6 ms·

Volbx – Qt-based spreadsheet app for data manipulation

89 points by app4soft 6y ago

robochat 6y ago
I've been intending to create a lightweight csv viewer for some time now and I was even learning Qt for that purpose, so I will definitely be checking this out. On windows, I use Nirsoft's csvfileview to rapidly review my files but on Linux, I haven't found anything that loads as rapidly and without friction.
- dgudkov 6y ago
  Nirsoft's csvfileview is neat but pretty basic. For advanced filtering and multiple file loading check out my forever free CSViewer (https://csviewer.com https://csviewer.com).
- p4bl0 6y ago
  I use sqlitebrowser for that. Pretty handy if you know SQL.
- social_quotient 6y ago
  I am not sure if I recommend this tool as it’s a paid tool and not Linux but it’s gotten me out of a lot of tricky multi GB csv files in the past. (Windows and win server only) http://www.delimitware.com/ http://www.delimitware.com/ Of particular note is this set of extraction features which is where I spend a lot of time http://www.delimitware.com/help.html#_File_Extract_Dialog http://www.delimitware.com/help.html#_File_Extract_Dialog
- app4soft 6y ago
  > I've been intending to create a lightweight CSV viewer for some time now and I was even learning Qt for that purpose, so I will definitely be checking this out. > ... but on Linux, I haven't found anything that loads as rapidly and without friction As for GUI-based CSV editor projects, I may highly recommend you also take a look mtCellEdit (C++/Qt[0]) and Tabulator (C++/Qt[1] & Python/Qt[2]) apps. Both projects are cross-platform & FLOSS (free and open-source software), so available for Linux, macOS, Windows, etc. FTR, mtCellEdit has a lot of functions especially useful for spreadsheet/CSV data analyzing.[3,4] [0] https://github.com/matyler/mtCellEdit https://github.com/matyler/mtCellEdit [1] https://github.com/notnypical/tabulator-qt https://github.com/notnypical/tabulator-qt [2] https://github.com/notnypical/tabulator-qtpy https://github.com/notnypical/tabulator-qtpy [3] https://doc.marktyler.org/mtcelledit/en_GB/chap_00.html https://doc.marktyler.org/mtcelledit/en_GB/chap_00.html [4] http://web.archive.org/web/20190913184255/http://marktyler.blogspot.com/2017/02/mtcelledit-30-screenshots.html http://web.archive.org/web/20190913184255/http://marktyler.b...
  - robochat 6y ago
    I will try all of them. Previously, I've tried Tad [1] which is good but I'd like something lighter and faster (ie. not electron based) and also visidata [2] which is terminal based but sometimes I just want to see my data in a gui. [1] https://www.tadviewer.com https://www.tadviewer.com [2] https://www.tadviewer.com https://www.tadviewer.com
    - app4soft 6y ago
      JFTR, No need to add two references to same link; one reference link would be enough ;) Correct [2], as it is actually the same as [1].
    - robochat 6y ago
      sorry, the second link should have been [2] https://www.visidata.org/ https://www.visidata.org/
  - robochat 6y ago
    Am I right that tabulator-qt and tabulator-qtpy are still under development since they don't seem to load csv files yet? But they certainly look like the type of specialised viewer that I have been looking for.
    - app4soft 6y ago
      > Am I right that tabulator-qt and tabulator-qtpy Ask its developer via issues tracker on GitHub.
- rakoo 6y ago
  It's not a native application, but datasette (https://datasette.io/ https://datasette.io/) can get you pretty far thanks to the power of SQL
himujjal 6y ago
noob with data manipulation and stuff here. how does it compare with ms excel? I mean of course the way its built and.the way excel works, it might be different. But considering the final work is to visualize data, running basic operations and all. Excel has been my go to tool for quick calculations and basic data analysis. Google sheets doesnt come close. Even the libreoffice is not upto the mark. onlyoffice sheets are much better. How does this tool compare? I would appreciate hearing out people on this issue. Thanks in advance
- robochat 6y ago
  Of course, excel can be used to read csv files and do basic analysis but in my experience it takes too many steps to import a csv file and it doesn't handle datetimes at all well ie. iso8061 format - 2020-12-29 13:29:10. You can also set the first row to be a column header and do basic filtering etc but it's all extra steps when a dedicated viewer immediately gives me the overview that I'm looking for.
