refactor commands that accept multiple input files to use improved process_input helper

src/cmd/cat.rs

@@ -29,6 +29,15 @@ Usage:
     qsv cat columns [options] [<input>...]
     qsv cat --help
 
+cat arguments:
+    <input>...              The CSV file(s) to read. Use '-' for standard input.
+                            If input is a directory, all files in the directory will
+                            be read as input.
+                            If the input is a file with a '.infile-list' extension,
+                            the file will be read as a list of input files.
+                            If the input are snappy-compressed files(s), it will be
+                            decompressed automatically.
+
 cat options:
                              COLUMNS OPTION:
     -p, --pad                When concatenating columns, this flag will cause
@@ -57,6 +66,8 @@ Common options:
                            Must be a single character. (default: ,)
 "#;
 
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
 use indexmap::{IndexMap, IndexSet};
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use tempfile;
@@ -73,7 +84,7 @@ struct Args {
     cmd_columns:     bool,
     flag_group:      bool,
     flag_group_name: String,
-    arg_input:       Vec<String>,
+    arg_input:       Vec<PathBuf>,
     flag_pad:        bool,
     flag_flexible:   bool,
     flag_output:     Option<String>,
@@ -82,7 +93,10 @@ struct Args {
 }
 
 pub fn run(argv: &[&str]) -> CliResult<()> {
-    let args: Args = util::get_args(USAGE, argv)?;
+    let mut args: Args = util::get_args(USAGE, argv)?;
+
+    let tmpdir = tempfile::tempdir()?;
+    args.arg_input = util::process_input(args.arg_input, &tmpdir, "")?;
     if args.cmd_rows {
         args.cat_rows()
     } else if args.cmd_rowskey {

src/cmd/describegpt.rs

@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ pub fn run(argv: &[&str]) -> CliResult<()> {
             args.arg_input.clone().unwrap_or_else(|| "-".to_string()),
         )],
         &tmpdir,
-        "No data on stdin. Please provide at least one input file or pipe data to stdin.",
+        "",
     )?;
     // safety: we just checked that there is at least one input file
     let input_path = work_input[0]

src/cmd/headers.rs

@@ -13,6 +13,15 @@ Usage:
     qsv headers [options] [<input>...]
     qsv headers --help
 
+headers arguments:
+    <input>...             The CSV file(s) to read. Use '-' for standard input.
+                           If input is a directory, all files in the directory will
+                           be read as input.
+                           If the input is a file with a '.infile-list' extension,
+                           the file will be read as a list of input files.
+                           If the input are snappy-compressed files(s), it will be
+                           decompressed automatically.
+
 headers options:
     -j, --just-names       Only show the header names (hide column index).
                            This is automatically enabled if more than one
@@ -27,7 +36,7 @@ Common options:
                            Must be a single character. (default: ,)
 "#;
 
-use std::io;
+use std::{io, path::PathBuf};
 
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use tabwriter::TabWriter;
@@ -36,15 +45,17 @@ use crate::{config::Delimiter, util, CliResult};
 
 #[derive(Deserialize)]
 struct Args {
-    arg_input:       Vec<String>,
+    arg_input:       Vec<PathBuf>,
     flag_just_names: bool,
     flag_intersect:  bool,
     flag_trim:       bool,
     flag_delimiter:  Option<Delimiter>,
 }
 
 pub fn run(argv: &[&str]) -> CliResult<()> {
-    let args: Args = util::get_args(USAGE, argv)?;
+    let mut args: Args = util::get_args(USAGE, argv)?;
+    let tmpdir = tempfile::tempdir()?;
+    args.arg_input = util::process_input(args.arg_input, &tmpdir, "")?;
     let configs = util::many_configs(&args.arg_input, args.flag_delimiter, true, false)?;
 
     let num_inputs = configs.len();

src/cmd/sqlp.rs

@@ -100,8 +100,9 @@ Usage:
 
 sqlp arguments:
     input                  The CSV file/s to query. Use '-' for standard input.
-                           If input is a directory, all CSV files in the directory will
-                           be used.
+                           If input is a directory, all files in the directory will be read as input.
+                           If the input is a file with a '.infile-list' extension, the
+                           file will be read as a list of files to use as input.
                            If the input are snappy compressed file(s), it will be
                            decompressed automatically.
                            Column headers are required. Use 'qsv rename _all_generic --no-headers'
@@ -375,11 +376,7 @@ pub fn run(argv: &[&str]) -> CliResult<()> {
     let mut args: Args = util::get_args(USAGE, argv)?;
 
     let tmpdir = tempfile::tempdir()?;
-    args.arg_input = process_input(
-        args.arg_input,
-        &tmpdir,
-        "No data on stdin. Please provide at least one input file or pipe data to stdin.",
-    )?;
+    args.arg_input = process_input(args.arg_input, &tmpdir, "")?;
 
     let rnull_values = if args.flag_rnull_values == "<empty string>" {
         vec![String::new()]

src/cmd/to.rs

@@ -26,7 +26,11 @@ Load same files into a new/existing postgres database whose connection string is
 
 Load files inside a directory to a local database 'test' with user `testuser`, password `pass`.
 
