This project does  **NOT** have a so called Code  of Conduct, nor will
+*TL;DR:* This project  does **NOT** have a so called  Code of Conduct,
-it ever get one.
+nor will it ever have one.
+
+## The Rant
 
 The reasons are somewhat complicated and  I'll try my best to document
 them here.
@@ -42,28 +44,22 @@ might be  sarcastic connotations I  don't understand or  references to
 historical figures, events  or traditions I don't know  and never have
 heard of.
 
-Juding over other peoples online behavior looks like a titanic task to
+Judging over other  peoples online behavior looks like  a titanic task
-me. It  is just not my  job to judge  others. I am not  legitimized or
+to me. It is just not my job  to judge others, I am not legitimized or
-authorized to do so.
+authorized to do so and I am not interested in this kind of business.
 
 Another huge  problem with ethical rules  is that you need  to outline
-and enforce  sanctions on thos who  violate the rules. But  since I am
+and enforce sanctions  on those who violate the rules.  But since I am
 not an  elected authority  how would I  be able to  do this?   I don't
 know.  And  what happens if  someone complains about myself?   Shall I
 remove myself from my own project? Come on!
 
-Last but  not least  there's the  law. I  am a  german citizen  and am
+Last but  not least there's  the law. So,  let's say someone  in india
-living  in relatively  freedom.  Unlike  many other  people living  in
+says  something insulting  to some  other developer  in an  issue.  Of
-democracies these days,  I myself fought for this very  freedom on the
+course german  law does not apply  to indian people. More,  the insult
-streets of  Leipzig in 1989.  I  saw the tanks, the  Stasi officers, I
+might actually  not be an insult  in india. In the  end, nothing would
-felt the  fear. But the laws  under I live  today and which I  have to
+happen.  Under  normal  circumstances, maintainers  would  delete  the
-adhere to, are only limited to the small speck on earth I am living on.
+posting, ban the user or remove push privileges etc.
-
-So, let's say someone in india  says something insulting to some other
-developer in an issue.  Of course  german law does not apply to indian
-people. More, the insult might actually  not be an insult in india. In
-the end, nothing would happen. Under normal circumstances, maintainers
-would delete the posting, ban the user or remove push privileges etc.
 
 But then, is there a way for  the offending user to defend himself? Of
 course not, since neither indian or german law alone applies. I cannot
@@ -71,13 +67,18 @@ go to  a german court  and sue the  guy and he  cannot do the  same in
 india. Or -  we possibly could but the judges  on both countries would
 just laugh and close the case.
 
-And let's not  even start talking about  there undemocratic "comitees"
-many projects are forming to  circumvent this problem.
-
 That  being said,  I  don't have  the  power nor  the  tools, nor  the
 authority to enforce serious sanctions  of any meaningful kind against
 others. Therefore I cannot outline any rules whatsoever.
 
+And let's not  even start talking about  there undemocratic "comitees"
+many projects  are forming to  circumvent this problem.  Some projects
+even  include  external  entities  like a  lawer  or  some  bureaucrat
+somewhere  just to  have the  ability  to complain  against a  comitee
+member. What a mess!
+
+
+
 ## So, which are the ethical rules within this project then?
 
 Well, there are none.
@@ -86,7 +87,8 @@ This project is  about code, not society. It doesn't  matter where you
 come from,  how you look,  how you think,  what you believe,  who your
 friends are, whay you  said or did sometime in the  past. I don't even
 care if you are a human being. You are an alien so bored that you need
-to submit code on github? Fine with me.
+to submit code on github? Fine with me. You're a convicted criminal? I
+don't give a shit!
 
 **The only thing I am interested here is Code and only Code.**
 

TODO

@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-

TODO.md

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+## Fixes to be implemented
+
+## Features to be implemented
+
+- add output modes yaml and csv
+
+- add --no-headers option
+
+-  add input  parsing support  for CSV  including unquoting  of stuff
+  like: `"xxx","1919 b"` etc, maybe an extra option for unquoting
+

cmd/root.go

@@ -60,15 +60,12 @@ var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 			return nil
 		}
 
