sqd | A SQL-like document editor

Traditional Unix tools (grep, sed, awk) are powerful but have inconsistent syntax and steep learning curves. sqd (pronounced like squad) provides a familiar SQL interface for common text operations.

Getting Started

This project requires Go >= 1.26.2. Make sure you have a compatible version installed. If needed, download the latest version from https://go.dev/dl/

1. Installation: Install sqd on your system

   go install github.com/overthinkinglabs/sqd@latest

2. Start using sqd: See all the open todos in your markdown files

   sqd 'SELECT * FROM *.md WHERE content LIKE "%- [ ]%"'

Useful Commands

Count all the LaTeX formulas in your notes

sqd 'SELECT COUNT(*) FROM *.md WHERE content LIKE "$$%"'

Refactor your markdown title hierarchy

sqd 'UPDATE *.md SET content="### " WHERE content LIKE "## %"'

Remove all DEBUG logs

sqd 'DELETE FROM *.log WHERE content LIKE "%DEBUG%"'

Columns

You can reference the following columns in the SELECT clause:

• name: the file name.
• content: the content of each line.
• *: both file name and content.

Examples:

sqd 'SELECT COUNT(name) FROM *.md WHERE content LIKE "### %"' 
# Counts the number of files that contain at least one matching line.

sqd 'SELECT COUNT(content) FROM *.md WHERE content LIKE "### %"' 
# Counts the total number of matching lines across all files.

Ordering

You can control the order of results using the ORDER BY clause. This is useful when you want to sort lines by file name, by content, or by a combination of both. You can specify the sorting direction:

• ASC: ascending order (default). Values are sorted from A to Z.

• DESC: descending order. Values are sorted from Z to A.

# Order by content (ascending by default)
sqd 'SELECT name FROM *.md WHERE content LIKE "- [ ]%" ORDER BY content'

# Order by file name descending
sqd 'SELECT name FROM *.md WHERE content LIKE "- [ ]%" ORDER BY name DESC'

You can also apply multiple ordering rules. The first column is used as the primary key, and the following ones are used to break ties:

sqd 'SELECT * FROM *.md WHERE content LIKE "- [ ]%" ORDER BY content ASC, name DESC'

In this example, lines are sorted alphabetically by content, and when two lines have the same content, they are ordered by file name in descending order.

Flags

• -f, --file: Runs all queries from a file. Useful for refactoring and repetitive tasks.
• -t, --transaction: Apply changes atomically. If any operation fails, all changes are rolled back.

Dry Mode

The dry command shows what changes would be made without modifying any files:

sqd dry 'UPDATE *.md SET content="new" WHERE content = "old"'
# Dry run: pass | fail

Use the -c or --complete flag to see detailed information for each modified line. Dry mode supports all the same flags as regular commands.

The power of sqd

Let's suppose we have a file with multiple similar titles, but we only want to change specific ones. With sed or awk, we need complex regex or multiple commands. With sqd, we can target exact lines and batch multiple replacements in a single command.

## Title 1 to be updated

## Title 1 not to be updated

## Title 1 TO be updated

## Title 2 to be updated

## Title 2 not to be updated

## Title 2 TO be updated

With a single sqd command

sqd 'UPDATE example.md 
SET content="## Title 1 UPDATED" WHERE content = "## Title 1 to be updated",
SET content="## Title 2 UPDATED" WHERE content = "## Title 2 TO be updated"'

You will obtain the following result

## Title 1 UPDATED

## Title 1 not to be updated

## Title 1 TO be updated

## Title 2 to be updated

## Title 2 not to be updated

## Title 2 UPDATED

Before pushing

1. See if you have any rebase to do (you must have the updated commits history before pushing to avoid conflicts between main and your branch):

   git fetch
   git pull origin main --rebase

2. Build the project locally to avoid compiling errors:

   goreleaser release --snapshot --clean

3. Run the tests to avoid your code breaks anything:

   go test -v -race ./...

4. Lint your code (if the following command return errors or warnings you must resolve them before pushing):

   golangci-lint run ./...

5. Format your code:

   gofumpt -w ./

Contributing

If you want to contribute to sqd, follow these steps:

1. Create a new branch for your changes (git checkout -b your-branch-name).
2. Make your changes and commit them (git commit -m 'Change something').
3. Push your branch (git push origin your-branch-name).
4. Open a pull request.