* emacs documentation
@ 2004-10-22 21:31 Tak Ota
2004-10-23 18:48 ` Richard Stallman
0 siblings, 1 reply; 4+ messages in thread
From: Tak Ota @ 2004-10-22 21:31 UTC (permalink / raw)
Cc: pgeorgief
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Hello,
Attached is a preliminary version of emacs document that describes how
to use lisp/textmodes/table.el package. It is written by Paul
Georgief based on my minimum documentation in the original lisp source
code.
Our intention is to place it as one of the subsections under "Commands
for Human Languages" section. Unfortunately neither Paul or I know
how to write texinfo source so the document is in plain ASCII text.
Could someone please compile it into texinfo source and incorporate
into man directory? Thank you.
-Tak
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Commands for Human Languages
* Text based Table:: Editing text based tables in WYSIWYG fashion.
Table mode provides an easy and intuitive way to create and edit WYSIWYG
text-based tables. Below is an example of such a table:
+-----------------+--------------------------------+-----------------+
| Command | Description | Key Binding |
+-----------------+--------------------------------+-----------------+
| forward-char |Move point right N characters | C-f |
| |(left if N is negative). | |
| | | |
| |On reaching end of buffer, stop | |
| |and signal error. | |
+-----------------+--------------------------------+-----------------+
| backward-char |Move point left N characters | C-b |
| |(right if N is negative). | |
| | | |
| |On attempt to pass beginning or | |
| |end of buffer, stop and signal | |
| |error. | |
+-----------------+--------------------------------+-----------------+
Table mode allows the contents of the above table to be easily manipulated by
inserting or deleting characters inside a cell. A cell is effectively a
localized rectangular edit region and edits to a cell do not affect the contets
of the surrounding cells. If the contents do not fit into a cell, then the cell
is automatically expanded in the vertical and/or horizontal directions and the
rest of the table is restructured and reformatted in accordance with the growth
of the cell.
* Menu:
* Definition:: What is a text based table.
Look at the following examples of valid tables as a reference while
you read this section:
+--+----+---+ +-+ +--+-----+
| | | | | | | | |
+--+----+---+ +-+ | +--+--+
| | | | | | | |
+--+----+---+ +--+--+ |
| | |
+-----+--+
A table consists of a rectangular frame and the contents inside the frame. A
table's cells must be at least one character wide and one character high with
two adjacent cells sharing a boarder line. A cell can be subdivided into
multiple rectangular cells but cannot nest or overlap.
Both the table frame and cell border lines must consist of one of three
special characters. The variables that hold these characters are described
below:
`table-cell-vertical-char' Holds the character used for vertical lines.
The default value is `|'.
`table-cell-horizontal-char' Holds the character used for horizontal
lines. The default value is `-'.
`table-cell-intersection-char' Holds the character used at where
horizontal line and vertical line meet.
The default value is `+'.
Based on this definition, the following five tables are examples of invalid
tables:
+-----+ +-----+ +--+ +-++--+ ++
| | | | | | | || | ++
| +-+ | | | | | | || |
| | | | +--+ | +--+--+ +-++--+
| +-+ | | | | | | | +-++--+
| | | | | | | | | || |
+-----+ +--+--+ +--+--+ +-++--+
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
>From left to right: 1) Nested cells are not allowed. 2) Overlapped cells or
nonrectangular cells are not allowed. 3) The border must be rectanglular.
4) Cells must have a minimum width/height of one character. 5) Same as 4.
* Table Creation:: How to create a table.
The command to create a table is `table-insert'. When called interactively
the function asks for the number of columns, number of rows, cell width and cell
height. The number of columns is a number of cells within the table's width.
The number of rows is the number of cells within the table's height. The cell
width is a number of characters that fit within a cell width. The cell height
is a number of lines within cell height. While the number of columns and number
of rows must be an integer number, the cell width and the cell height can be
either an integer number (when the value is constant across the table) or a
series of integer numbers, separated by space or comma, where each number
corresponds to each cell width within a row from left to right or each cell
height within a column from top to bottom.