-		err := lib.PrepareColumns()
+		err := lib.PrepareModeFlags()
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
-		err = lib.PrepareModeFlags()
+		lib.PrepareSortFlags()
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
 
 		return lib.ProcessFiles(args)
 	},
@@ -90,7 +87,13 @@ func init() {
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&ShowManual, "man", "m", false, "Display manual page")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&lib.Separator, "separator", "s", lib.DefaultSeparator, "Custom field separator")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&lib.Columns, "columns", "c", "", "Only show the speficied columns (separated by ,)")
+
+	// sort options
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().IntVarP(&lib.SortByColumn, "sort-by", "k", 0, "Sort by column (default: 1)")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&lib.SortDescending, "sort-desc", "D", false, "Sort in descending order (default: ascending)")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&lib.SortNumeric, "sort-numeric", "i", false, "sort according to string numerical value")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&lib.SortTime, "sort-time", "t", false, "sort according to time string")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&lib.SortAge, "sort-age", "a", false, "sort according to age (duration) string")
 
 	// output flags, only 1 allowed, hidden, since just short cuts
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&lib.OutflagExtended, "extended", "X", false, "Enable extended output")

cmd/tablizer.go

@@ -21,7 +21,11 @@ SYNOPSIS
           -M, --markdown           Enable markdown table output
           -O, --orgtbl             Enable org-mode table output
           -s, --separator string   Custom field separator
+          -a, --sort-age           sort according to age (duration) string
           -k, --sort-by int        Sort by column (default: 1)
+          -D, --sort-desc          Sort in descending order (default: ascending)
+          -i, --sort-numeric       sort according to string numerical value
+          -t, --sort-time          sort according to time string
           -v, --version            Print program version
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -64,7 +68,7 @@ DESCRIPTION
        NAME(1) READY(2) STATUS(3) RESTARTS(4) AGE(5)
 
     These numbers denote the column and you can use them to specify which
-    columns you want to have in your output:
+    columns you want to have in your output (see COLUMNS:
 
        kubectl get pods | tablizer -c1,3
 
@@ -78,7 +82,18 @@ DESCRIPTION
 
     Use the -k option to specify by which column to sort the tabular data
     (as in GNU sort(1)). The default sort column is the first one. To
-    disable sorting at all, supply 0 (Zero) to -k.
+    disable sorting at all, supply 0 (Zero) to -k. The default sort order is
+    ascending. You can change this to descending order using the option -D.
+    The default sort order is by string, but there are other sort modes:
+
+    -a --sort-age
+        Sorts duration strings like "1d4h32m51s".
+
+    -i --sort-numeric
+        Sorts numeric fields.
+
+    -t --sort-time
+        Sorts timestamps.
 
     Finally the -d option enables debugging output which is mostly useful
     for the developer.
@@ -107,6 +122,32 @@ DESCRIPTION
 
         kubectl get pods -A | tablizer "(?i)account"
 
+  COLUMNS
+    The parameter -c can be used to specify, which columns to display. By
+    default tablizer numerizes the header names and these numbers can be
+    used to specify which header to display, see example above.
+
+    However, beside numbers, you can also use regular expressions with -c,
+    also separated by comma. And you can mix column numbers with regexps.
+
+    Lets take this table:
+
+            PID TTY          TIME CMD
+          14001 pts/0    00:00:00 bash
+          42871 pts/0    00:00:00 ps
+          42872 pts/0    00:00:00 sed
+
+    We want to see only the CMD column and use a regex for this:
+
+        ps | tablizer -s '\s+' -c C
+        CMD(4)
+        bash
+        ps
+        tablizer
+        sed
+
+    where "C" is our regexp which matches CMD.
+
   OUTPUT MODES
     There might be cases when the tabular output of a program is way too
     large for your current terminal but you still need to see every column.

go.mod

@@ -4,15 +4,18 @@ go 1.18
 
 require (
 	github.com/alecthomas/repr v0.0.0-20180818092828-117648cd9897
+	github.com/araddon/dateparse v0.0.0-20210429162001-6b43995a97de
 	github.com/gookit/color v1.5.2
 	github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter v0.0.5
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.5.0
-	github.com/xo/terminfo v0.0.0-20210125001918-ca9a967f8778
+	github.com/xhit/go-str2duration/v2 v2.0.0
 )
 
 require (
 	github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.0.0 // indirect
-	github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.9 // indirect
+	github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.10 // indirect
+	github.com/rivo/uniseg v0.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5 // indirect
+	github.com/xo/terminfo v0.0.0-20210125001918-ca9a967f8778 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20210330210617-4fbd30eecc44 // indirect
 )

