Text Separator

Re-separate text with any delimiter, convert between formats, and transform lists

Overview

The Text Separator splits text on one delimiter and rejoins with another. Convert between newline-separated, comma-separated, tab-separated, and custom delimiters. Includes optional sorting, deduplication, and item counting.

Use Cases

• Format Conversion: Convert CSV to newline-separated or vice versa
• List Transformation: Change delimiter format for different tools
• Data Cleanup: Remove empty items and trim whitespace
• SQL Generation: Convert lists to comma-separated for IN clauses
• Text Processing: Prepare lists for import into other systems
• Configuration Files: Convert between different list formats

Input Format

Newline-Separated

apple
banana
cherry
date

Comma-Separated

apple, banana, cherry, date

Tab-Separated

apple	banana	cherry	date

Custom Delimiter

apple | banana | cherry | date

Configuration (Second Input)

from_sep=newline
to_sep=comma
trim=true
remove_empty=true

Configuration Options

from_sep

Source delimiter:

• newline (default): Split on line breaks
• comma: Split on commas
• comma_space: Split on comma + space
• semicolon: Split on semicolons
• tab: Split on tabs
• space: Split on spaces
• pipe: Split on pipe characters
• custom: Use custom_from value

to_sep

Target delimiter:

• comma (default): Join with commas
• comma_space: Join with comma + space
• newline: Join with line breaks
• semicolon: Join with semicolons
• tab: Join with tabs
• space: Join with spaces
• pipe: Join with pipe characters
• custom: Use custom_to value

custom_from

Custom source delimiter (when from_sep=custom):

custom_from=||

custom_to

Custom target delimiter (when to_sep=custom):

custom_to= | 

trim

Trim whitespace from each item:

• true (default): Remove leading/trailing whitespace
• false: Keep whitespace

remove_empty

Remove empty items:

• true (default): Filter out empty strings
• false: Keep empty items

Actions

Default

Split and rejoin with new delimiter:

apple, banana, cherry, date

Sort

Split, sort alphabetically, rejoin:

apple, banana, cherry, date

Unique

Split, deduplicate, rejoin:

apple, banana, cherry, date

Count

Count items:

4 items

Output Format

Transformed text with new delimiter:

apple, banana, cherry, date

Metadata:

4 items | From: newline → To: comma

Examples

Input: Newline to Comma

apple
banana
cherry
date

Input: Comma to Newline

apple, banana, cherry, date

Input: Sort

zebra
apple
mango
banana

Input: Deduplicate

apple
banana
apple
cherry
banana

Input: Custom Delimiter

apple || banana || cherry || date

Input: Remove Empty and Trim

apple  

banana
  
cherry

Input: SQL IN Clause Prep

user123
user456
user789

Implementation Details

From lib/tools/engine.ts:708-735:

case 'text-separator': {
  const cfg: Record<string, string> = {};
  for (const line of (options.secondInput || '').split('\n')) {
    const eq = line.indexOf('=');
    if (eq > 0) cfg[line.slice(0, eq).trim()] = line.slice(eq + 1).trim();
  }
  const sepMap: Record<string, string> = {
    newline: '\n', comma: ',', comma_space: ', ', semicolon: ';',
    tab: '\t', space: ' ', pipe: '|',
  };
  const fromSep = cfg.from_sep === 'custom' ? (cfg.custom_from || ',') : (sepMap[cfg.from_sep] || '\n');
  const toSep = cfg.to_sep === 'custom' ? (cfg.custom_to || ',') : (sepMap[cfg.to_sep] || ',');
  const doTrim = cfg.trim !== 'false';
  const removeEmpty = cfg.remove_empty !== 'false';

  let items = input.split(fromSep);
  if (doTrim) items = items.map(s => s.trim());
  if (removeEmpty) items = items.filter(Boolean);

  let result: string;
  switch (action) {
    case 'sort': result = [...items].sort((a, b) => a.localeCompare(b)).join(toSep); break;
    case 'unique': result = [...new Set(items)].join(toSep); break;
    case 'count': result = `${items.length} items`; break;
    default: result = items.join(toSep);
  }
  return { output: result, meta: `${items.length} items | From: ${cfg.from_sep || 'newline'} → To: ${cfg.to_sep || 'comma'}` };
}

The Text Separator handles edge cases like empty strings, leading/trailing whitespace, and custom delimiters with special characters (including multi-character delimiters).

For SQL IN clauses, first convert to comma-separated format, then wrap items with quotes manually or use the List Splitter tool with the sql_in template.

Custom delimiters that appear within items will cause incorrect splits. For complex data with embedded delimiters, use proper CSV parsing instead.