tablewriter

Here’s a polished version of your introduction with improved clarity, structure, and consistency:

TableWriter for Go

tablewriter is a Go library for generating rich text-based tables with support for multiple output formats, including ASCII, Unicode, Markdown, HTML, and colorized terminals. Perfect for CLI tools, logs, and web applications.

Key Features

• Multi-format rendering: ASCII, Unicode, Markdown, HTML, ANSI-colored
• Advanced styling: Cell merging, alignment, padding, borders
• Flexible input: CSV, structs, slices, or streaming data
• High performance: Minimal allocations, buffer reuse
• Modern features: Generics support, hierarchical merging, real-time streaming

Installation

Legacy Version (v0.0.5)

For use with legacy applications:

go get github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter@v0.0.5

Latest Version

The latest version (API Change)

go get github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter@latest

Version Guidance

• Production: Use v0.0.5 (stable)
• New Features: Use @latest (includes generics, super fast streaming APIs)
• Legacy Docs: See README_LEGACY.md

Why TableWriter?

• CLI Ready: Instant compatibility with terminal outputs
• Database Friendly: Native support for sql.Null* types
• Secure: Auto-escaping for HTML/Markdown
• Extensible: Custom renderers and formatters

Quick Example

package main

import (
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter"
	"os"
)

func main() {
	data := [][]string{
		{"Package", "Version", "Status"},
		{"tablewriter", "v0.0.5", "legacy"},
		{"tablewriter", "v1.0.0", "latest"},
	}

	table := tablewriter.NewWriter(os.Stdout)
	table.Header(data[0])
	table.Bulk(data[1:])
	table.Render()
}

Output:

┌─────────────┬─────────┬────────┐
│   PACKAGE   │ VERSION │ STATUS │
├─────────────┼─────────┼────────┤
│ tablewriter │ v0.0.5  │ legacy │
│ tablewriter │ v1.0.0  │ latest │
└─────────────┴─────────┴────────┘

Detailed Usage

Create a table with NewTable or NewWriter, configure it using options or a Config struct, add data with Append or Bulk, and render to an io.Writer. Use renderers like Blueprint (ASCII), HTML, Markdown, Colorized, or Ocean (streaming).

Examples

Basic Examples

1. Simple ASCII Table

Create a basic ASCII table with headers and rows.

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter"
	"os"
)

type Age int

func (a Age) String() string {
	return fmt.Sprintf("%d yrs", a)
}

func main() {
	data := [][]any{
		{"Alice", Age(25), "New York"},
		{"Bob", Age(30), "Boston"},
	}

	table := tablewriter.NewTable(os.Stdout)
	table.Header("Name", "Age", "City")
	table.Bulk(data)
	table.Render()
}

Output:

┌───────┬────────┬──────────┐
│ NAME  │  AGE   │   CITY   │
├───────┼────────┼──────────┤
│ Alice │ 25 yrs │ New York │
│ Bob   │ 30 yrs │ Boston   │
└───────┴────────┴──────────┘

2. Markdown Table

Generate a Markdown table for documentation.

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter/renderer"
	"os"
	"strings"
	"unicode"
)

type Name struct {
	First string
	Last  string
}

// this will be ignored since  Format() is present
func (n Name) String() string {
	return fmt.Sprintf("%s %s", n.First, n.Last)
}

// Note: Format() overrides String() if both exist.
func (n Name) Format() string {
	return fmt.Sprintf("%s %s", n.clean(n.First), n.clean(n.Last))
}