go.sum

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 github.com/alecthomas/repr v0.0.0-20180818092828-117648cd9897 h1:p9Sln00KOTlrYkxI1zYWl1QLnEqAqEARBEYa8FQnQcY=
 github.com/alecthomas/repr v0.0.0-20180818092828-117648cd9897/go.mod h1:xTS7Pm1pD1mvyM075QCDSRqH6qRLXylzS24ZTpRiSzQ=
+github.com/araddon/dateparse v0.0.0-20210429162001-6b43995a97de h1:FxWPpzIjnTlhPwqqXc4/vE0f7GvRjuAsbW+HOIe8KnA=
+github.com/araddon/dateparse v0.0.0-20210429162001-6b43995a97de/go.mod h1:DCaWoUhZrYW9p1lxo/cm8EmUOOzAPSEZNGF2DK1dJgw=
 github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.2/go.mod h1:tgQtvFlXSQOSOSIRvRPT7W67SCa46tRHOmNcaadrF8o=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
@@ -8,22 +10,29 @@ github.com/gookit/color v1.5.2 h1:uLnfXcaFjlrDnQDT+NCBcfhrXqYTx/rcCa6xn01Y8yI=
 github.com/gookit/color v1.5.2/go.mod h1:w8h4bGiHeeBpvQVePTutdbERIUf3oJE5lZ8HM0UgXyg=
 github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.0.0 h1:Z8tu5sraLXCXIcARxBp/8cbvlwVa7Z1NHg9XEKhtSvM=
 github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.0.0/go.mod h1:PxqpIevigyE2G7u3NXJIT2ANytuPF1OarO4DADm73n8=
-github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.9 h1:Lm995f3rfxdpd6TSmuVCHVb/QhupuXlYr8sCI/QdE+0=
 github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.9/go.mod h1:H031xJmbD/WCDINGzjvQ9THkh0rPKHF+m2gUSrubnMI=
+github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.10 h1:CoZ3S2P7pvtP45xOtBw+/mDL2z0RKI576gSkzRRpdGg=
+github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.10/go.mod h1:RAqKPSqVFrSLVXbA8x7dzmKdmGzieGRCM46jaSJTDAk=
 github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter v0.0.5 h1:P2Ga83D34wi1o9J6Wh1mRuqd4mF/x/lgBS7N7AbDhec=
 github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter v0.0.5/go.mod h1:hPp6KlRPjbx+hW8ykQs1w3UBbZlj6HuIJcUGPhkA7kY=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
+github.com/rivo/uniseg v0.1.0 h1:+2KBaVoUmb9XzDsrx/Ct0W/EYOSFf/nWTauy++DprtY=
+github.com/rivo/uniseg v0.1.0/go.mod h1:J6wj4VEh+S6ZtnVlnTBMWIodfgj8LQOQFoIToxlJtxc=
 github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0/go.mod h1:+Rmxgy9KzJVeS9/2gXHxylqXiyQDYRxCVz55jmeOWTM=
+github.com/scylladb/termtables v0.0.0-20191203121021-c4c0b6d42ff4/go.mod h1:C1a7PQSMz9NShzorzCiG2fk9+xuCgLkPeCvMHYR2OWg=
 github.com/spf13/cobra v1.5.0 h1:X+jTBEBqF0bHN+9cSMgmfuvv2VHJ9ezmFNf9Y/XstYU=
 github.com/spf13/cobra v1.5.0/go.mod h1:dWXEIy2H428czQCjInthrTRUg7yKbok+2Qi/yBIJoUM=
 github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5 h1:iy+VFUOCP1a+8yFto/drg2CJ5u0yRoB7fZw3DKv/JXA=
 github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5/go.mod h1:McXfInJRrz4CZXVZOBLb0bTZqETkiAhM9Iw0y3An2Bg=
 github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+wExME=
 github.com/stretchr/objx v0.4.0/go.mod h1:YvHI0jy2hoMjB+UWwv71VJQ9isScKT/TqJzVSSt89Yw=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.0/go.mod h1:6Fq8oRcR53rry900zMqJjRRixrwX3KX962/h/Wwjteg=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.1/go.mod h1:6Fq8oRcR53rry900zMqJjRRixrwX3KX962/h/Wwjteg=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.0 h1:pSgiaMZlXftHpm5L7V1+rVB+AZJydKsMxsQBIJw4PKk=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.0/go.mod h1:yNjHg4UonilssWZ8iaSj1OCr/vHnekPRkoO+kdMU+MU=
+github.com/xhit/go-str2duration/v2 v2.0.0 h1:uFtk6FWB375bP7ewQl+/1wBcn840GPhnySOdcz/okPE=
+github.com/xhit/go-str2duration/v2 v2.0.0/go.mod h1:ohY8p+0f07DiV6Em5LKB0s2YpLtXVyJfNt1+BlmyAsU=
 github.com/xo/terminfo v0.0.0-20210125001918-ca9a967f8778 h1:QldyIu/L63oPpyvQmHgvgickp1Yw510KJOqX7H24mg8=
 github.com/xo/terminfo v0.0.0-20210125001918-ca9a967f8778/go.mod h1:2MuV+tbUrU1zIOPMxZ5EncGwgmMJsa+9ucAQZXxsObs=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20210330210617-4fbd30eecc44 h1:Bli41pIlzTzf3KEY06n+xnzK/BESIg2ze4Pgfh/aI8c=