-  $ qsv to postgres 'postgres://testuser:pass@localhost/test' dir1 
+  $ qsv to postgres 'postgres://testuser:pass@localhost/test' dir1
+
+Load files listed in the 'input.infile-list' to a local database 'test' with user `testuser`, password `pass`.
+
+  $ qsv to postgres 'postgres://testuser:pass@localhost/test' input.infile-list
 
 Drop tables if they exist before loading.
 
@@ -61,6 +65,10 @@ Load all files in dir1 to sqlite database `test.db`
 
   $ qsv to sqlite test.db dir
 
+Load files listed in the 'mydata.infile-list' to sqlite database `test.db`
+
+    $ qsv to sqlite test.db mydata.infile-list
+
 Drop tables if they exist before loading.
 
   $ qsv to sqlite test.db --drop file1.csv file2.csv
@@ -90,6 +98,14 @@ filename without the extension. Note the `output.xlsx` will be overwritten if it
 
   $ qsv to xlsx output.xlsx file1.csv file2.csv
 
+Load all files in dir1 into xlsx file.
+
+    $ qsv to xlsx output.xlsx dir1
+
+Load files listed in the 'ourdata.infile-list' into xlsx file.
+
+    $ qsv to xlsx output.xlsx ourdata.infile-list
+
 PARQUET (only available if compiled with `to_parquet` feature)
 Convert to directory of parquet files.  Need to select a directory, it will be created if it does not exists.
 If the `to_parquet` feature is not enabled, a simpler parquet conversion is available using the `sqlp`
@@ -108,6 +124,14 @@ Convert from stdin.
 
   $ qsv to parquet --pipe mydir -
 
+Convert all files in dir1 into parquet files in myparquetdir.
+
+    $ qsv to parquet myparquetdir dir1
+
+Convert files listed in the 'data.infile-list' into parquet files in myparquetdir.
+
+        $ qsv to parquet myparquetdir data.infile-list
+
 DATAPACKAGE
 Generate a datapackage, which contains stats and information about what is in the CSV files.
 
@@ -125,6 +149,10 @@ Generate a `datapackage.json` file from all the files in dir1
 
   $ qsv to datapackage datapackage.json dir1
 
+Generate a `datapackage.json` file from all the files listed in the 'data.infile-list'
+
+    $ qsv to datapackage datapackage.json data.infile-list
+
 For all other conversions you can output the datapackage created by specifying `--print-package`.
 
   $ qsv to xlsx datapackage.xlsx --stats --print-package file1.csv file2.csv
@@ -218,6 +246,9 @@ impl From<csvs_convert::DescribeError> for CliError {
     }
 }
 
+static EMPTY_STDIN_ERRMSG: &str =
+    "No data on stdin. Need to add connection string as first argument then the input CSVs";
+
 pub fn run(argv: &[&str]) -> CliResult<()> {
     let args: Args = util::get_args(USAGE, argv)?;
     debug!("'to' command running");
@@ -239,11 +270,7 @@ pub fn run(argv: &[&str]) -> CliResult<()> {
 
     if args.cmd_postgres {
         debug!("converting to postgres");
-        arg_input = process_input(
-            arg_input,
-            &tmpdir,
-            "No data on stdin. Need to add connection string as first argument then the input CSVs",
-        )?;
+        arg_input = process_input(arg_input, &tmpdir, EMPTY_STDIN_ERRMSG)?;
         if args.flag_dump {
             options.dump_file = args.arg_postgres.expect("checked above");
             output = csvs_to_postgres_with_options(String::new(), arg_input, options)?;
@@ -257,12 +284,7 @@ pub fn run(argv: &[&str]) -> CliResult<()> {
         debug!("conversion to postgres complete");
     } else if args.cmd_sqlite {
         debug!("converting to sqlite");
-        arg_input = process_input(
-            arg_input,
-            &tmpdir,
-            "No data on stdin. Need to add the name of a sqlite db as first argument then the \
-             input CSVs",
-        )?;
+        arg_input = process_input(arg_input, &tmpdir, EMPTY_STDIN_ERRMSG)?;
         if args.flag_dump {
             options.dump_file = args.arg_sqlite.expect("checked above");
             output = csvs_to_sqlite_with_options(String::new(), arg_input, options)?;
@@ -278,12 +300,7 @@ pub fn run(argv: &[&str]) -> CliResult<()> {
         #[cfg(all(feature = "to_parquet", feature = "feature_capable"))]
         {
             debug!("converting to parquet");
-            arg_input = process_input(
-                arg_input,
-                &tmpdir,
-                "No data on stdin. Need to add the name of a parquet directory as first argument \
-                 then the input CSVs",
-            )?;
+            arg_input = process_input(arg_input, &tmpdir, EMPTY_STDIN_ERRMSG)?;
             output = csvs_to_parquet_with_options(
                 args.arg_parquet.expect("checked above"),
                 arg_input,
@@ -299,24 +316,14 @@ pub fn run(argv: &[&str]) -> CliResult<()> {
         }
     } else if args.cmd_xlsx {
         debug!("converting to xlsx");
-        arg_input = process_input(
-            arg_input,
-            &tmpdir,
-            "No data on stdin. Need to add the name of an xlsx file as first argument then the \
-             input CSVs",
-        )?;
+        arg_input = process_input(arg_input, &tmpdir, EMPTY_STDIN_ERRMSG)?;
 
