Bash : Create CSV file from multiple text lists

Question

I have multiple text lists, each representing a column and already in corresponding order.

i.e.

FirstName.txt:

Bob  
Sarah  
Fred

LastName.txt

Smith  
Fulton  
Jones

Gender.txt

Male  
Female  
Male

Age.txt

23  
28  
31

In BASH, how can I pull the relevant lines together to form a csv formatted entry such as..

FirstName,LastName,Gender,Age  
Bob,Smith,Male,23  
Sarah,Fulton,Female,28  
Fred,Jones,Male,31

With thanks in advance!

fedorqui · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-03 14:31:26Z

7

You can use paste with comma as delimiter:

$ paste -d',' FirstName.txt LastName.txt gender.txt age.txt
Bob,Smith,Male,23
Sarah,Fulton,Female,28
Fred,Jones,Male,31

From man paste:

paste - merge lines of files

-d, --delimiters=LIST

reuse characters from LIST instead of TABs

answered Feb 3, 2014 at 14:31

fedorqui

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2 Comments

Perfect! I had no idea paste existed.

It is pretty handy! As anubhava said, it is perfect for these cases.

fedorqui · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-03 14:41:47Z

5

That is tailor made job for paste:

paste -d',' FirstName.txt LastName.txt gender.txt age.txt
Bob,Smith,Male,23
Sarah,Fulton,Female,28
Fred,Jones,Male,31

fedorqui

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answered Feb 3, 2014 at 14:31

anubhava

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Thanks so much for the quick help on this one gents. Paste is my friend.