lib/common.go

@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ var (
 	validOutputmodes = "(orgtbl|markdown|extended|ascii)"
 
 	// main program version
-	Version = "v1.0.9"
+	Version = "v1.0.10"
 
 	// generated  version string, used  by -v contains  lib.Version on
 	//  main  branch,   and  lib.Version-$branch-$lastcommit-$date  on
@@ -77,6 +77,12 @@ var (
 
 	// sorting
 	SortByColumn   int
+	SortDescending bool
+
+	SortNumeric bool
+	SortTime    bool
+	SortAge     bool
+	SortMode    string
 )
 
 // contains a whole parsed table

lib/helpers.go

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/gookit/color"
 	"os"
 	"regexp"
+	"sort"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 )
@@ -36,22 +37,59 @@ func contains(s []int, e int) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
-func PrepareColumns() error {
+// parse columns list given with -c
+func PrepareColumns(data *Tabdata) error {
+	UseColumns = nil
 	if len(Columns) > 0 {
 		for _, use := range strings.Split(Columns, ",") {
+			if len(use) == 0 {
+				msg := fmt.Sprintf("Could not parse columns list %s: empty column", Columns)
+				return errors.New(msg)
+			}
+
 			usenum, err := strconv.Atoi(use)
+			if err != nil {
+				// might be a regexp
+				colPattern, err := regexp.Compile(use)
 				if err != nil {
 					msg := fmt.Sprintf("Could not parse columns list %s: %v", Columns, err)
 					return errors.New(msg)
 				}
+
+				// find matching header fields
+				for i, head := range data.headers {
+					if colPattern.MatchString(head) {
+						UseColumns = append(UseColumns, i+1)
+					}
+
+				}
+			} else {
+				// we digress from go  best practises here, because if
+				// a colum spec is not a number, we process them above
+				// inside the err handler  for atoi(). so only add the
+				// number, if it's really just a number.
 				UseColumns = append(UseColumns, usenum)
 			}
 		}
+
+		// deduplicate: put all values into a map (value gets map key)
+		// thereby  removing duplicates,  extract keys into  new slice
+		// and sort it
+		imap := make(map[int]int, len(UseColumns))
+		for _, i := range UseColumns {
+			imap[i] = 0
+		}
+		UseColumns = nil
+		for k := range imap {
+			UseColumns = append(UseColumns, k)
+		}
+		sort.Ints(UseColumns)
+	}
 	return nil
 }
 
-func numberizeHeaders(data *Tabdata) {
 // prepare headers: add numbers to headers
+func numberizeHeaders(data *Tabdata) {
 	numberedHeaders := []string{}
 	maxwidth := 0 // start from scratch, so we only look at displayed column widths
 