// clean ensures the first letter is capitalized and the rest are lowercase
func (n Name) clean(s string) string {
	s = strings.TrimSpace(strings.ToLower(s))
	words := strings.Fields(s)
	s = strings.Join(words, "")

	if s == "" {
		return s
	}
	// Capitalize the first letter
	runes := []rune(s)
	runes[0] = unicode.ToUpper(runes[0])
	return string(runes)
}

type Age int

// Age int will be ignore and string will be used
func (a Age) String() string {
	return fmt.Sprintf("%d yrs", a)
}

func main() {
	data := [][]any{
		{Name{"Al  i  CE", " Ma  SK"}, Age(25), "New York"},
		{Name{"bOb", "mar   le   y"}, Age(30), "Boston"},
	}

	table := tablewriter.NewTable(os.Stdout,
		tablewriter.WithRenderer(renderer.NewMarkdown()),
	)

	table.Header([]string{"Name", "Age", "City"})
	table.Bulk(data)
	table.Render()
}

Output:

|    NAME    |  AGE   |   CITY   |
|:----------:|:------:|:--------:|
| Alice Mask | 25 yrs | New York |
| Bob Marley | 30 yrs | Boston   |

3. CSV Input

Create a table from a CSV file with custom row alignment.

package main

import (
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter/tw"
	"log"
	"os"
)

func main() {
	// Assuming "test.csv" contains: "First Name,Last Name,SSN\nJohn,Barry,123456\nKathy,Smith,687987"
	table, err := tablewriter.NewCSV(os.Stdout, "test.csv", true)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Error: %v", err)
	}

	table.Configure(func(config *tablewriter.Config) {
		config.Row.Formatting.Alignment = tw.AlignLeft
	})
	table.Render()
}

Output:

┌────────────┬───────────┬─────────┐
│ FIRST NAME │ LAST NAME │   SSN   │
├────────────┼───────────┼─────────┤
│ John       │ Barry     │ 123456  │
│ Kathy      │ Smith     │ 687987  │
└────────────┴───────────┴─────────┘

Advanced Examples

4. Colorized Table with Long Values

Create a colorized table with wrapped long values, per-column colors, and a styled footer (inspired by TestColorizedLongValues and TestColorizedCustomColors).

package main

import (
	"github.com/fatih/color"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter/renderer"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter/tw"
	"os"
)

func main() {
	data := [][]string{
		{"1", "This is a very long description that needs wrapping for readability", "OK"},
		{"2", "Short description", "DONE"},
		{"3", "Another lengthy description requiring truncation or wrapping", "ERROR"},
	}

	// Configure colors: green headers, cyan/magenta rows, yellow footer
	colorCfg := renderer.ColorizedConfig{
		Header: renderer.Tint{
			FG: renderer.Colors{color.FgGreen, color.Bold}, // Green bold headers
			BG: renderer.Colors{color.BgHiWhite},
		},
		Column: renderer.Tint{
			FG: renderer.Colors{color.FgCyan}, // Default cyan for rows
			Columns: []renderer.Tint{
				{FG: renderer.Colors{color.FgMagenta}}, // Magenta for column 0
				{},                                     // Inherit default (cyan)
				{FG: renderer.Colors{color.FgHiRed}},   // High-intensity red for column 2
			},
		},
		Footer: renderer.Tint{
			FG: renderer.Colors{color.FgYellow, color.Bold}, // Yellow bold footer
			Columns: []renderer.Tint{
				{},                                      // Inherit default
				{FG: renderer.Colors{color.FgHiYellow}}, // High-intensity yellow for column 1
				{},                                      // Inherit default
			},
		},
		Border:    renderer.Tint{FG: renderer.Colors{color.FgWhite}}, // White borders
		Separator: renderer.Tint{FG: renderer.Colors{color.FgWhite}}, // White separators
	}

	table := tablewriter.NewTable(os.Stdout,
		tablewriter.WithRenderer(renderer.NewColorized(colorCfg)),
		tablewriter.WithConfig(tablewriter.Config{
			Row: tw.CellConfig{
				Formatting: tw.CellFormatting{
					MaxWidth:  25,            // Limit column width
					AutoWrap:  tw.WrapNormal, // Wrap long content
					Alignment: tw.AlignLeft,  // Left-align rows
				},
			},
			Footer: tw.CellConfig{
				Formatting: tw.CellFormatting{Alignment: tw.AlignRight},
			},
		}),
	)

	table.Header([]string{"ID", "Description", "Status"})
	table.Bulk(data)
	table.Footer([]string{"", "Total", "3"})
	table.Render()
}

