table

What is table?

The table npm package is a utility for generating text-based tables for Node.js applications. It provides a simple yet flexible way to create and manipulate tables in the console or other text-based outputs. It supports custom borders, padding, alignment, and more, making it a versatile tool for displaying tabular data in a structured format.

What are table's main functionalities?

Basic table creation

This feature allows you to create a simple table by providing an array of arrays. Each sub-array represents a row in the table. The first sub-array can be used for headers.

"use strict";\nconst {table} = require('table');\nlet data = [\n    ['Name', 'Age'],\n    ['Alice', 24],\n    ['Bob', 19]\n];\nconsole.log(table(data));

Custom border styles

This feature allows customization of the table's border by using predefined border styles or creating custom ones. It enhances the visual appearance of the table.

"use strict";\nconst {table, getBorderCharacters} = require('table');\nlet config = {\n    border: getBorderCharacters('ramac')\n};\nlet data = [\n    ['Name', 'Age'],\n    ['Alice', 24],\n    ['Bob', 19]\n];\nconsole.log(table(data, config));

Column width and alignment

This feature allows you to specify the width and alignment of columns, providing control over the layout and presentation of data within the table.

"use strict";\nconst {table} = require('table');\nlet config = {\n    columns: {\n        0: {\n            width: 10,\n            alignment: 'left'\n        },\n        1: {\n            width: 5,\n            alignment: 'right'\n        }\n    }\n};\nlet data = [\n    ['Name', 'Age'],\n    ['Alice', 24],\n    ['Bob', 19]\n];\nconsole.log(table(data, config));

Other packages similar to table

cli-table

cli-table is a similar package that provides functionalities for rendering unicode-aided tables on the command line. Compared to table, cli-table offers a different API and customization options but serves a similar purpose of displaying tabular data in CLI applications.

ascii-table

ascii-table is another package for creating ASCII tables in Node.js. It is simpler and less feature-rich compared to table, focusing on basic table creation without the extensive customization options that table provides.

README

Table

Produces a string that represents array data in a text table.

• Table
  • Features
  • Install
  • Usage
  • API
    • table
    • createStream
    • getBorderCharacters

Features

• Works with strings containing fullwidth characters.
• Works with strings containing ANSI escape codes.
• Configurable border characters.
• Configurable content alignment per column.
• Configurable content padding per column.
• Configurable column width.
• Text wrapping.

Install

npm install table

Usage

import { table } from 'table';

// Using commonjs?
// const { table } = require('table');

const data = [
    ['0A', '0B', '0C'],
    ['1A', '1B', '1C'],
    ['2A', '2B', '2C']
];

console.log(table(data));

╔════╤════╤════╗
║ 0A │ 0B │ 0C ║
╟────┼────┼────╢
║ 1A │ 1B │ 1C ║
╟────┼────┼────╢
║ 2A │ 2B │ 2C ║
╚════╧════╧════╝

API

table

Returns the string in the table format

Parameters:

• data: The data to display

  • Type: any[][]
  • Required: true

• config: Table configuration

  • Type: object
  • Required: false

config.border

Type: { [type: string]: string }
Default: honeywell template

Custom borders. The keys are any of:

• topLeft, topRight, topBody,topJoin
• bottomLeft, bottomRight, bottomBody, bottomJoin
• joinLeft, joinRight, joinBody, joinJoin
• bodyLeft, bodyRight, bodyJoin
• headerJoin

const data = [
  ['0A', '0B', '0C'],
  ['1A', '1B', '1C'],
  ['2A', '2B', '2C']
];

const config = {
  border: {
    topBody: `─`,
    topJoin: `┬`,
    topLeft: `┌`,
    topRight: `┐`,

    bottomBody: `─`,
    bottomJoin: `┴`,
    bottomLeft: `└`,
    bottomRight: `┘`,

    bodyLeft: `│`,
    bodyRight: `│`,
    bodyJoin: `│`,

    joinBody: `─`,
    joinLeft: `├`,
    joinRight: `┤`,
    joinJoin: `┼`
  }
};

console.log(table(data, config));

┌────┬────┬────┐
│ 0A │ 0B │ 0C │
├────┼────┼────┤
│ 1A │ 1B │ 1C │
├────┼────┼────┤
│ 2A │ 2B │ 2C │
└────┴────┴────┘

config.drawVerticalLine

Type: (lineIndex: number, columnCount: number) => boolean
Default: () => true

It is used to tell whether to draw a vertical line. This callback is called for each vertical border of the table. If the table has n columns, then the index parameter is alternatively received all numbers in range [0, n] inclusively.