`table-insert' Create and insert a table.
* Table Recognition:: How to activate and deactivate tables.
A table can be automatically recognized within an emacs buffer by issuing the
`table-recognize' command. Emacs scans the current buffer, recognizes valid
table cells, and attaches appropriate text properties to allow for table
editing. The converse operation, `table-unrecognize' is used to remove the special
text properties and revert the buffer back to plain text.
An optional numeric prefix argument can preceed the `table-recognize' command.
If this value is negative, tables in the buffer become inactive. This is
equivalent to issuing `table-unrecognize'.
Similar functions exist to: 1) Enable or disable tables within a region, 2)
Enable or disable individual tables, and 3) Enable individual cells. These
commands are given here:
`table-recognize-region' Recognizes tables within the current region and
activates them.
`table-unrecognize-region' Deactivates tables within the current region.
`table-recognize-table' Recognizes a table under point and activates it.
`table-unrecognize-table' Deactivates a table under point.
`table-recognize-cell' Recognizes a cell under point and activates it.
`table-unrecognize-cell' Deactivates a cell under point.
* Cell Operation:: Special operation in a table cell.
The command `table-forward-cell' and `table-backward-cell' move point from the
current cell to an adjacent cell forward and backward respectively. The order
of the cell is wrapped. When point is positioned in the last cell of a table,
issuing `table-forward-cell' moves point to the first cell in the table.
Likewise `table-backward-cell' from the first cell in a table moves point to the
last cell in the table.
The command `table-span-cell' spans the current cell into one of the four
directions - right, left, above or below - and merges the current cell with the
adjacent cell. It does not allow directions to which spanning does not produce
a legitimate cell.
The command `table-split-cell' splits the current cell vertically or
horizontally. This command is a wrapper to the direction specific commands
`table-split-cell-vertically' and `table-split-cell-horizontally'.
The command `table-split-cell-vertically' splits the current cell vertically
and creates a pair of cells above and below where point is located. The content
in the original cell is split as well.
The command `table-split-cell-horizontally' splits the current cell
horizontally and creates a pair of cells right and left of where point is
located. If the subject cell to split is not empty the user is asked how to
handle the cell contents. The three options are: `split', `left', or `right'.
`split' splits the contents at point literally while the `left' and `right' options
move the entire contents into the left or right cell respectively.
The next four commands enlarge or shrink a cell. These commands can take
numeric arguments (see Arguments) to specify how many columns or rows to enlarge
or shrink a particular table.
`table-heighten-cell' enlarges the current cell vertically.
`table-shorten-cell' shrinks the current cell vertically.
`table-widen-cell' enlarges the current cell horizontally.
`table-narrow-cell' shrinks the current cell horizontally.
* Cell Justification:: Justifying cell contents.
You can specify text justification for each cell. The justification
is remembered independently for each cell and the subsequent editing
of cell contents is subject to the specified justification.
The command `table-justify' requests the user to specify what to justify: a
`cell',`column', or `row'. The `cell' options sets the justification only to
the current cell. The `column' or `row' options set the justification to all
the cells within a column or row respectively. The command then requsts the
user to enter which justification to apply: `left', `center', `right', `top',
`middle', `bottom', or `none'. The options `left', `center' and `right' specify
horizontal justification while the options `top', `middle', `bottom' and 'none'
specify vertical justification. The vertical justification `none' effectively
removes vertical justification while horizontal justification must be one of
`left', `center' or `right'. Horizontal justification and vertical
justification are specified independently.
Justification information is stored in the buffer as a part of text property.
