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Searching and Jumping

VisiData has three search modes: regex search in the current column, regex search across all columns, and Python expression search. Each serves a different precision need.

Learning Focus

Learn the difference between / (column search), g/ (all columns), and z/ (Python expression). These three cover every data-finding scenario.

Search in Current Column​

/   regex      search forward in current column's displayed values
?   regex      search backward in current column's displayed values
n              go to next match
N              go to previous match

Example:

# Move cursor to 'status' column
# Press / and type: error
# Cursor jumps to first row where status contains "error"
# Press n to go to next match
# Press N to go to previous match

Search Across All Columns​

g/  regex      search forward in ALL visible columns
g?  regex      search backward in ALL visible columns

Example:

# Find any row where any column contains "192.168"
g/
# Enter: 192.168
# Cursor jumps to first match in any column
z/  expr       search forward by Python expression in current column
z?  expr       search backward by Python expression

The expression uses column names as variables:

# Find rows where age > 30
z/
# Enter: age > 30

# Find rows where salary > 50000 and city == 'Singapore'
z/
# Enter: salary > 50000 and city == 'Singapore'

# Find rows where hostname starts with 'web'
z/
# Enter: hostname.startswith('web')
warning

Python expression search requires the column type to be correctly set. If age is a string type, age > 30 will do a string comparison. Cast to # (int) first.

Jump to Row by Key​

r   regex      go to next row whose key column matches regex
c   regex      go to next column whose name matches regex

Search Workflow​

Practical Use Cases​

Find Error Rows in a Log​

vd /var/log/nginx/access.log

# Search for 500 errors in status column
# Move cursor to status column
/
# Enter: 500
# Press n to cycle through all 500 errors

Find IPs in a Specific Subnet​

vd /var/log/nginx/access.log

# Search all columns for 192.168 subnet
g/
# Enter: 192\.168

Find High-Value Rows​

vd /var/www/html/exports/orders.csv

# Set 'amount' column to float type first: press %
# Then search for large orders
z/
# Enter: amount > 10000

Find Null or Empty Values​

# Find rows where 'email' column is empty
z/
# Enter: not email or email == ''
# Jump to a column by name (partial regex match)
c
# Enter: date
# Cursor jumps to the first column whose name contains 'date'

Troubleshooting Matrix​

ProblemCauseFix
Search finds nothingColumn type mismatchCast column type first (#, %, etc.)
Expression syntax errorTypo in Python exprPress Ctrl+C to cancel, try again
g/ too slow on large filesSearching millions of rowsUse z/ with a specific expression to narrow
Regex not matchingWrong regex syntaxTest regex in a shell: echo text | grep -P 'pattern'

Best Practices​

  • Use / for fast simple lookups; use z/ for data quality checks with Python logic.
  • After finding target rows with /, press s to select matching rows, then " to open a filtered sheet with only those rows.
  • For case-insensitive search, use regex: /(?i)error matches Error, ERROR, error.

Hands-On Practice​

vd /var/log/syslog

# 1. Press / and search for: kernel
# 2. Press n to cycle through matches
# 3. Press g/ and search for: error
# 4. Press N to go backward through matches
# 5. Press z/ and try: len(row) > 100  (long lines)

What's Next​