Unix:merge multiple CSV files with same header by keeping the header of the first file

Question

I have to merge multiple CSV files with same headers. I have to keep the header of the first file and remove headers of all the other files and merge them and create one master file.

file 1:

Id,city,name ,location
1,NA,JACK,CA

file 2:

ID,city,name,location
2,NY,JERRY,NY

output:

Id,city,name,location
1,NA,JACK,CA
2,NY,JERRY,NY

Currently I am using this code:

ls *.csv | xargs -n 1 tail -n+2 > master.csv

This code will merge the files perfectly , but as I need the header of the first file, this will not give me the header.

What should I do?

Answer 1

awk 'FNR==1 && NR!=1{next;}{print}' *.csv

tested on solaris unix:

> cat file1.csv
Id,city,name ,location
1,NA,JACK,CA
>
> cat file2.csv
ID,city,name,location
2,NY,JERRY,NY
>
> nawk 'FNR==1 && NR!=1{next;}{print}' *.csv
Id,city,name ,location
1,NA,JACK,CA
2,NY,JERRY,NY
> 

Explanation given by kevin-d:

FNR is the number of lines (records) read so far in the current file. NR is the number of lines read overall. So the condition 'FNR==1 && NR!=1{next;}' says, "Skip this line if it's the first line of the current file, and at least 1 line has been read overall." This has the effect of printing the CSV header of the first file while skipping it in the rest.

Link for the difference between awk and nawk