Therefore, this information is ephemeral and does not survive through the loss
of the buffer (closing the buffer and revisiting the buffer erase any previous
text properties). To alleviate this shortcoming the command `table-recognize'
and other recognition commands are equipped with a convenience feature (turned
on by default). During table recognition, the contents of a cell are examined
to determine which justification was originally applied to the cell and then
applies this justification to the the cell. This is a speculative algorithm and
is therefore not perfect, however, the justification is deduced correctly most
of the time. If you desire to disable this feature set nil to the customizable
variable `table-detect-cell-alignment'.
* Row Operation:: Manipulating Rows of table cell.
The command `table-insert-row' inserts a row of cells before the current row
in a table. The current row where point is located is pushed down after the
newly inserted row. When a numeric prefix argument is present it specifies the
number of rows to insert. Note that in order to insert rows after the last row
at the bottom of a table, point must be placed below the table, which is outside
of the table, prior to invoking this command.
The command `table-delete-row' deletes a row of cells at point. When
a numeric prefix argument is present it specifies the number of rows to
delete.
* Column Operation:: Manipulating Columns of table cell.
The command `table-insert-column' inserts a column of cells to the left of the
current row in a table. The current column where point is located at is pushed
right of the newly inserted column. To insert a column to the right side of the
right most column, point must be placed to the right side of the right most
column, which is outside of the table, prior to invoking this command.
A command `table-delete-column' deletes a column of cells at point. When a
numeric prefix argument is present it specifies the number of rows to delete.
* Fixed Width Mode:: Fixing cell width.
The command `table-fixed-width-mode' toggles fixed width mode on and off.
When the fixed width mode is turned on, editing inside a cell never changes the
cell width. In normal mode the cell width expands automatically in order to
prevent a word from being folded into multiple lines. As a default the fixed
width mode is turned off.
* Text/Table Conversion:: Converting between plain text and table.
The command `table-capture' captures plain text in a region and turn it into a
table. Unlike `table-recognize' the original text does not have a table
appearance but may hold a logical table structure. For example, some elements
separated by known patterns form a two dimensional structure which can be turned
into a table. Look at the numbers below. The numbers are horizontally
separated by a comma and vertically separated by a newline character.
1, 2, 3, 4
5, 6, 7, 8
, 9, 10
When `table-capture' is applied to the above three line region, the region can
be turned into the next table,
+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|1 |2 |3 |4 |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|5 |6 |7 |8 |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| |9 |10 | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+
where `,' is used for a column delimiter egexp and a newline is used
for a row delimiter regexp and cells are left justified and minimum
cell width is 5.
The command `table-release' does the opposite of `table-capture'. It releases
a table by removing the table frame and cell borders. This leaves the table
contents as plain text. One of the useful applications of the combination
`table-capture' and `table-release' is to edit a text in layout. Look at the
following three paragraphs (the latter two are indented with header lines):
`table-capture' is a powerful command however mastering its power
requires some practice. Here is a list of items what it can do.
Parse Cell Items By using column delimiter regular
expression and raw delimiter regular
expression, it parses the specified text
area and extracts cell items from
non-table text and then forms a table out
of them.
Capture Text Area When no delimiters are specified it
creates a single cell table. The text in
the specified region is placed in that
cell.
Applying `table-capture' to a region containing the above three
paragraphs with empty strings for column delimiter regexps and row
delimiter regexp, creates a table with a single cell like the
following one.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|`table-capture' is a powerful command however mastering its power|
|requires some practice. Here is a list of items what it can do. |
| |
|Parse Cell Items By using column delimiter regular |
| expression and raw delimiter regular |
| expression, it parses the specified text |
| area and extracts cell items from |
| non-table text and then forms a table out |
| of them. |
| |
|Capture Text Area When no delimiters are specified it |
| creates a single cell table. The text in |
| the specified region is placed in that |
| cell. |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
By splitting the cell appropriately we now have a table consisting of paragraphs
occupying its own cell. Each cell can now be edited independently without
affecting the layout of other cells.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|`table-capture' is a powerful command however mastering its power|
|requires some practice. Here is a list of items what it can do. |
+---------------------+-------------------------------------------+
|Parse Cell Items |By using column delimiter regular |
| |expression and raw delimiter regular |
| |expression, it parses the specified text |
| |area and extracts cell items from |
| |non-table text and then forms a table out |
| |of them. |
+---------------------+-------------------------------------------+
|Capture Text Area |When no delimiters are specified it |
| |creates a single cell table. The text in |
| |the specified region is placed in that |
| |cell. |
+---------------------+-------------------------------------------+
By applying `table-release', which does the opposite process, the
contents become once again plain text. `table-release' works as
a companion command to `table-capture'.
