It would be useful to have a split/join variable <code>t</code>/<code>tab</code> serving as the equivalent of <code>p.split('\t')</code> or <code>'\t'.join(p)</code>.

That's a good point. I'll add this in the next major revision. Luckily, "t" has not been taken yet for a shortcut! In the meantime, you can save out macros for this functionality.

please try this beta. use "tab" or "t" for splitting and joining on tabs.

I've tested it with commands like

cat big.file | pyp --quick_output "t[0]+'\t'+t[1]+'\t\t'+t[2]"

and it works as expected. Thanks!

pyp_beta should fix this: http://code.google.com/p/pyp/downloads/detail?name=pyp_beta&can=2&q=#makechanges