Using the following data:
$cat date1.csv
Bob,2013-06-03T17:18:07
James,2013-06-03T17:18:07
Kevin,2013-06-03T17:18:07
$cat date2.csv
2012-12-02T18:30:31
Another way of doing it is with pr
pr -mts, file1 file2
[jaypal:~/Temp] cat file1
Bob,2013-06-03T17:18:07
James,2013-06-03T17:18:07
Kevin,2013-06-03T17:18:07
[jaypal:~/Temp] cat file2
2012-12-02T18:30:31
2012-12-02T18:28:37
2013-06-01T12:16:05
[jaypal:~/Temp] pr -mts, file1 file2
Bob,2013-06-03T17:18:07,2012-12-02T18:30:31
James,2013-06-03T17:18:07,2012-12-02T18:28:37
Kevin,2013-06-03T17:18:07,2013-06-01T12:16:05
If you just want to paste specific columns of different files side-by-side, you can use a combination of paste and cut.
For example, if you have three files with the same lines, only differing in some columns that you want to bring together:
$ head file1.csv
chr1H 1 240 RLC 2 138 239 0.5774059
chr1H 641 1787 RLC 12 1135 1146 0.9904014
chr1H 2009 3436 RLC 15 1413 1427 0.9901892
chr1H 4935 6106 RLG 12 1060 1171 0.9052092
chr1H 11523 11997 RLG 4 371 474 0.7827004
chr1H 11998 12882 RLX 9 776 884 0.8778281
chr1H 20340 21529 RLC 13 1177 1189 0.9899075
chr1H 27889 36240 RLC 82 8118 8351 0.9720991
chr1H 36241 39978 RLC 36 3542 3737 0.9478191
chr1H 40384 41273 RLX 10 880 889 0.9898763
$ head file2.csv
chr1H 1 240 RLC 1 39 239 0.1631799
chr1H 641 1787 RLC 11 1049 1146 0.9153578
chr1H 2009 3436 RLC 6 594 1427 0.4162579
chr1H 4935 6106 RLG 11 995 1171 0.8497011
chr1H 11523 11997 RLG 3 275 474 0.5801688
chr1H 11998 12882 RLX 4 378 884 0.4276018
chr1H 20340 21529 RLC 11 979 1189 0.8233810
chr1H 27889 36240 RLC 74 7238 8351 0.8667225
chr1H 36241 39978 RLC 31 3047 3737 0.8153599
chr1H 40384 41273 RLX 10 880 889 0.9898763
$ head file3.csv
chr1H 1 240 RLC 2 138 239 0.5774059
chr1H 641 1787 RLC 12 1135 1146 0.9904014
chr1H 2009 3436 RLC 15 1413 1427 0.9901892
chr1H 4935 6106 RLG 12 1060 1171 0.9052092
chr1H 11523 11997 RLG 4 371 474 0.7827004
chr1H 11998 12882 RLX 9 776 884 0.8778281
chr1H 20340 21529 RLC 13 1177 1189 0.9899075
chr1H 27889 36240 RLC 82 8118 8351 0.9720991
chr1H 36241 39978 RLC 36 3542 3737 0.9478191
chr1H 40384 41273 RLX 10 880 889 0.9898763
The first for columns of the files are identical. We want to keep these, but additionally paste the 8th column of each file side-by-side:
$ paste file1.csv file2.csv file3.csv | cut -f 1,2,3,4,8,16,24 | head
results in:
chr1H 1 240 RLC 0.5774059 0.1631799 0.0000000
chr1H 641 1787 RLC 0.9904014 0.9153578 0.6448517
chr1H 2009 3436 RLC 0.9901892 0.4162579 0.2081289
chr1H 4935 6106 RLG 0.9052092 0.8497011 0.1690862
chr1H 11523 11997 RLG 0.7827004 0.5801688 0.0000000
chr1H 11998 12882 RLX 0.8778281 0.4276018 0.1119910
chr1H 20340 21529 RLC 0.9899075 0.8233810 0.1068124
chr1H 27889 36240 RLC 0.9720991 0.8667225 0.4043827
chr1H 36241 39978 RLC 0.9478191 0.8153599 0.3914905
chr1H 40384 41273 RLX 0.9898763 0.9898763 0.3217098
This needs almost no memory and is probably as fast as it gets.
You were on track with paste(1):
$ paste -d , date1.csv date2.csv
Bob,2013-06-03T17:18:07,2012-12-02T18:30:31
James,2013-06-03T17:18:07,2012-12-02T18:28:37
Kevin,2013-06-03T17:18:07,2013-06-01T12:16:05
It's a bit unclear from your question if there are leading spaces on those lines. If you want to get rid of that in the final output, you can use cut(1) to snip it off before pasting:
$ cut -c 2- date2.csv | paste -d , date1.csv -
Bob,2013-06-03T17:18:07,2012-12-02T18:30:31
James,2013-06-03T17:18:07,2012-12-02T18:28:37
Kevin,2013-06-03T17:18:07,2013-06-01T12:16:05
I wanted to extend jaypal's solution as I've ran into a need to edit files prior to merging the columns.
$cat date1.csv
Bob,2013-06-03T17:18:07
James,2013-06-03T17:18:07
Kevin,2013-06-03T17:18:07
$cat date2.csv
2012-12-02T18:30:31
2012-12-02T18:28:37
2013-06-01T12:16:05
Merging column 1 from date1.csv with column 1 from date2.csv can be accomplished as follows:
$pr -mts, <(cut -d, -f1 date1.csv) date2.csv
Bob,2012-12-02T18:30:31
James,2012-12-02T18:28:37
Kevin,2013-06-01T12:16:05
You can apply further edits with a pipe if desired:
$pr -mts, <(cut -d, -f1 date1.csv | sort) date2.csv
Anyway, this has been handy for me and just wanted pass along the knowledge. Hope it helps someone.