> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://daseldocs.tomwright.me/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://daseldocs.tomwright.me/v1/usage/select.md).

# Select

## Description

This command allows you to select data from data structures.

It will not modify the source data in any way.

## Usage

```shell
dasel select -f <file> <selector>
```

### Flags

| Flag                             | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| -------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `-f`, `--file`                   | <p>Specify the file to query. This is required unless you are piping in data.</p><p>If piping in data you can optionally pass <code>-f stdin</code>/<code>-f -</code>.</p>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| `-r`, `--read`                   | <p>Specify the parser to use when reading the input data.</p><p>This is required if you are piping in data, otherwise dasel will use the given file extension to guess which parser to use.</p><p>See <a href="/pages/-MXgNylC4AkvSj351jU3">supported file types</a>.</p>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| `-w`, `--write`                  | <p>Specify the parser to use when writing the output data.</p><p>If not provided dasel will attempt to use the<code>--read</code> flag to determine which parser to use.</p><p>See <a href="/pages/-MXgNylC4AkvSj351jU3">supported file types</a>.</p>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| `-p`, `--parser`                 | Shorthand for `-r <value> -w <value>`                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| `-m`, `--multiple`               | <p>Tells dasel to select multiple items.</p><p>See <a href="/pages/-MXgNylAqqL66l3g7A2u">multiple</a>.</p>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| `-s`, `--selector`, `<selector>` | <p>Specify the selector to use. See <a href="/pages/-MXgNylFbABKYJMirPOA">selectors</a> for more information.</p><p>If no selector flag is given, dasel assumes the first argument given is the selector.</p><p>This is required.</p>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| `--plain`                        | <p>By default, dasel formats the output using the specified parser.</p><p>If this flag is used no formatting occurs and the results output as a string.</p>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| `-n`, `--null`                   | <p>Output <code>null</code> instead of <code>ValueNotFound</code> errors.</p><p>See <a href="/pages/-MXgNylB12PQNes7fnNt">null</a>.</p>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| `-c`, `--compact`                | This tells dasel to output compact data where possible. E.g. not pretty printing JSON.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| `--length`                       | <p>This tells dasel to output the length of the value found.</p><ul><li><code>\[1, 2, 3]</code> - <code>3</code>: The number of elements within the array.</li><li><code>{"a": 1, "b": 2}</code> - <code>2</code>: The number of elements within the map.</li><li><code>"Hello there"</code> - <code>11</code>: The number of characters in the string.</li><li><p>Any other values are converted to strings and then treated as such:</p><ul><li><code>12345</code> - <code>5</code>: Numbers are converted to strings.</li><li><code>123.45</code> - <code>6</code>: Floats/decimals are converted to strings.</li><li><code>true</code> - <code>4</code>: Bools are converted to strings.</li></ul></li></ul> |
| `--merge-input-documents`        | See [merge input documents](/v1/usage/flags/merge-input-documents.md).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| `--format`                       | See [format](/v1/usage/flags/format.md).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| `--colour`                       | Colourise output.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| `--color`                        | Alias of `--colour.`                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| `--escape-html`                  | See [escape html](/v1/usage/flags/escape-html.md).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |

## Example

### **Select the image within a kubernetes deployment manifest file:**

```
$ dasel select -f deployment.yaml "spec.template.spec.containers.(name=auth).image"
"tomwright/auth:v1.0.0"
```

### **Piping data into the select:**

```
$ cat deployment.yaml | dasel select -p yaml "spec.template.spec.containers.(name=auth).image"
"tomwright/auth:v1.0.0"
```