@@ -83,8 +121,8 @@ func numberizeHeaders(data *Tabdata) {
 	}
 }
 
-func reduceColumns(data *Tabdata) {
 // exclude columns, if any
+func reduceColumns(data *Tabdata) {
 	if len(Columns) > 0 {
 		reducedEntries := [][]string{}
 		var reducedEntry []string
@@ -136,6 +174,19 @@ func PrepareModeFlags() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func PrepareSortFlags() {
+	switch {
+	case SortNumeric:
+		SortMode = "numeric"
+	case SortAge:
+		SortMode = "duration"
+	case SortTime:
+		SortMode = "time"
+	default:
+		SortMode = "string"
+	}
+}
+
 func trimRow(row []string) []string {
 	// FIXME: remove this when we only use Tablewriter and strip in ParseFile()!
 	var fixedrow []string

lib/helpers_test.go

@@ -45,6 +45,23 @@ func Testcontains(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestPrepareColumns(t *testing.T) {
+	data := Tabdata{
+		maxwidthHeader: 5,
+		maxwidthPerCol: []int{
+			5,
+			5,
+			8,
+		},
+		columns: 3,
+		headers: []string{
+			"ONE", "TWO", "THREE",
+		},
+		entries: [][]string{
+			{
+				"2", "3", "4",
+			},
+		},
+	}
 	var tests = []struct {
 		input     string
 		exp       []int
@@ -52,14 +69,15 @@ func TestPrepareColumns(t *testing.T) {
 	}{
 		{"1,2,3", []int{1, 2, 3}, false},
 		{"1,2,", []int{}, true},
-		{"a,b", []int{}, true},
+		{"T", []int{2, 3}, false},
+		{"T,2,3", []int{2, 3}, false},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		testname := fmt.Sprintf("PrepareColumns-%s-%t", tt.input, tt.wanterror)
 		t.Run(testname, func(t *testing.T) {
 			Columns = tt.input
-			err := PrepareColumns()
+			err := PrepareColumns(&data)
 			if err != nil {
 				if !tt.wanterror {
 					t.Errorf("got error: %v", err)

lib/io.go

@@ -44,6 +44,12 @@ func ProcessFiles(args []string) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+
+		err = PrepareColumns(&data)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
 		printData(&data)
 	}
 

lib/parser.go

@@ -105,6 +105,12 @@ func parseFile(input io.Reader, pattern string) (Tabdata, error) {
 
 				idx++
 			}
+
+			// fill up missing fields, if any
+			for i := len(values); i < len(data.headers); i++ {
+				values = append(values, "")
+			}
+
 			data.entries = append(data.entries, values)
 		}
 	}

lib/parser_test.go

@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ asd    igig   cxxxncnc
 19191  EDD 1  X`
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
-		testname := fmt.Sprintf("parse-with-inverted-pattern-%t", tt.invert)
+		testname := fmt.Sprintf("parse-with-pattern-%s-inverted-%t", tt.pattern, tt.invert)
 		t.Run(testname, func(t *testing.T) {
 			InvertMatch = tt.invert
 
@@ -110,3 +110,41 @@ asd    igig   cxxxncnc
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestParserIncompleteRows(t *testing.T) {
+	data := Tabdata{
+		maxwidthHeader: 5,
+		maxwidthPerCol: []int{
+			5, 5, 1,
+		},
+		columns: 3,
+		headers: []string{
+			"ONE", "TWO", "THREE",
+		},
+		entries: [][]string{
+			{
+				"asd", "igig", "",
+			},
+			{
+				"19191", "EDD 1", "X",
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	table := `ONE    TWO    THREE  
+asd    igig
+19191  EDD 1  X`
+
+	readFd := strings.NewReader(table)
+	gotdata, err := parseFile(readFd, "")
+	Separator = DefaultSeparator
+
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Parser returned error: %s\nData processed so far: %+v", err, gotdata)
+	}
+
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(data, gotdata) {
+		t.Errorf("Parser returned invalid data, Regex: %s\nExp: %+v\nGot: %+v\n",
+			Separator, data, gotdata)
+	}
+}