const data = [
  ['0A', '0B', '0C'],
  ['1A', '1B', '1C'],
  ['2A', '2B', '2C'],
  ['3A', '3B', '3C'],
  ['4A', '4B', '4C']
];

const config = {
  drawVerticalLine: (lineIndex, columnCount) => {
    return lineIndex === 0 || lineIndex === columnCount;
  }
};

console.log(table(data, config));

╔════════════╗
║ 0A  0B  0C ║
╟────────────╢
║ 1A  1B  1C ║
╟────────────╢
║ 2A  2B  2C ║
╟────────────╢
║ 3A  3B  3C ║
╟────────────╢
║ 4A  4B  4C ║
╚════════════╝

config.drawHorizontalLine

Type: (lineIndex: number, rowCount: number) => boolean
Default: () => true

It is used to tell whether to draw a horizontal line. This callback is called for each horizontal border of the table. If the table has n rows, then the index parameter is alternatively received all numbers in range [0, n] inclusively. If the table has n rows and contains the header, then the range will be [0, n+1] inclusively.

const data = [
  ['0A', '0B', '0C'],
  ['1A', '1B', '1C'],
  ['2A', '2B', '2C'],
  ['3A', '3B', '3C'],
  ['4A', '4B', '4C']
];

const config = {
  drawHorizontalLine: (lineIndex, rowCount) => {
    return lineIndex === 0 || lineIndex === 1 || lineIndex === rowCount - 1 || lineIndex === rowCount;
  }
};

console.log(table(data, config));

╔════╤════╤════╗
║ 0A │ 0B │ 0C ║
╟────┼────┼────╢
║ 1A │ 1B │ 1C ║
║ 2A │ 2B │ 2C ║
║ 3A │ 3B │ 3C ║
╟────┼────┼────╢
║ 4A │ 4B │ 4C ║
╚════╧════╧════╝

config.singleLine

Type: boolean
Default: false

If true, horizontal lines inside the table are not drawn. This option also overrides the config.drawHorizontalLine if specified.

const data = [
  ['-rw-r--r--', '1', 'pandorym', 'staff', '1529', 'May 23 11:25', 'LICENSE'],
  ['-rw-r--r--', '1', 'pandorym', 'staff', '16327', 'May 23 11:58', 'README.md'],
  ['drwxr-xr-x', '76', 'pandorym', 'staff', '2432', 'May 23 12:02', 'dist'],
  ['drwxr-xr-x', '634', 'pandorym', 'staff', '20288', 'May 23 11:54', 'node_modules'],
  ['-rw-r--r--', '1,', 'pandorym', 'staff', '525688', 'May 23 11:52', 'package-lock.json'],
  ['-rw-r--r--@', '1', 'pandorym', 'staff', '2440', 'May 23 11:25', 'package.json'],
  ['drwxr-xr-x', '27', 'pandorym', 'staff', '864', 'May 23 11:25', 'src'],
  ['drwxr-xr-x', '20', 'pandorym', 'staff', '640', 'May 23 11:25', 'test'],
];

const config = {
  singleLine: true
};

console.log(table(data, config));

╔═════════════╤═════╤══════════╤═══════╤════════╤══════════════╤═══════════════════╗
║ -rw-r--r--  │ 1   │ pandorym │ staff │ 1529   │ May 23 11:25 │ LICENSE           ║
║ -rw-r--r--  │ 1   │ pandorym │ staff │ 16327  │ May 23 11:58 │ README.md         ║
║ drwxr-xr-x  │ 76  │ pandorym │ staff │ 2432   │ May 23 12:02 │ dist              ║
║ drwxr-xr-x  │ 634 │ pandorym │ staff │ 20288  │ May 23 11:54 │ node_modules      ║
║ -rw-r--r--  │ 1,  │ pandorym │ staff │ 525688 │ May 23 11:52 │ package-lock.json ║
║ -rw-r--r--@ │ 1   │ pandorym │ staff │ 2440   │ May 23 11:25 │ package.json      ║
║ drwxr-xr-x  │ 27  │ pandorym │ staff │ 864    │ May 23 11:25 │ src               ║
║ drwxr-xr-x  │ 20  │ pandorym │ staff │ 640    │ May 23 11:25 │ test              ║
╚═════════════╧═════╧══════════╧═══════╧════════╧══════════════╧═══════════════════╝

config.columns

Type: Column[] | { [columnIndex: number]: Column }

Column specific configurations.

