How to skip n lines from a CSV,TSV file?

[eabase]

I am often looking at Geo data files before processing.
They usually have a (sometimes large) number of description lines before the data starts.

How can I skip n lines, or alternatively skip lines that starts with either a space (" ") or a (#)?

Here is an example:

• https://hpiers.obspm.fr/eoppc/series/opa/eopc04R_IAU2000_daily

               EARTH ORIENTATION PARAMETER (EOP) PRODUCT CENTER CENTER (PARIS OBSERVATORY)
                      INTERNATIONAL EARTH ROTATION AND REFERENCE SYSTEMS SERVICE
                                    EOP (IERS) 20 C04 TIME SERIES  (old format)   
               Description: https://hpiers.obspm.fr/eoppc/eop/eopc04/eopc04.txt
                            contact: christian.bizouard@obspm.fr

  
             FORMAT(3(I4),I7,2(F11.6),2(F12.7),2(F11.6),2(F11.6),2(F11.7),2(F12.6))
##################################################################################
  
      Date      MJD      x          y        UT1R-UTC      LODR        dX        dY        x Err     y Err  UT1R-UTC Err  LODR Err    dY Err       dY Err  
                         "          "           s           s          "         "           "          "          s         s            "           "
     (0h UTC)

1962   1   1  37665  -0.012700   0.213000   0.1349702   0.0016599   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1   2  37666  -0.015900   0.214100   0.1344413   0.0016366   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1   3  37667  -0.019000   0.215200   0.1339451   0.0016062   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1   4  37668  -0.021999   0.216301   0.1334778   0.0015882   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1   5  37669  -0.024799   0.217301   0.1330285   0.0015611   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1   6  37670  -0.027599   0.218301   0.1325949   0.0015342   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1   7  37671  -0.030199   0.219301   0.1321995   0.0015057   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1   8  37672  -0.032798   0.220202   0.1318236   0.0014748   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1   9  37673  -0.035198   0.221102   0.1314904   0.0014401   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1  10  37674  -0.037498   0.222002   0.1311949   0.0014019   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1  11  37675  -0.039697   0.222803   0.1309382   0.0013605   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1  12  37676  -0.041797   0.223703   0.1307235   0.0013180   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1  13  37677  -0.043797   0.224503   0.1305521   0.0012656   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1  14  37678  -0.045697   0.225203   0.1304328   0.0012239   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1  15  37679  -0.047496   0.226004   0.1303625   0.0011757   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1  16  37680  -0.049196   0.226704   0.1303383   0.0011312   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1  17  37681  -0.050796   0.227404   0.1303477   0.0010907   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1  18  37682  -0.052295   0.228005   0.1303965   0.0010632   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1  19  37683  -0.053595   0.228705   0.1304717   0.0010362   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1  20  37684  -0.054895   0.229305   0.1305833   0.0009893   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1  21  37685  -0.055995   0.229905   0.1307322   0.0009517   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1  22  37686  -0.057094   0.230506   0.1309217   0.0009299   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1  23  37687  -0.057994   0.231006   0.1311236   0.0009149   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000
1962   1  24  37688  -0.058794   0.231606   0.1313429   0.0008965   0.000000   0.000000   0.030000   0.030000  0.0020000  0.0014000    0.004774    0.002000

[eabase]

BUMP

[mechatroner]

There is no way to do this currently. I recently added the comment_regex feature to RBQL, but it could take a while to integrate it into the extension because I am not sure yet how to do it nice from the UI/UX perspective.

[eabase]

@mechatroner
For more foolproof/simplicity, I think it might be better to not allowing user to put their own REGEX via UI/UX, and keep it in the settings JSON (if really needed). Instead provide a very short drop down with selection of comment characters (from start of line).

For example (in my case above) I would select:

• ^[ ]+ (for lines starting with spaces.)
• ^#[ #]+ (for lines starting with #. Like in Bash, Python files.)
• ^//[ ]+ (for lines starting with //. Like in JS, NodeJS, C/C++ files.)
• ^'[ ]+ (for lines starting with '. Like in BAT files.)

And then add field for skipping number of lines in file, perhaps in bottom bar for character set, spacing.

• Skip [auto | NN] lines from beginning of file, where auto would apply the comment lines according to above automatically, and NN would skip NN number of lines of file, regardless content.

[mechatroner]

I agree that such a drop-down would be convenient for some use cases, but IMO not generic enough for many other formats.