lib/printer_test.go

@@ -153,11 +153,13 @@ func TestSortPrinter(t *testing.T) {
 	var tests = []struct {
 		data   Tabdata
 		sortby int
+		desc   bool
 		expect string
 	}{
 		{
 			data:   startdata,
 			sortby: 1,
+			desc:   false,
 			expect: `ONE(1)	TWO(2)	THREE(3) 
 abc   	345   	b1      	
 bcd   	234   	a2      	
@@ -167,6 +169,7 @@ cde   	123   	c3`,
 		{
 			data:   startdata,
 			sortby: 2,
+			desc:   false,
 			expect: `ONE(1)	TWO(2)	THREE(3) 
 cde   	123   	c3      	
 bcd   	234   	a2      	
@@ -176,11 +179,21 @@ abc   	345   	b1`,
 		{
 			data:   startdata,
 			sortby: 3,
+			desc:   false,
 			expect: `ONE(1)	TWO(2)	THREE(3) 
 bcd   	234   	a2      	
 abc   	345   	b1      	
 cde   	123   	c3`,
 		},
+		{
+			data:   startdata,
+			sortby: 1,
+			desc:   true,
+			expect: `ONE(1)	TWO(2)	THREE(3) 
+cde   	123   	c3      	
+bcd   	234   	a2      	
+abc   	345   	b1`,
+		},
 	}
 
 	NoColor = true
@@ -188,9 +201,11 @@ cde   	123   	c3`,
 	origStdout, reader := stdout2pipe(t)
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
-		testname := fmt.Sprintf("print-sorted-table-%d", tt.sortby)
+		testname := fmt.Sprintf("print-sorted-table-by-column-%d-desc-%t",
+			tt.sortby, tt.desc)
 		t.Run(testname, func(t *testing.T) {
 			SortByColumn = tt.sortby
+			SortDescending = tt.desc
 
 			printData(&tt.data)
 
@@ -212,3 +227,111 @@ cde   	123   	c3`,
 	// Restore
 	os.Stdout = origStdout
 }
+
+func TestSortByPrinter(t *testing.T) {
+	data := Tabdata{
+		maxwidthHeader: 8,
+		maxwidthPerCol: []int{
+			5,
+			9,
+			3,
+			26,
+		},
+		columns: 4,
+		headers: []string{
+			"NAME",
+			"DURATION",
+			"COUNT",
+			"WHEN",
+		},
+		entries: [][]string{
+			{
+				"beta",
+				"1d10h5m1s",
+				"33",
+				"3/1/2014",
+			},
+			{
+				"alpha",
+				"4h35m",
+				"170",
+				"2013-Feb-03",
+			},
+			{
+				"ceta",
+				"33d12h",
+				"9",
+				"06/Jan/2008 15:04:05 -0700",
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	var tests = []struct {
+		sortby string
+		column int
+		desc   bool
+		expect string
+	}{
+		{
+			column: 3,
+			sortby: "numeric",
+			desc:   false,
+			expect: `NAME(1)	DURATION(2)	COUNT(3)	WHEN(4)                    
+ceta   	33d12h     	9       	06/Jan/2008 15:04:05 -0700	
+beta   	1d10h5m1s  	33      	3/1/2014                  	
+alpha  	4h35m      	170     	2013-Feb-03`,
+		},
+		{
+			column: 2,
+			sortby: "duration",
+			desc:   false,
+			expect: `NAME(1)	DURATION(2)	COUNT(3)	WHEN(4)                    
+alpha  	4h35m      	170     	2013-Feb-03               	
+beta   	1d10h5m1s  	33      	3/1/2014                  	
+ceta   	33d12h     	9       	06/Jan/2008 15:04:05 -0700`,
+		},
+		{
+			column: 4,
+			sortby: "time",
+			desc:   false,
+			expect: `NAME(1)	DURATION(2)	COUNT(3)	WHEN(4)                    
+ceta   	33d12h     	9       	06/Jan/2008 15:04:05 -0700	
+alpha  	4h35m      	170     	2013-Feb-03               	
+beta   	1d10h5m1s  	33      	3/1/2014`,
+		},
+	}
+
+	NoColor = true
+	OutputMode = "ascii"
+	origStdout, reader := stdout2pipe(t)
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		testname := fmt.Sprintf("print-sorted-table-by-column-%d-desc-%t-sort-by-%s",
+			tt.column, tt.desc, tt.sortby)
+
+		t.Run(testname, func(t *testing.T) {
+			SortByColumn = tt.column
+			SortDescending = tt.desc
+			SortMode = tt.sortby
+
+			testdata := data
+			printData(&testdata)
+
+			buf := make([]byte, 1024)
+			n, err := reader.Read(buf)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			buf = buf[:n]
+			output := strings.TrimSpace(string(buf))
+
+			if output != tt.expect {
+				t.Errorf("sort column: %d, sortby: %s, got:\n%s\nwant:\n%s",
+					tt.column, tt.sortby, output, tt.expect)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+
+	// Restore
+	os.Stdout = origStdout
+}

lib/sort.go

@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@ along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 package lib
 
 import (
+	"github.com/araddon/dateparse"
+	str2duration "github.com/xhit/go-str2duration/v2"
 	"sort"
+	"strconv"
 )
 
 func sortTable(data *Tabdata, col int) {
@@ -41,6 +44,45 @@ func sortTable(data *Tabdata, col int) {
 