config.columns[*].width

Type: number
Default: the maximum cell widths of the column

Column width (excluding the paddings).

const data = [
  ['0A', '0B', '0C'],
  ['1A', '1B', '1C'],
  ['2A', '2B', '2C']
];

const config = {
  columns: {
    1: { width: 10 }
  }
};

console.log(table(data, config));

╔════╤════════════╤════╗
║ 0A │ 0B         │ 0C ║
╟────┼────────────┼────╢
║ 1A │ 1B         │ 1C ║
╟────┼────────────┼────╢
║ 2A │ 2B         │ 2C ║
╚════╧════════════╧════╝

config.columns[*].alignment

Type: 'center' | 'justify' | 'left' | 'right'
Default: 'left'

Cell content horizontal alignment

const data = [
  ['0A', '0B', '0C', '0D 0E 0F'],
  ['1A', '1B', '1C', '1D 1E 1F'],
  ['2A', '2B', '2C', '2D 2E 2F'],
];

const config = {
  columnDefault: {
    width: 10,
  },
  columns: [
    { alignment: 'left' },
    { alignment: 'center' },
    { alignment: 'right' },
    { alignment: 'justify' }
  ],
};

console.log(table(data, config));

╔════════════╤════════════╤════════════╤════════════╗
║ 0A         │     0B     │         0C │ 0D  0E  0F ║
╟────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼────────────╢
║ 1A         │     1B     │         1C │ 1D  1E  1F ║
╟────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼────────────╢
║ 2A         │     2B     │         2C │ 2D  2E  2F ║
╚════════════╧════════════╧════════════╧════════════╝

config.columns[*].verticalAlignment

Type: 'top' | 'middle' | 'bottom'
Default: 'top'

Cell content vertical alignment

const data = [
  ['A', 'B', 'C', 'DEF'],
];

const config = {
  columnDefault: {
    width: 1,
  },
  columns: [
    { verticalAlignment: 'top' },
    { verticalAlignment: 'middle' },
    { verticalAlignment: 'bottom' },
  ],
};

console.log(table(data, config));

╔═══╤═══╤═══╤═══╗
║ A │   │   │ D ║
║   │ B │   │ E ║
║   │   │ C │ F ║
╚═══╧═══╧═══╧═══╝

config.columns[*].paddingLeft

Type: number
Default: 1

The number of whitespaces used to pad the content on the left.

config.columns[*].paddingRight

Type: number
Default: 1

The number of whitespaces used to pad the content on the right.

The paddingLeft and paddingRight options do not count on the column width. So the column has width = 5, paddingLeft = 2 and paddingRight = 2 will have the total width is 9.

const data = [
  ['0A', 'AABBCC', '0C'],
  ['1A', '1B', '1C'],
  ['2A', '2B', '2C']
];

const config = {
  columns: [
    {
      paddingLeft: 3
    },
    {
      width: 2,
      paddingRight: 3
    }
  ]
};

console.log(table(data, config));

╔══════╤══════╤════╗
║   0A │ AA   │ 0C ║
║      │ BB   │    ║
║      │ CC   │    ║
╟──────┼──────┼────╢
║   1A │ 1B   │ 1C ║
╟──────┼──────┼────╢
║   2A │ 2B   │ 2C ║
╚══════╧══════╧════╝

config.columns[*].truncate

Type: number
Default: Infinity

The number of characters is which the content will be truncated. To handle a content that overflows the container width, table package implements text wrapping. However, sometimes you may want to truncate content that is too long to be displayed in the table.

const data = [
  ['Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Phasellus pulvinar nibh sed mauris convallis dapibus. Nunc venenatis tempus nulla sit amet viverra.']
];

const config = {
  columns: [
    {
      width: 20,
      truncate: 100
    }
  ]
};

console.log(table(data, config));

╔══════════════════════╗
║ Lorem ipsum dolor si ║
║ t amet, consectetur  ║
║ adipiscing elit. Pha ║
║ sellus pulvinar nibh ║
║ sed mauris convall…  ║
╚══════════════════════╝

config.columns[*].wrapWord

Type: boolean
Default: false

The table package implements auto text wrapping, i.e., text that has the width greater than the container width will be separated into multiple lines at the nearest space or one of the special characters: \|/_.,;-.

