Question: difference betweem cat rows and rowskey

[fgvieira]

Not quite sure I undestand the difference between cat rows and cat rowskey.
Isn't qsv cat rows == qsv cat rowskey --group none?

[a5dur]

Great question! Let's clarify that:

They do achieve similar results, but there's a subtle difference in how they concatenate and treat grouping.

cat rows assumes that all CSV files have the same structure (same columns in the same order).
While rowskey concatenates rows based on a specified key or column. It identifies a common key column in all csv files and merges the rows that share the same key. the group option introduces a grouping column indicating the source of each row.

So, technically, you are correct: qsv cat rows is equivalent to qsv cat rowskey --group none.
Both concatenate rows without introducing a special grouping column...

but the --group option in qsv cat rowskey becomes more relevant when you want to customize the grouping behavior, for example, grouping by the full file path, filename, or other options. If --group none is used, it essentially behaves like qsv cat rows.

I hope this helps clarify the difference! also qsv also has a very user-friendly website where you could learn more and test out this command

[jqnatividad]

Thanks @a5dur for the expansive answer! Moving this to the Discussion area's FAQ section so other folks with the same query can find it easily.