* Measuring Table:: Analyzing table dimension.
The command `table-query-dimension' analyzes a table structure and
reports information regarding its dimension. In case of the above example
table, the output from the `table-query-dimension' is:
Cell: (21w, 6h), Table: (67w, 16h), Dim: (2c, 3r), Total Cells: 5
This indicates that the current cell is 21 character wide and 6 lines high, the
entire table is 67 characters wide end 16 lines hight. The table has 2 columns
and 3 rows. It has total of 5 cells since the first row has a spanned cell.
* Sequence of Cells:: Operation on sequence of cells.
The command `table-insert-sequence' inserts a string into each cell. Each
string is a part of a sequence i.e. a series of incrementing integer numbers.
* Source Generation:: Generating table source in a language.
`table-generate-source'
* Compatibility:: Potential issues with other modes.
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^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread* Re: emacs documentation 2004-10-22 21:31 emacs documentation Tak Ota @ 2004-10-23 18:48 ` Richard Stallman 2004-10-23 19:25 ` Eli Zaretskii 0 siblings, 1 reply; 4+ messages in thread From: Richard Stallman @ 2004-10-23 18:48 UTC (permalink / raw) Cc: pgeorgief, Tak Ota Would someone who knows Texinfo like to work on translating the table.el documentation? It is only around 400 lines long--not a very big job. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread
* Re: emacs documentation 2004-10-23 18:48 ` Richard Stallman @ 2004-10-23 19:25 ` Eli Zaretskii 2004-10-23 21:34 ` Eli Zaretskii 0 siblings, 1 reply; 4+ messages in thread From: Eli Zaretskii @ 2004-10-23 19:25 UTC (permalink / raw) Cc: pgeorgief, Takaaki.Ota, emacs-devel > From: Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> > Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 14:48:39 -0400 > Cc: pgeorgief@ucsd.edu, Tak Ota <Takaaki.Ota@am.sony.com> > > Would someone who knows Texinfo like to work on translating the > table.el documentation? It is only around 400 lines long--not > a very big job. I'll do it. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread
* Re: emacs documentation 2004-10-23 19:25 ` Eli Zaretskii @ 2004-10-23 21:34 ` Eli Zaretskii 0 siblings, 0 replies; 4+ messages in thread From: Eli Zaretskii @ 2004-10-23 21:34 UTC (permalink / raw) Cc: pgeorgief, emacs-devel, rms, Takaaki.Ota > Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 21:25:59 +0200 > From: "Eli Zaretskii" <eliz@gnu.org> > Cc: pgeorgief@ucsd.edu, Takaaki.Ota@am.sony.com, emacs-devel@gnu.org > > > From: Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> > > Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 14:48:39 -0400 > > Cc: pgeorgief@ucsd.edu, Tak Ota <Takaaki.Ota@am.sony.com> > > > > Would someone who knows Texinfo like to work on translating the > > table.el documentation? It is only around 400 lines long--not > > a very big job. > > I'll do it. Done. Below is the Texinfo source that I added to the end of text.texi and committed the result. Please and modify at will. @node Text Based Tables @section Editing Text-based Tables @cindex table mode @cindex text-based tables Table Mode provides an easy and intuitive way to create and edit WYSIWYG text-based tables. Here is an example of such a table: @smallexample +-----------------+--------------------------------+-----------------+ | Command | Description | Key Binding | +-----------------+--------------------------------+-----------------+ | forward-char |Move point right N characters | C-f | | |(left if N is negative). | | | | | | | |On reaching end of buffer, stop | | | |and signal error. | | +-----------------+--------------------------------+-----------------+ | backward-char |Move point left N characters | C-b | | |(right if N is negative). | | | | | | | |On attempt to pass beginning or | | | |end of buffer, stop and signal | | | |error. | | +-----------------+--------------------------------+-----------------+ @end smallexample Table Mode allows the contents of the table such as this one to be easily manipulated by inserting or deleting characters inside a cell. A cell is effectively a localized rectangular edit region and edits to a cell do not affect the contents of the surrounding cells. If the contents do not fit into a cell, then the cell is automatically expanded in the vertical and/or horizontal directions and the rest of the table is restructured and reformatted in accordance with the growth of the cell. @menu * Table Definition:: What