CSV Sorter 📊

A powerful and user-friendly Python application for sorting CSV files with multiple sorting options and an intuitive command-line interface.

✨ Features

• Multiple Sorting Options: Alphabetical (A-Z, Z-A) and Numerical (Low-High, High-Low)
• Interactive Column Selection: Choose any column from your CSV file
• Batch Processing Ready: Handle multiple CSV files in sequence
• Smart File Management: Organized source and output folder structure
• Error Handling: Robust error handling for common data issues
• Cross-Platform: Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux
• Executable Version: Convert to standalone .exe for easy distribution

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Python 3.7 or higher
• pip (Python package installer)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/OsandaLakshitha/CSV-Sorter-using-Python.git
   cd csv-sorter

2. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

   Or install pandas directly:

   pip install pandas

3. Run the application:

   python CSVSorter.py

📁 Project Structure

CSV-Sorter-using-Python/
│
├── CSVSorter.py          # Main application
├── requirements.txt       # Python dependencies
├── README.md             # Project documentation
├── LICENSE               # MIT License
├── source/               # Place your CSV files here
├── output/               # Sorted files appear here
└── examples/             # Sample CSV files for testing
    ├── sample_data.csv
    └── employee_data.csv

🎯 Usage

Basic Usage

1. Place your CSV files in the source/ directory
2. Run the program:

   python CSVSorter.py

3. Follow the interactive prompts:
   • Select your CSV file
   • Choose the column to sort by
   • Pick your sorting method
4. Find your sorted file in the output/ directory

Example Workflow

=== CSV File Sorter ===

Found 2 CSV file(s):
1. employees.csv
2. sales_data.csv

Select CSV file to sort (1-2): 1

Successfully loaded 150 rows and 5 columns.

Available columns:
1. Name
2. Department
3. Salary
4. Years_Experience
5. Performance_Score

Select column to sort by (1-5): 3

Select sorting type:
1. Alphabetical (A-Z)
2. Alphabetical (Z-A)
3. Numerical (Low to High)
4. Numerical (High to Low)

Enter your choice (1-4): 4

Sorting by column 'Salary'...
Sorted file saved as: output/employees_sorted_Salary_num_desc.csv
Operation completed successfully!

🔧 Building Executable

Create a standalone executable that doesn't require Python installation:

Using PyInstaller

1. Install PyInstaller:

   pip install pyinstaller

2. Create executable:

   pyinstaller --onefile --console --name "CSVSorter" CSVSorter.py

3. Find your executable:

   • Located in dist/CSVSorter.exe (Windows)
   • Ready for distribution!

Alternative: Using auto-py-to-exe (GUI)

pip install auto-py-to-exe
auto-py-to-exe

📊 Supported Data Types

• Text Data: Names, categories, descriptions
• Numerical Data: Integers, decimals, financial data
• Mixed Data: Automatically handles mixed column types
• Large Files: Efficiently processes files with thousands of rows

🛠️ Advanced Features

Custom Sorting Options

The application intelligently handles:

• Case-insensitive alphabetical sorting
• Automatic numeric type conversion
• Missing data handling (NaN values sorted to end)
• Mixed data type columns

Output File Naming

Files are automatically named with descriptive suffixes:

• original_sorted_ColumnName_alpha_asc.csv
• original_sorted_ColumnName_num_desc.csv

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here's how you can help:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch:

   git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature

3. Commit your changes:

   git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'

4. Push to the branch:

   git push origin feature/amazing-feature

5. Open a Pull Request

Development Setup

# Clone your fork
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/csv-sorter.git

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Run tests (if available)
python -m pytest

🐛 Issue Reporting

Found a bug? Have a feature request? Please check our Issues page.

When reporting issues, please include:

• Operating system and version
• Python version
• Sample CSV file (if possible)
• Error messages or screenshots

📋 Requirements

• Python: 3.7+
• pandas: 1.3.0+
• pathlib: Built-in (Python 3.4+)

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Built with pandas for robust data manipulation
• PyInstaller for executable creation
• Inspired by the need for simple, efficient CSV processing tools

📞 Support

• Documentation: Check this README and inline code comments
• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions

🗺️ Roadmap

• GUI version using tkinter
• Support for Excel files (.xlsx, .xls)
• Multiple column sorting
• Custom delimiter support
• Data preview before sorting
• Undo functionality
• Batch processing improvements

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Made with ❤️ for the data processing community