rowadds

RowAdds is a lightweight, cross‑platform tool designed to simplify the process of adding new rows to tabular data files such as CSV, TSV, and spreadsheet formats. It operates via a command‑line interface, allowing users to specify a source file, the row template to duplicate, and the insertion point for the new rows. The tool supports a variety of options including automatic numbering, timestamp insertion, and conditional selections based on existing cell values. RowAdds can also interface with database export files, enabling quick insertion of new records without the need for a full database client.

Developed in 2023 by an open‑source community of data engineers, RowAdds fills a niche that conventional spreadsheet software and database tools do not address efficiently. While most spreadsheet applications require manual copy‑paste operations or complex scripting, RowAdds provides a streamlined workflow for batch row creation, particularly useful for log data, inventory lists, and time‑series datasets. The project is maintained under a permissive license and is distributed as precompiled binaries as well as source code for customization.

Typical use cases include generating test data sets, extending existing reports, or automatically inserting audit rows in log files. For example, a user can run `rowadds --source data.csv --template header_row.csv --position end --count 5` to append five identical header rows at the end of the data file. Advanced features allow for environment variable substitution and integration with CI/CD pipelines to regenerate datasets on deployment.

RowAdds thus serves as a niche but practical solution for repetitive row‑addition tasks across data engineering, reporting, and quality assurance workflows.