 	// actual sorting
 	sort.SliceStable(data.entries, func(i, j int) bool {
-		return data.entries[i][col] < data.entries[j][col]
+		return compare(data.entries[i][col], data.entries[j][col])
 	})
 }
+
+func compare(a string, b string) bool {
+	var comp bool
+
+	switch SortMode {
+	case "numeric":
+		left, err := strconv.Atoi(a)
+		if err != nil {
+			left = 0
+		}
+		right, err := strconv.Atoi(b)
+		if err != nil {
+			right = 0
+		}
+		comp = left < right
+	case "duration":
+		left, err := str2duration.ParseDuration(a)
+		if err != nil {
+			left = 0
+		}
+		right, err := str2duration.ParseDuration(b)
+		if err != nil {
+			right = 0
+		}
+		comp = left.Seconds() < right.Seconds()
+	case "time":
+		left, _ := dateparse.ParseAny(a)
+		right, _ := dateparse.ParseAny(b)
+		comp = left.Unix() < right.Unix()
+	default:
+		comp = a < b
+	}
+
+	if SortDescending {
+		comp = !comp
+	}
+
+	return comp
+}

tablizer.1

@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@
 .\" ========================================================================
 .\"
 .IX Title "TABLIZER 1"
-.TH TABLIZER 1 "2022-10-14" "1" "User Commands"
+.TH TABLIZER 1 "2022-10-15" "1" "User Commands"
 .\" For nroff, turn off justification.  Always turn off hyphenation; it makes
 .\" way too many mistakes in technical documents.
 .if n .ad l
@@ -159,7 +159,11 @@ tablizer \- Manipulate tabular output of other programs
 \&      \-M, \-\-markdown           Enable markdown table output
 \&      \-O, \-\-orgtbl             Enable org\-mode table output
 \&      \-s, \-\-separator string   Custom field separator
+\&      \-a, \-\-sort\-age           sort according to age (duration) string
 \&      \-k, \-\-sort\-by int        Sort by column (default: 1)
+\&      \-D, \-\-sort\-desc          Sort in descending order (default: ascending)
+\&      \-i, \-\-sort\-numeric       sort according to string numerical value
+\&      \-t, \-\-sort\-time          sort according to time string
 \&      \-v, \-\-version            Print program version
 .Ve
 .SH "DESCRIPTION"
@@ -209,7 +213,7 @@ have a numer associated with it, e.g.:
 .Ve
 .PP
 These numbers denote the column and  you can use them to specify which
-columns you want to have in your output:
+columns you want to have in your output (see \s-1COLUMNS\s0:
 .PP
 .Vb 1
 \&   kubectl get pods | tablizer \-c1,3
@@ -225,7 +229,19 @@ highlighted. You can disable this behavior with the \fB\-N\fR option.
 .PP
 Use the  \fB\-k\fR option to specify  by which column to  sort the tabular
 data (as in \s-1GNU\s0 \fBsort\fR\|(1)). The default sort column is the first one. To
-disable sorting at all, supply 0 (Zero) to \-k.
+disable sorting at all, supply 0  (Zero) to \-k. The default sort order
+is ascending. You can change this to descending order using the option
+\&\fB\-D\fR. The default  sort order is by string, but  there are other sort
+modes:
+.IP "\fB\-a \-\-sort\-age\fR" 4
+.IX Item "-a --sort-age"
+Sorts duration strings like \*(L"1d4h32m51s\*(R".
+.IP "\fB\-i \-\-sort\-numeric\fR" 4
+.IX Item "-i --sort-numeric"
+Sorts numeric fields.
+.IP "\fB\-t \-\-sort\-time\fR" 4
+.IX Item "-t --sort-time"
+Sorts timestamps.
 .PP
 Finally the  \fB\-d\fR option  enables debugging  output which  is mostly
 useful for the developer.
@@ -261,6 +277,38 @@ Example for a case insensitive search:
 .Vb 1
 \&    kubectl get pods \-A | tablizer "(?i)account"
 .Ve
+.SS "\s-1COLUMNS\s0"
+.IX Subsection "COLUMNS"
+The  parameter  \fB\-c\fR  can  be  used  to  specify,  which  columns  to
+display.  By default  tablizer numerizes  the header  names and  these
+numbers can  be used to specify  which header to display,  see example
+above.
+.PP
+However, beside  numbers, you  can also  use regular  expressions with
+\&\fB\-c\fR, also  separated by comma. And  you can mix column  numbers with
+regexps.
+.PP
+Lets take this table:
+.PP
+.Vb 4
+\&        PID TTY          TIME CMD
+\&      14001 pts/0    00:00:00 bash
+\&      42871 pts/0    00:00:00 ps
+\&      42872 pts/0    00:00:00 sed
+.Ve
+.PP
+We want to see only the \s-1CMD\s0 column and use a regex for this:
+.PP
+.Vb 6
+\&    ps | tablizer \-s \*(Aq\es+\*(Aq \-c C
+\&    CMD(4)
+\&    bash
+\&    ps
+\&    tablizer
+\&    sed
+.Ve
+.PP
+where \*(L"C\*(R" is our regexp which matches \s-1CMD.\s0
 .SS "\s-1OUTPUT MODES\s0"
 .IX Subsection "OUTPUT MODES"
 There might be cases  when the tabular output of a  program is way too

