Clipboard Transformer

A lightweight Chrome extension that instantly transforms clipboard data between different formats: CSV (comma-separated), CSV (pipe-separated), TSV (tab-separated for Google Sheets), JSON, and JOOQ-style value lists.

Features

• 🔍 Auto-detect format - Automatically identifies CSV (comma), CSV (pipe), TSV, JSON, or JOOQ format in your clipboard
• 🔄 One-click conversion - Transform between any supported formats with a single click
• 📋 Direct clipboard integration - Read from and write to clipboard automatically
• ⚡ Fast and lightweight - No external dependencies, runs entirely in your browser
• 🎨 Clean, simple UI - Minimal clicks to get your data transformed

Common Use Cases

📊 Google Sheets/Excel → Code

Select and copy cells from Google Sheets or Excel, then transform to CSV or JSON to paste directly into your code editor (VS Code, Sublime, etc.). Perfect for:

• Creating test data fixtures
• Generating mock API responses
• Building database seed files
• Sharing data with non-spreadsheet users

Example workflow:

1. Select cells in Google Sheets (they copy as TSV)
2. Click extension → "To JSON"
3. Paste into VS Code as a ready-to-use JSON array

💾 CSV/JSON → Google Sheets

Copy CSV data from a file or JSON from an API response, convert to TSV, and paste directly into Google Sheets with proper cell separation.

Example workflow:

1. Copy CSV data from a text file or terminal output
2. Click extension → "To TSV (Sheets)"
3. Paste into Google Sheets - data automatically fills the correct cells

🔄 Quick Format Switching

• Convert comma-separated CSV to pipe-separated for different database imports
• Transform JSON API responses to spreadsheet-friendly format
• Generate SQL INSERT value lists from spreadsheet data

Installation

Option 1: Chrome Web Store (Recommended)

Coming soon - pending approval

Option 2: Manual Installation from GitHub

1. Download the extension:

   • Download the latest release
   • Or clone the repository:

     git clone https://github.com/lex3001/chrome_csv_helper.git

2. Load in Chrome:

   • Open Chrome and go to chrome://extensions
   • Enable Developer mode (toggle in top-right corner)
   • Click Load unpacked
   • Select the chrome_csv_helper folder

3. Pin the extension (optional):

   • Click the puzzle icon in Chrome toolbar
   • Find "Clipboard Transformer" and click the pin icon

Usage

1. Copy data to your clipboard (from Google Sheets, a CSV file, JSON, etc.)

2. Click the extension icon in your Chrome toolbar

3. The extension will automatically detect the format

4. Click a conversion button to transform to your desired format:

   • To CSV (comma) - Convert to comma-separated values
   • To CSV (pipe) - Convert to pipe-separated values
   • To TSV (Sheets) - Convert to tab-separated (paste directly into Google Sheets)
   • To JSON - Convert to JSON format
   • To JOOQ-ish - Convert to JOOQ-style value list

5. The converted data is automatically copied to your clipboard and displayed in the popup

Fallback Options

If automatic clipboard detection doesn't work (due to browser permissions):

• Click the "Detect clipboard" button to manually trigger detection
• Or paste your data into the text area and click "Use pasted data"

Supported Formats

Input Formats (Auto-detected)

• CSV (comma) - Standard comma-separated values
• CSV (pipe) - Pipe-separated values (|)
• TSV - Tab-separated values (from Google Sheets, Excel)
• JSON - Arrays of objects or arrays of arrays
• JOOQ - Parenthesized value lists like (1, 'value', true), (2, 'value2', false)

Output Formats (One-click conversion)

All of the above formats are available as conversion targets.

Technical Notes

CSV Parsing

• Handles quoted fields with commas, newlines, and escaped quotes
• Automatically detects separator type (comma vs pipe vs tab)
• Preserves data integrity during conversion

JSON Conversion

• Array of objects → Table with keys as headers
• Array of arrays → Direct table representation
• Table → Array of objects (first row becomes keys)

JOOQ Format

• Heuristic parser for SQL-style value lists
• Supports strings (quoted), numbers, booleans, and NULL
• Useful for generating INSERT statements

Clipboard Permissions

• Uses navigator.clipboard API (requires user gesture in some browsers)
• Falls back to manual paste if automatic clipboard access is blocked
• Stores permission state locally to minimize future prompts

Privacy

• No data is transmitted - All processing happens locally in your browser
• No tracking or analytics - Your data stays private
• No external dependencies - No third-party libraries or API calls

Development

Want to contribute or modify the extension?

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/lex3001/chrome_csv_helper.git
cd chrome_csv_helper

# Make your changes to the code
# Test by loading the extension in Chrome (see Installation Option 2)

# Regenerate icons if needed (requires librsvg or ImageMagick)
rsvg-convert -w 128 -h 128 icon.svg -o icon128.png
rsvg-convert -w 48 -h 48 icon.svg -o icon48.png
rsvg-convert -w 32 -h 32 icon.svg -o icon32.png
rsvg-convert -w 16 -h 16 icon.svg -o icon16.png

# Create a distributable ZIP for Chrome Web Store
./build.sh

File Structure

chrome_csv_helper/
├── manifest.json       # Extension configuration
├── popup.html          # Popup UI
├── popup.js            # Detection, parsing, and conversion logic
├── styles.css          # Popup styles
├── icon.svg            # Source icon
├── icon*.png           # Icon assets (16, 32, 48, 128 px)
└── README.md           # This file

Known Limitations

• JOOQ parsing is heuristic and may not handle all SQL syntax variations
• Large datasets (>10,000 rows) may be slow in the popup UI
• Clipboard access requires user permission/gesture in some browsers

Future Improvements

• Add preview/edit mode before copying to clipboard
• Support for more formats (XML, YAML, etc.)
• Batch conversion of multiple files
• Custom delimiter configuration
• Export converted data as downloadable files

License

MIT License - feel free to use, modify, and distribute

Support

Found a bug or have a feature request? Open an issue on GitHub.

Author

Created by lex3001