is a text based table. * Table Creation:: How to create a table. * Table Recognition:: How to activate and deactivate tables. * Cell Commands:: Cell-oriented commands in a table. * Cell Justification:: Justifying cell contents. * Row Commands:: Manipulating rows of table cell. * Column Commands:: Manipulating columns of table cell. * Fixed Width Mode:: Fixing cell width. * Table Conversion:: Converting between plain text and tables. * Measuring Tables:: Analyzing table dimension. * Table Misc:: Table miscellany. @end menu @node Table Definition @subsection What is a Text-based Table? Look at the following examples of valid tables as a reference while you read this section: @example +--+----+---+ +-+ +--+-----+ | | | | | | | | | +--+----+---+ +-+ | +--+--+ | | | | | | | | +--+----+---+ +--+--+ | | | | +-----+--+ @end example A table consists of a rectangular frame and the contents inside the frame. A table's cells must be at least one character wide and one character high with two adjacent cells sharing a boarder line. A cell can be subdivided into multiple rectangular cells but cannot nest or overlap. Both the table frame and cell border lines must consist of one of three special characters. The variables that hold these characters are described below: @table @code @vindex table-cell-vertical-char @item table-cell-vertical-char Holds the character used for vertical lines. The default value is @samp{|}. @vindex table-cell-horizontal-char @item table-cell-horizontal-char Holds the character used for horizontal lines. The default value is @samp{-}. @vindex table-cell-intersection-char @item table-cell-intersection-char Holds the character used at where horizontal line and vertical line meet. The default value is @samp{+}. @end table @noindent Based on this definition, the following five tables are examples of invalid tables: @example +-----+ +-----+ +--+ +-++--+ ++ | | | | | | | || | ++ | +-+ | | | | | | || | | | | | +--+ | +--+--+ +-++--+ | +-+ | | | | | | | +-++--+ | | | | | | | | | || | +-----+ +--+--+ +--+--+ +-++--+ a b c d e @end example >From left to right: @enumerate a @item Nested cells are not allowed. @item Overlapped cells or non-rectangular cells are not allowed. @item The border must be rectangular. @item Cells must have a minimum width/height of one character. @item Same as d. @end enumerate @node Table Creation @subsection How to Create a Table? @cindex create a text-based table @cindex table creation @findex table-insert The command to create a table is @code{table-insert}. When called interactively, it asks for the number of columns, number of rows, cell width and cell height. The number of columns is a number of cells within the table's width. The number of rows is the number of cells within the table's height. The cell width is a number of characters that fit within a cell width. The cell height is a number of lines within cell height. While the number of columns and number of rows must be an integer number, the cell width and the cell height can be either an integer number (when the value is constant across the table) or a series of integer numbers, separated by spaces or commas, where each number corresponds to each cell width within a row from left to right or each cell height within a column from top to bottom. @node Table Recognition @subsection Table Recognition @cindex table recognition @findex table-recognize @findex table-unrecognize Table Mode maintains special text properties in the buffer to allow editing in a convenient fashion. When a buffer with tables is saved to its file, these text properties are lost, so when you visit this file again later, Emacs does not see a table, but just formatted text. To resurrect the table text properties, issue the @kbd{M-x table-recognize} command. It scans the current buffer, recognizes valid table cells, and attaches appropriate text properties to allow for table editing. The converse command, @code{table-unrecognize}, is used to remove the special text properties and revert the buffer back to plain text. An optional numeric prefix argument can precede the @code{table-recognize} command. If the argument is negative, tables in the buffer become inactive. This is equivalent to invoking @code{table-unrecognize}. Similar functions exist to enable or disable tables within a region, enable or disable individual tables, and enable/disable individual cells. These commands are: @table @kbd @findex table-recognize-region @item M-x table-recognize-region Recognize tables within the current