yq/pkg/yqlib/doc/operators/column.md

Column

Returns the column of the matching node. Starts from 1, 0 indicates there was no column data.

{% hint style="warning" %} Note that versions prior to 4.18 require the 'eval/e' command to be specified.

yq e <exp> <file> {% endhint %}

Returns column of value node

Given a sample.yml file of:

a: cat
b: bob

then

yq '.b | column' sample.yml

will output

4

Returns column of key node

Pipe through the key operator to get the column of the key

Given a sample.yml file of:

a: cat
b: bob

then

yq '.b | key | column' sample.yml

will output

1

First column is 1

Given a sample.yml file of:

a: cat

then

yq '.a | key | column' sample.yml

will output

1

No column data is 0

Running

yq --null-input '{"a": "new entry"} | column'

will output

0