When wrapWord is false:

const data = [
    ['Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Phasellus pulvinar nibh sed mauris convallis dapibus. Nunc venenatis tempus nulla sit amet viverra.']
];

const config = {
  columns: [ { width: 20 } ]
};

console.log(table(data, config));

╔══════════════════════╗
║ Lorem ipsum dolor si ║
║ t amet, consectetur  ║
║ adipiscing elit. Pha ║
║ sellus pulvinar nibh ║
║ sed mauris convallis ║
║ dapibus. Nunc venena ║
║ tis tempus nulla sit ║
║ amet viverra.        ║
╚══════════════════════╝

When wrapWord is true:

╔══════════════════════╗
║ Lorem ipsum dolor    ║
║ sit amet,            ║
║ consectetur          ║
║ adipiscing elit.     ║
║ Phasellus pulvinar   ║
║ nibh sed mauris      ║
║ convallis dapibus.   ║
║ Nunc venenatis       ║
║ tempus nulla sit     ║
║ amet viverra.        ║
╚══════════════════════╝

config.columnDefault

Type: Column
Default: {}

The default configuration for all columns. Column-specific settings will overwrite the default values.

config.header

Type: object

Header configuration.

Deprecated in favor of the new spanning cells API.

The header configuration inherits the most of the column's, except:

• content {string}: the header content.
• width: calculate based on the content width automatically.
• alignment: center be default.
• verticalAlignment: is not supported.
• config.border.topJoin will be config.border.topBody for prettier.

const data = [
      ['0A', '0B', '0C'],
      ['1A', '1B', '1C'],
      ['2A', '2B', '2C'],
    ];

const config = {
  columnDefault: {
    width: 10,
  },
  header: {
    alignment: 'center',
    content: 'THE HEADER\nThis is the table about something',
  },
}

console.log(table(data, config));

╔══════════════════════════════════════╗
║              THE HEADER              ║
║  This is the table about something   ║
╟────────────┬────────────┬────────────╢
║ 0A         │ 0B         │ 0C         ║
╟────────────┼────────────┼────────────╢
║ 1A         │ 1B         │ 1C         ║
╟────────────┼────────────┼────────────╢
║ 2A         │ 2B         │ 2C         ║
╚════════════╧════════════╧════════════╝

config.spanningCells

Type: SpanningCellConfig[]

Spanning cells configuration.

The configuration should be straightforward: just specify an array of minimal cell configurations including the position of top-left cell and the number of columns and/or rows will be expanded from it.

The content of overlap cells will be ignored to make the data shape be consistent.

By default, the configuration of column that the top-left cell belongs to will be applied to the whole spanning cell, except:

• The width will be summed up of all spanning columns.
• The paddingRight will be received from the right-most column intentionally.

Advances customized column-like styles can be configurable to each spanning cell to overwrite the default behavior.

const data = [
  ['Test Coverage Report', '', '', '', '', ''],
  ['Module', 'Component', 'Test Cases', 'Failures', 'Durations', 'Success Rate'],
  ['Services', 'User', '50', '30', '3m 7s', '60.0%'],
  ['', 'Payment', '100', '80', '7m 15s', '80.0%'],
  ['Subtotal', '', '150', '110', '10m 22s', '73.3%'],
  ['Controllers', 'User', '24', '18', '1m 30s', '75.0%'],
  ['', 'Payment', '30', '24', '50s', '80.0%'],
  ['Subtotal', '', '54', '42', '2m 20s', '77.8%'],
  ['Total', '', '204', '152', '12m 42s', '74.5%'],
];

const config = {
  columns: [
    { alignment: 'center', width: 12 },
    { alignment: 'center', width: 10 },
    { alignment: 'right' },
    { alignment: 'right' },
    { alignment: 'right' },
    { alignment: 'right' }
  ],
  spanningCells: [
    { col: 0, row: 0, colSpan: 6 },
    { col: 0, row: 2, rowSpan: 2, verticalAlignment: 'middle'},
    { col: 0, row: 4, colSpan: 2, alignment: 'right'},
    { col: 0, row: 5, rowSpan: 2, verticalAlignment: 'middle'},
    { col: 0, row: 7, colSpan: 2, alignment: 'right' },
    { col: 0, row: 8, colSpan: 2, alignment: 'right' }
  ],
};

console.log(table(data, config));