region and activate them. @findex table-unrecognize-region @item M-x table-unrecognize-region Deactivate tables within the current region. @findex table-recognize-table @item M-x table-recognize-table Recognize the table under point and activate it. @findex table-unrecognize-table @item M-x table-unrecognize-table Deactivate the table under point. @findex table-recognize-cell @item M-x table-recognize-cell Recognize the cell under point and activate it. @findex table-unrecognize-cell @item M-x table-unrecognize-cell Deactivate the cell under point. @end table For another way of converting text into tables, see @ref{Table Conversion}. @node Cell Commands @subsection Commands for Table Cells @findex table-forward-cell @findex table-backward-cell The commands @code{table-forward-cell} and @code{table-backward-cell} move point from the current cell to an adjacent cell forward and backward respectively. The order of the cell is wrapped. When point is positioned in the last cell of a table, typing @kbd{M-x table-forward-cell} moves point to the first cell in the table. Likewise @kbd{M-x table-backward-cell} from the first cell in a table moves point to the last cell in the table. @findex table-span-cell The command @code{table-span-cell} spans the current cell into one of the four directions---right, left, above or below---and merges the current cell with the adjacent cell. It does not allow directions to which spanning does not produce a legitimate cell. @findex table-split-cell @cindex text-based tables, split a cell @cindex split table cell The command @code{table-split-cell} splits the current cell vertically or horizontally. This command is a wrapper to the direction specific commands @code{table-split-cell-vertically} and @code{table-split-cell-horizontally}. @findex table-split-cell-vertically The command @code{table-split-cell-vertically} splits the current cell vertically and creates a pair of cells above and below where point is located. The content in the original cell is split as well. @findex table-split-cell-horizontally The command @code{table-split-cell-horizontally} splits the current cell horizontally and creates a pair of cells right and left of where point is located. If the subject cell to split is not empty the user is asked how to handle the cell contents. The three options are: @code{split}, @code{left}, or @code{right}. @code{split} splits the contents at point literally while the @code{left} and @code{right} options move the entire contents into the left or right cell respectively. @cindex enlarge a table cell @cindex shrink a table cell The next four commands enlarge or shrink a cell. These commands accept numeric arguments (@pxref{Arguments}) to specify how many columns or rows to enlarge or shrink a particular table. @table @kbd @findex table-heighten-cell @item M-x table-heighten-cell Enlarge the current cell vertically. @findex table-shorten-cell @item M-x table-shorten-cell Shrink the current cell vertically. @findex table-widen-cell @item M-x table-widen-cell Enlarge the current cell horizontally. @findex table-narrow-cell @item M-x table-narrow-cell Shrink the current cell horizontally. @end table @node Cell Justification @subsection Cell Justification @cindex cell text justification You can specify text justification for each cell. The justification is remembered independently for each cell and the subsequent editing of cell contents is subject to the specified justification. @findex table-justify The command @code{table-justify} requests the user to specify what to justify: a cell,a column, or a row. If you select cell justification, this command sets the justification only to the current cell. Selecting column or row justification set the justification to all the cells within a column or row respectively. The command then requests the user to enter which justification to apply: @code{left}, @code{center}, @code{right}, @code{top}, @code{middle}, @code{bottom}, or @code{none}. The options @code{left}, @code{center}, and @code{right} specify horizontal justification while the options @code{top}, @code{middle}, @code{bottom}, and @code{none} specify vertical justification. The vertical justification @code{none} effectively removes vertical justification while horizontal justification must be one of @code{left}, @code{center}, or @code{right}. Horizontal justification and vertical justification are specified independently. @vindex table-detect-cell-alignment Justification information is stored in the buffer as a part