         output =
             csvs_to_xlsx_with_options(args.arg_xlsx.expect("checked above"), arg_input, options)?;
         debug!("conversion to xlsx complete");
     } else if args.cmd_datapackage {
         debug!("creating datapackage");
-        arg_input = process_input(
-            arg_input,
-            &tmpdir,
-            "No data on stdin. Need to add the name of a datapackage file as first argument then \
-             the input CSVs",
-        )?;
+        arg_input = process_input(arg_input, &tmpdir, EMPTY_STDIN_ERRMSG)?;
 
         let describe_options = DescribeOptions::builder()
             .delimiter(options.delimiter)

src/cmd/tojsonl.rs

@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ pub fn run(argv: &[&str]) -> CliResult<()> {
             args.arg_input.clone().unwrap_or_else(|| "-".to_string()),
         )],
         &tmpdir,
-        "No data on stdin. Please provide at least one input file or pipe data to stdin.",
+        "",
     )?;
 
     // safety: there's at least one valid element in work_input

src/util.rs

@@ -406,12 +406,15 @@ where
 
 #[inline]
 pub fn many_configs(
-    inps: &[String],
+    inps: &[PathBuf],
     delim: Option<Delimiter>,
     no_headers: bool,
     flexible: bool,
 ) -> Result<Vec<Config>, String> {
-    let mut inps = inps.to_vec();
+    let mut inps = inps
+        .iter()
+        .map(|p| p.to_str().unwrap_or("-").to_owned())
+        .collect::<Vec<_>>();
     if inps.is_empty() {
         inps.push("-".to_owned()); // stdin
     }
@@ -1441,12 +1444,13 @@ pub fn isutf8_file(path: &Path) -> Result<bool, CliError> {
 /// If it's not empty, check the input files if they exist, and return an error if they don't
 ///
 /// If the input is a directory, add all the files in the directory to the input
-/// If the input is a file, add the file to the input
+/// If the input is a file with the extension ".infile-list" read the file, and add each line as a
+/// file to the input If the input is a file, add the file to the input
 /// If the input are snappy compressed files, uncompress them before adding them to the input
 pub fn process_input(
     mut arg_input: Vec<PathBuf>,
     tmpdir: &tempfile::TempDir,
-    empty_stdin_errmsg: &str,
+    custom_empty_stdin_errmsg: &str,
 ) -> Result<Vec<PathBuf>, CliError> {
     let mut processed_input = Vec::with_capacity(arg_input.len());
 
@@ -1464,11 +1468,36 @@ pub fn process_input(
         arg_input.remove(0);
     }
 
-    let work_input = if arg_input.len() == 1 && arg_input[0].is_dir() {
-        // if the input is a directory, add all the files in the directory to the input
-        std::fs::read_dir(&arg_input[0])?
-            .map(|entry| entry.map(|e| e.path()))
-            .collect::<Result<Vec<_>, _>>()?
+    let work_input = if arg_input.len() == 1 {
+        let input_path = &arg_input[0];
+        if input_path.is_dir() {
+            // if the input is a directory, add all the files in the directory to the input
+            std::fs::read_dir(input_path)?
+                .map(|entry| entry.map(|e| e.path()))
+                .collect::<Result<Vec<_>, _>>()?
+        } else if input_path.is_file() {
+            // if the input is a file and has the extension "infile-list" case-insensitive,
+            // read the file. Each line is a file path
+            if input_path
+                .extension()
+                .and_then(std::ffi::OsStr::to_str)
+                .map(str::to_lowercase)
+                == Some("infile-list".to_string())
+            {
+                let mut input_file = std::fs::File::open(input_path)?;
+                let mut input_file_contents = String::new();
+                input_file.read_to_string(&mut input_file_contents)?;
+                input_file_contents
+                    .lines()
+                    .map(PathBuf::from)
+                    .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+            } else {
+                // if the input is not an ".infile-list" file, add the file to the input
+                arg_input
+            }
+        } else {
+            arg_input
+        }
     } else {
         arg_input
     };
@@ -1502,7 +1531,12 @@ pub fn process_input(
     }
 
     if processed_input.is_empty() {
-        return fail_clierror!("{empty_stdin_errmsg}");
+        if custom_empty_stdin_errmsg.is_empty() {
+            return fail_clierror!(
+                "No data on stdin. Please provide at least one input file or pipe data to stdin."
+            );
+        }
+        return fail_clierror!("{custom_empty_stdin_errmsg}");
     }
     log::debug!("processed input: {:?}", processed_input);
     Ok(processed_input)