  - app4soft 6y ago
    > excel can be used to read csv files and do basic analysis but in my experience it takes too many steps to import a csv file and it doesn't handle datetimes at all well ie. iso8061 format - 2020-12-29 13:29:10. Guess, LibreOffice Spreadsheet & Gnumeric apps, fully free alternatives to MS Excel, could do that.
    - trm42 6y ago
      And my lasting impression is that LibreOffice is trying to make CSV import/export as easy as possible when MS Office is trying to make it actively harder and harder in every version.
hermitcrab 6y ago
Looks interesting. Along with the other software mentioned here I hope it is ok to plug Easy Data Transform[1], which is also written in C++/Qt. It can read and display CSV, fixed width, JSON, XML and Excel data files. But it also has extensive capabilities for visually transforming data (join, filter, sort, interpolate etc) without programming[2]. It is commercial software for Windows and Mac[3] with a free trial. [1] https://www.easydatatransform.com https://www.easydatatransform.com [2] With the option to use Javascript or regex, if you need it. [3] Not enough demand for a Linux version, so far.
- app4soft 6y ago
  > Start A Free Trial Please, STOP commercial proprietary software promoting/Ads in threads about fully Free & Open-Source apps.
  - moocowtruck 6y ago
    why can't people talk about products that tackle the problem if people are advertising other projects even if they are foss ? I'm ok with a solution free or not if it solves the problem i need
    - ehvatum 6y ago
      It can easily go too far, so people are reluctant to see any but the most tasteful and opportune plug.
robochat 6y ago
I have also wondered whether a viewer like this would be useful for inspecting apache arrow [1] datasets since that is a format for tabular data and seems to be rising in popularity. [1] https://arrow.apache.org/ https://arrow.apache.org/
null_deref 6y ago
Honest question, why would you choose the qt framework over Electron and Popular JS Framework? I did some PYQT in highschool and it wasn't a good experience...
- hermitcrab 6y ago
  Massive discussion about Qt and cross platform frameworks here recently. I suggest you read that. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25344826 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25344826 Also Python isn't the 'native' language for Qt. C++ is.
  - null_deref 6y ago
    Thanks for the reply! but I didn't see, the discussion I wanted in there, will ask this question again in amore appropriate submission.
- app4soft 6y ago
  > why would you choose the qt framework over Electron and Popular JS Framework? 1) This is not a "Show HN" thread, so I may not tell nothing about Volbx development; 2) Electron/JavaScript is the worst choice ever to create desktop GUI apps designed for offline use. As for me, the most prefered ways to create cross-platform GUI apps for desktop PC* are: - Qt (C++/C/Python) - Tkinter (Python) And for Unix-like OS write apps in pure C with Xlib-based GUI (optionally, use some widget toolkit for Xlib, like `mlk`[0]). Sweet dreams, GTK2... Bye-bye, GTK+3/GTK+4! [0] http://azsky2.html.xdomain.jp/ http://azsky2.html.xdomain.jp/
  - null_deref 6y ago
    Thanks for the repl, but you didn't elaborate on your preference...
    - app4soft 6y ago
      > but you didn't elaborate on your preference... To be honest, I did! As I said above, my preference are: - Qt (for C++ apps) N.B. Only Qt, not KDE Frameworks. - PyQt/QtPy/PySide2/Tkinter (for Python apps) - Xlib + custom widget sets (for C apps) I'm involved in few Qt/C++ and Xlib/C projects, but for my personal needs PyQt & Tkinter is enough. Also I use some 3rd-party GTK2/GTk+3 (GIMP, Inkscape, LibreOffice), but actually trying find its Qt alternatives as well (and there are NO place for Electron apps on my PC). Additionally: - SDL 1.x* also may be useful for C apps, due to its high portability; SDL2 is less portable. - OpenGL (for C++/C/Python apps) - wxWidgets (for C++/C/Python apps)
richardfey 6y ago
> Windows needs admin rights (as of ~2012) to execute files having in name strings like "update", "install" or "setup". I've picked name VersionChecker to workaround that problem Just..wow
lykr0n 6y ago
Looks awesome. Always nice seeing people working on native applications!