of text property. Therefore, this information is ephemeral and does not survive through the loss of the buffer (closing the buffer and revisiting the buffer erase any previous text properties). To countermand for this, the command @code{table-recognize} and other recognition commands (@pxref{Table Recognition}) are equipped with a convenience feature (turned on by default). During table recognition, the contents of a cell are examined to determine which justification was originally applied to the cell and then applies this justification to the the cell. This is a speculative algorithm and is therefore not perfect, however, the justification is deduced correctly most of the time. If you desire to disable this feature, customize the variable @code{table-detect-cell-alignment} to set it to @code{nil}. @node Row Commands @subsection Commands for Table Rows @cindex table row commands @cindex insert row in table @findex table-insert-row The command @code{table-insert-row} inserts a row of cells before the current row in a table. The current row where point is located is pushed down after the newly inserted row. A numeric prefix argument specifies the number of rows to insert. Note that in order to insert rows @emph{after} the last row at the bottom of a table, you must place point below the table, i.e.@: outside the table, prior to invoking this command. @cindex delete row in table @findex table-delete-row The command @code{table-delete-row} deletes a row of cells at point. A numeric prefix argument specifies the number of rows to delete. @node Column Commands @subsection Commands for Table Columns @cindex table column commands @cindex insert column in table @findex table-insert-column The command @code{table-insert-column} inserts a column of cells to the left of the current row in a table. The current column where point is located at is pushed right of the newly inserted column. To insert a column to the right side of the right most column, place point to the right of the rightmost column, which is outside of the table, prior to invoking this command. A numeric prefix argument specifies the number of columns to insert. @cindex delete column in table A command @code{table-delete-column} deletes a column of cells at point. A numeric prefix argument specifies the number of columns to delete. @node Fixed Width Mode @subsection Fix Width of Cells @cindex fix width of table cells @findex table-fixed-width-mode The command @code{table-fixed-width-mode} toggles fixed width mode on and off. When the fixed width mode is turned on, editing inside a cell never changes the cell width; when it is off, the cell width expands automatically in order to prevent a word from being folded into multiple lines. By default, the fixed width mode is turned off. @node Table Conversion @subsection Conversion Between Plain Text and Tables @cindex text to table @cindex table to text @findex table-capture The command @code{table-capture} captures plain text in a region and turns it into a table. Unlike @code{table-recognize} (@pxref{Table Recognition}), the original text does not have a table appearance but may hold a logical table structure. For example, some elements separated by known patterns form a two dimensional structure which can be turned into a table. Look at the numbers below. The numbers are horizontally separated by a comma and vertically separated by a newline character. @example 1, 2, 3, 4 5, 6, 7, 8 , 9, 10 @end example @noindent When you invoke @kbd{M-x table-capture} on the above three-line region, the region can be turned into the next table: @example +-----+-----+-----+-----+ |1 |2 |3 |4 | +-----+-----+-----+-----+ |5 |6 |7 |8 | +-----+-----+-----+-----+ | |9 |10 | | +-----+-----+-----+-----+ @end example @noindent where @samp{,} is used for a column delimiter regexp, a newline is used for a row delimiter regexp, cells are left justified, and minimum cell width is 5. @findex table-release The command @code{table-release} does the opposite of @code{table-capture}. It releases a table by removing the table frame and cell borders. This leaves the table contents as plain text. One of the useful applications of @code{table-capture} and @code{table-release} is to edit a text in layout. Look at the following three paragraphs (the latter two are indented with header lines): @example @samp{table-capture} is a powerful command however mastering its power requires some practice. Here is a list of items what it can do. Parse Cell Items By using column delimiter regular