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║                             Test Coverage Report                             ║
╟──────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬──────────┬───────────┬──────────────╢
║    Module    │ Component  │ Test Cases │ Failures │ Durations │ Success Rate ║
╟──────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼──────────┼───────────┼──────────────╢
║              │    User    │         50 │       30 │     3m 7s │        60.0% ║
║   Services   ├────────────┼────────────┼──────────┼───────────┼──────────────╢
║              │  Payment   │        100 │       80 │    7m 15s │        80.0% ║
╟──────────────┴────────────┼────────────┼──────────┼───────────┼──────────────╢
║                  Subtotal │        150 │      110 │   10m 22s │        73.3% ║
╟──────────────┬────────────┼────────────┼──────────┼───────────┼──────────────╢
║              │    User    │         24 │       18 │    1m 30s │        75.0% ║
║ Controllers  ├────────────┼────────────┼──────────┼───────────┼──────────────╢
║              │  Payment   │         30 │       24 │       50s │        80.0% ║
╟──────────────┴────────────┼────────────┼──────────┼───────────┼──────────────╢
║                  Subtotal │         54 │       42 │    2m 20s │        77.8% ║
╟───────────────────────────┼────────────┼──────────┼───────────┼──────────────╢
║                     Total │        204 │      152 │   12m 42s │        74.5% ║
╚═══════════════════════════╧════════════╧══════════╧═══════════╧══════════════╝

createStream

table package exports createStream function used to draw a table and append rows.

Parameter:

• config: the same as table's, except config.columnDefault.width and config.columnCount must be provided.

import { createStream } from 'table';

const config = {
  columnDefault: {
    width: 50
  },
  columnCount: 1
};

const stream = createStream(config);

setInterval(() => {
  stream.write([new Date()]);
}, 500);

table package uses ANSI escape codes to overwrite the output of the last line when a new row is printed.

The underlying implementation is explained in this Stack Overflow answer.

Streaming supports all of the configuration properties and functionality of a static table (such as auto text wrapping, alignment and padding), e.g.

import { createStream } from 'table';

import _ from 'lodash';

const config = {
  columnDefault: {
    width: 50
  },
  columnCount: 3,
  columns: [
    {
      width: 10,
      alignment: 'right'
    },
    { alignment: 'center' },
    { width: 10 }

  ]
};

const stream = createStream(config);

let i = 0;

setInterval(() => {
  let random;

  random = _.sample('abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz', _.random(1, 30)).join('');

  stream.write([i++, new Date(), random]);
}, 500);

getBorderCharacters

Parameter:

• template
  • Type: 'honeywell' | 'norc' | 'ramac' | 'void'
  • Required: true

You can load one of the predefined border templates using getBorderCharacters function.

import { table, getBorderCharacters } from 'table';

const data = [
  ['0A', '0B', '0C'],
  ['1A', '1B', '1C'],
  ['2A', '2B', '2C']
];

const config = {
  border: getBorderCharacters(`name of the template`)
};

console.log(table(data, config));

# honeywell

╔════╤════╤════╗
║ 0A │ 0B │ 0C ║
╟────┼────┼────╢
║ 1A │ 1B │ 1C ║
╟────┼────┼────╢
║ 2A │ 2B │ 2C ║
╚════╧════╧════╝

# norc

┌────┬────┬────┐
│ 0A │ 0B │ 0C │
├────┼────┼────┤
│ 1A │ 1B │ 1C │
├────┼────┼────┤
│ 2A │ 2B │ 2C │
└────┴────┴────┘

# ramac (ASCII; for use in terminals that do not support Unicode characters)

+----+----+----+
| 0A | 0B | 0C |
|----|----|----|
| 1A | 1B | 1C |
|----|----|----|
| 2A | 2B | 2C |
+----+----+----+

# void (no borders; see "borderless table" section of the documentation)

 0A  0B  0C

 1A  1B  1C

 2A  2B  2C

Raise an issue if you'd like to contribute a new border template.

Borderless Table

Simply using void border character template creates a table with a lot of unnecessary spacing.

To create a more pleasant to the eye table, reset the padding and remove the joining rows, e.g.

const output = table(data, {
    border: getBorderCharacters('void'),
    columnDefault: {
        paddingLeft: 0,
        paddingRight: 1
    },
    drawHorizontalLine: () => false
    }
);

console.log(output);

0A 0B 0C
1A 1B 1C
2A 2B 2C