89 points by app4soft 6y ago

I've been intending to create a lightweight csv viewer for some time now and I was even learning Qt for that purpose, so I will definitely be checking this out. On windows, I use Nirsoft's csvfileview to rapidly review my files but on Linux, I haven't found anything that loads as rapidly and without friction.

dgudkov 6y ago
Nirsoft's csvfileview is neat but pretty basic. For advanced filtering and multiple file loading check out my forever free CSViewer (https://csviewer.com https://csviewer.com).
p4bl0 6y ago
I use sqlitebrowser for that. Pretty handy if you know SQL.
social_quotient 6y ago
I am not sure if I recommend this tool as it’s a paid tool and not Linux but it’s gotten me out of a lot of tricky multi GB csv files in the past. (Windows and win server only) http://www.delimitware.com/ http://www.delimitware.com/ Of particular note is this set of extraction features which is where I spend a lot of time http://www.delimitware.com/help.html#_File_Extract_Dialog http://www.delimitware.com/help.html#_File_Extract_Dialog
app4soft 6y ago
> I've been intending to create a lightweight CSV viewer for some time now and I was even learning Qt for that purpose, so I will definitely be checking this out. > ... but on Linux, I haven't found anything that loads as rapidly and without friction As for GUI-based CSV editor projects, I may highly recommend you also take a look mtCellEdit (C++/Qt[0]) and Tabulator (C++/Qt[1] & Python/Qt[2]) apps. Both projects are cross-platform & FLOSS (free and open-source software), so available for Linux, macOS, Windows, etc. FTR, mtCellEdit has a lot of functions especially useful for spreadsheet/CSV data analyzing.[3,4] [0] https://github.com/matyler/mtCellEdit https://github.com/matyler/mtCellEdit [1] https://github.com/notnypical/tabulator-qt https://github.com/notnypical/tabulator-qt [2] https://github.com/notnypical/tabulator-qtpy https://github.com/notnypical/tabulator-qtpy [3] https://doc.marktyler.org/mtcelledit/en_GB/chap_00.html https://doc.marktyler.org/mtcelledit/en_GB/chap_00.html [4] http://web.archive.org/web/20190913184255/http://marktyler.blogspot.com/2017/02/mtcelledit-30-screenshots.html http://web.archive.org/web/20190913184255/http://marktyler.b...
- robochat 6y ago
  I will try all of them. Previously, I've tried Tad [1] which is good but I'd like something lighter and faster (ie. not electron based) and also visidata [2] which is terminal based but sometimes I just want to see my data in a gui. [1] https://www.tadviewer.com https://www.tadviewer.com [2] https://www.tadviewer.com https://www.tadviewer.com
  - app4soft 6y ago
    JFTR, No need to add two references to same link; one reference link would be enough ;) Correct [2], as it is actually the same as [1].
  - robochat 6y ago
    sorry, the second link should have been [2] https://www.visidata.org/ https://www.visidata.org/
- robochat 6y ago
  Am I right that tabulator-qt and tabulator-qtpy are still under development since they don't seem to load csv files yet? But they certainly look like the type of specialised viewer that I have been looking for.
  - app4soft 6y ago
    > Am I right that tabulator-qt and tabulator-qtpy Ask its developer via issues tracker on GitHub.
rakoo 6y ago
It's not a native application, but datasette (https://datasette.io/ https://datasette.io/) can get you pretty far thanks to the power of SQL

himujjal 6y ago

noob with data manipulation and stuff here. how does it compare with ms excel? I mean of course the way its built and.the way excel works, it might be different. But considering the final work is to visualize data, running basic operations and all. Excel has been my go to tool for quick calculations and basic data analysis. Google sheets doesnt come close. Even the libreoffice is not upto the mark. onlyoffice sheets are much better. How does this tool compare? I would appreciate hearing out people on this issue. Thanks in advance

robochat 6y ago
Of course, excel can be used to read csv files and do basic analysis but in my experience it takes too many steps to import a csv file and it doesn't handle datetimes at all well ie. iso8061 format - 2020-12-29 13:29:10. You can also set the first row to be a column header and do basic filtering etc but it's all extra steps when a dedicated viewer immediately gives me the overview that I'm looking for.
- app4soft 6y ago
  > excel can be used to read csv files and do basic analysis but in my experience it takes too many steps to import a csv file and it doesn't handle datetimes at all well ie. iso8061 format - 2020-12-29 13:29:10. Guess, LibreOffice Spreadsheet & Gnumeric apps, fully free alternatives to MS Excel, could do that.
  - trm42 6y ago
    And my lasting impression is that LibreOffice is trying to make CSV import/export as easy as possible when MS Office is trying to make it actively harder and harder in every version.