expression and raw delimiter regular expression, it parses the specified text area and extracts cell items from non-table text and then forms a table out of them. Capture Text Area When no delimiters are specified it creates a single cell table. The text in the specified region is placed in that cell. @end example @noindent Applying @code{table-capture} to a region containing the above three paragraphs, with empty strings for column delimiter regexp and row delimiter regexp, creates a table with a single cell like the following one. @c The first line's right-hand frame in the following two examples @c sticks out to accommodate for the removal of @samp in the @c produced output!! @example +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ |@samp{table-capture} is a powerful command however mastering its | |power requires some practice. Here is a list of items what it | |can do. | | | |Parse Cell Items By using column delimiter regular | | expression and raw delimiter regular | | expression, it parses the specified text | | area and extracts cell items from | | non-table text and then forms a table out | | of them. | | | |Capture Text Area When no delimiters are specified it | | creates a single cell table. The text in | | the specified region is placed in that | | cell. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ @end example @noindent By splitting the cell appropriately we now have a table consisting of paragraphs occupying its own cell. Each cell can now be edited independently without affecting the layout of other cells. @example +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ |@samp{table-capture} is a powerful command however mastering its | |power requires some practice. Here is a list of items what it | |can do. | +---------------------+-------------------------------------------+ |Parse Cell Items |By using column delimiter regular | | |expression and raw delimiter regular | | |expression, it parses the specified text | | |area and extracts cell items from | | |non-table text and then forms a table out | | |of them. | +---------------------+-------------------------------------------+ |Capture Text Area |When no delimiters are specified it | | |creates a single cell table. The text in | | |the specified region is placed in that | | |cell. | +---------------------+-------------------------------------------+ @end example @noindent By applying @code{table-release}, which does the opposite process, the contents become once again plain text. @code{table-release} works as a companion command to @code{table-capture}. @node Measuring Tables @subsection Analyzing Table Dimensions @cindex table dimensions @findex table-query-dimension The command @code{table-query-dimension} analyzes a table structure and reports information regarding its dimensions. In case of the above example table, the @code{table-query-dimension} command displays in echo area: @smallexample Cell: (21w, 6h), Table: (67w, 16h), Dim: (2c, 3r), Total Cells: 5 @end smallexample @noindent This indicates that the current cell is 21 character wide and 6 lines high, the entire table is 67 characters wide and 16 lines high. The table has 2 columns and 3 rows. It has a total of 5 cells, since the first row has a spanned cell. @node Table Misc @subsection Table Miscellany @cindex insert string into table cells @findex table-insert-sequence The command @code{table-insert-sequence} inserts a string into each cell. Each string is a part of a sequence i.e.@: a series of increasing integer numbers. @cindex table in language format @cindex table for HTML and LaTeX @findex table-generate-source The command @code{table-generate-source} generates a table formatted for a specific markup language. It asks for a language (which must be one of @code{html}, @code{latex}, or @code{cals}), a destination buffer where to put the result, and the table caption (a string), and then inserts the generated table in the proper syntax into the destination buffer. The default destination buffer is @code{table.@var{lang}}, where @var{lang} is the language you specified. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread
end of thread, other threads:[~2004-10-23 21:34 UTC | newest] Thread overview: 4+ messages (download: mbox.gz follow: Atom feed -- links below jump to the message on this page -- 2004-10-22 21:31 emacs documentation Tak Ota 2004-10-23 18:48 ` Richard Stallman 2004-10-23 19:25 ` Eli Zaretskii 2004-10-23 21:34 ` Eli Zaretskii
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