tablizer.pod

@@ -20,7 +20,11 @@ tablizer - Manipulate tabular output of other programs
       -M, --markdown           Enable markdown table output
       -O, --orgtbl             Enable org-mode table output
       -s, --separator string   Custom field separator
+      -a, --sort-age           sort according to age (duration) string
       -k, --sort-by int        Sort by column (default: 1)
+      -D, --sort-desc          Sort in descending order (default: ascending)
+      -i, --sort-numeric       sort according to string numerical value
+      -t, --sort-time          sort according to time string
       -v, --version            Print program version
 
 
@@ -67,7 +71,7 @@ have a numer associated with it, e.g.:
    NAME(1) READY(2) STATUS(3) RESTARTS(4) AGE(5)
 
 These numbers denote the column and  you can use them to specify which
-columns you want to have in your output:
+columns you want to have in your output (see L<COLUMNS>:
 
    kubectl get pods | tablizer -c1,3
 
@@ -81,7 +85,26 @@ highlighted. You can disable this behavior with the B<-N> option.
 
 Use the  B<-k> option to specify  by which column to  sort the tabular
 data (as in GNU sort(1)). The default sort column is the first one. To
-disable sorting at all, supply 0 (Zero) to -k.
+disable sorting at all, supply 0  (Zero) to -k. The default sort order
+is ascending. You can change this to descending order using the option
+B<-D>. The default  sort order is by string, but  there are other sort
+modes:
+
+=over
+
+=item B<-a --sort-age>
+
+Sorts duration strings like "1d4h32m51s".
+
+=item B<-i --sort-numeric>
+
+Sorts numeric fields.
+
+=item B<-t --sort-time>
+
+Sorts timestamps.
+
+=back
 
 Finally the  B<-d> option  enables debugging  output which  is mostly
 useful for the developer.
@@ -114,6 +137,35 @@ Example for a case insensitive search:
     kubectl get pods -A | tablizer "(?i)account"
 
 
+=head2 COLUMNS
+
+The  parameter  B<-c>  can  be  used  to  specify,  which  columns  to
+display.  By default  tablizer numerizes  the header  names and  these
+numbers can  be used to specify  which header to display,  see example
+above.
+
+However, beside  numbers, you  can also  use regular  expressions with
+B<-c>, also  separated by comma. And  you can mix column  numbers with
+regexps.
+
+Lets take this table:
+
+        PID TTY          TIME CMD
+      14001 pts/0    00:00:00 bash
+      42871 pts/0    00:00:00 ps
+      42872 pts/0    00:00:00 sed
+
+We want to see only the CMD column and use a regex for this:
+
+    ps | tablizer -s '\s+' -c C
+    CMD(4)
+    bash
+    ps
+    tablizer
+    sed
+
+where "C" is our regexp which matches CMD.
+
 =head2 OUTPUT MODES
 
 There might be cases  when the tabular output of a  program is way too