Example output:
ID^Ihead1^Ihead2^Ihead3^Ihead4$
1^I25.5^I1364.0^I22.5^I13.2$
2^I10.1^I215.56^I1.15^I22.2$
🔹 ^I represents tabs
🔹 $ marks end of line
ID^Ihead1^Ihead2^Ihead3^Ihead4$
1^I25.5^I1364.0^I22.5^I13.2$
2^I10.1^I215.56^I1.15^I22.2$
🔹 ^I represents tabs
🔹 $ marks end of line
Comments
sed -n l data.tsv
Output:
ID\thead1\thead2\thead3\thead4$
1\t25.5\t1364.0\t22.5\t13.2$
Here, tabs appear as \t, making them easier to spot.
• Hidden tabs can cause extra columns in CSV/TSV files
• Some programs expect spaces but get tabs (or vice versa)
• Data parsing in R/Python may fail due to inconsistent delimiters
✅ Always check for hidden characters in new datasets
✅ Use cat -A or sed -n l to reveal them
✅ On Mac, install GNU core utilities (brew install coreutils) and use gcat -A
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