hermitcrab 6y ago

Looks interesting. Along with the other software mentioned here I hope it is ok to plug Easy Data Transform[1], which is also written in C++/Qt. It can read and display CSV, fixed width, JSON, XML and Excel data files. But it also has extensive capabilities for visually transforming data (join, filter, sort, interpolate etc) without programming[2]. It is commercial software for Windows and Mac[3] with a free trial. [1] https://www.easydatatransform.com https://www.easydatatransform.com [2] With the option to use Javascript or regex, if you need it. [3] Not enough demand for a Linux version, so far.

app4soft 6y ago
> Start A Free Trial Please, STOP commercial proprietary software promoting/Ads in threads about fully Free & Open-Source apps.
- moocowtruck 6y ago
  why can't people talk about products that tackle the problem if people are advertising other projects even if they are foss ? I'm ok with a solution free or not if it solves the problem i need
  - ehvatum 6y ago
    It can easily go too far, so people are reluctant to see any but the most tasteful and opportune plug.

robochat 6y ago

I have also wondered whether a viewer like this would be useful for inspecting apache arrow [1] datasets since that is a format for tabular data and seems to be rising in popularity. [1] https://arrow.apache.org/ https://arrow.apache.org/

null_deref 6y ago

Honest question, why would you choose the qt framework over Electron and Popular JS Framework? I did some PYQT in highschool and it wasn't a good experience...

hermitcrab 6y ago
Massive discussion about Qt and cross platform frameworks here recently. I suggest you read that. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25344826 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25344826 Also Python isn't the 'native' language for Qt. C++ is.
- null_deref 6y ago
  Thanks for the reply! but I didn't see, the discussion I wanted in there, will ask this question again in amore appropriate submission.
app4soft 6y ago
> why would you choose the qt framework over Electron and Popular JS Framework? 1) This is not a "Show HN" thread, so I may not tell nothing about Volbx development; 2) Electron/JavaScript is the worst choice ever to create desktop GUI apps designed for offline use. As for me, the most prefered ways to create cross-platform GUI apps for desktop PC* are: - Qt (C++/C/Python) - Tkinter (Python) And for Unix-like OS write apps in pure C with Xlib-based GUI (optionally, use some widget toolkit for Xlib, like `mlk`[0]). Sweet dreams, GTK2... Bye-bye, GTK+3/GTK+4! [0] http://azsky2.html.xdomain.jp/ http://azsky2.html.xdomain.jp/
- null_deref 6y ago
  Thanks for the repl, but you didn't elaborate on your preference...
  - app4soft 6y ago
    > but you didn't elaborate on your preference... To be honest, I did! As I said above, my preference are: - Qt (for C++ apps) N.B. Only Qt, not KDE Frameworks. - PyQt/QtPy/PySide2/Tkinter (for Python apps) - Xlib + custom widget sets (for C apps) I'm involved in few Qt/C++ and Xlib/C projects, but for my personal needs PyQt & Tkinter is enough. Also I use some 3rd-party GTK2/GTk+3 (GIMP, Inkscape, LibreOffice), but actually trying find its Qt alternatives as well (and there are NO place for Electron apps on my PC). Additionally: - SDL 1.x* also may be useful for C apps, due to its high portability; SDL2 is less portable. - OpenGL (for C++/C/Python apps) - wxWidgets (for C++/C/Python apps)

richardfey 6y ago

> Windows needs admin rights (as of ~2012) to execute files having in name strings like "update", "install" or "setup". I've picked name VersionChecker to workaround that problem Just..wow

lykr0n 6y ago

Looks awesome. Always nice seeing people working on native applications!