Output (colors visible in ANSI-compatible terminals):

5. Streaming Table with Truncation

Stream a table incrementally with truncation and a footer, simulating a real-time data feed (inspired by TestOceanStreamTruncation and TestOceanStreamSlowOutput).

package main

import (
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter/tw"
	"log"
	"os"
	"time"
)

func main() {
	table := tablewriter.NewTable(os.Stdout, tablewriter.WithStreaming(tw.StreamConfig{Enable: true}))

	// Start streaming
	if err := table.Start(); err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Start failed: %v", err)
	}

	defer table.Close()

	// Stream header
	table.Header([]string{"ID", "Description", "Status"})

	// Stream rows with simulated delay
	data := [][]string{
		{"1", "This description is too long", "OK"},
		{"2", "Short desc", "DONE"},
		{"3", "Another long description here", "ERROR"},
	}
	for _, row := range data {
		table.Append(row)
		time.Sleep(500 * time.Millisecond) // Simulate real-time data feed
	}

	// Stream footer
	table.Footer([]string{"", "Total", "3"})
}

Output (appears incrementally):

┌────────┬───────────────┬──────────┐
│   ID   │  DESCRIPTION  │  STATUS  │
├────────┼───────────────┼──────────┤
│ 1      │ This          │ OK       │
│        │ description   │          │
│        │ is too long   │          │
│ 2      │ Short desc    │ DONE     │
│ 3      │ Another long  │ ERROR    │
│        │ description   │          │
│        │ here          │          │
├────────┼───────────────┼──────────┤
│        │         Total │        3 │
└────────┴───────────────┴──────────┘

Note: Long descriptions are truncated with … due to fixed column widths. The output appears row-by-row, simulating a real-time feed.

6. Hierarchical Merging for Organizational Data

Show hierarchical merging for a tree-like structure, such as an organizational hierarchy (inspired by TestMergeHierarchicalUnicode).

package main

import (
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter/renderer"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter/tw"
	"os"
)

func main() {
	data := [][]string{
		{"Engineering", "Backend", "API Team", "Alice"},
		{"Engineering", "Backend", "Database Team", "Bob"},
		{"Engineering", "Frontend", "UI Team", "Charlie"},
		{"Marketing", "Digital", "SEO Team", "Dave"},
		{"Marketing", "Digital", "Content Team", "Eve"},
	}

	table := tablewriter.NewTable(os.Stdout,
		tablewriter.WithRenderer(renderer.NewBlueprint(tw.RendererConfig{
			Settings: tw.Settings{
				Separators: tw.Separators{BetweenRows: tw.On},
			},
		})),
		tablewriter.WithConfig(tablewriter.Config{
			Header: tw.CellConfig{
				Formatting: tw.CellFormatting{Alignment: tw.AlignCenter},
			},
			Row: tw.CellConfig{
				Formatting: tw.CellFormatting{
					MergeMode: tw.MergeHierarchical,
					Alignment: tw.AlignLeft,
				},
			},
		}),
	)
	table.Header([]string{"Department", "Division", "Team", "Lead"})
	table.Bulk(data)
	table.Render()
}

Output:

┌────────────┬──────────┬──────────────┬────────┐
│ DEPARTMENT │ DIVISION │    TEAM      │  LEAD  │
├────────────┼──────────┼──────────────┼────────┤
│ Engineering│ Backend  │ API Team     │ Alice  │
│            │          ├──────────────┼────────┤
│            │          │ Database Team│ Bob    │
│            │ Frontend ├──────────────┼────────┤
│            │          │ UI Team      │ Charlie│
├────────────┼──────────┼──────────────┼────────┤
│ Marketing  │ Digital  │ SEO Team     │ Dave   │
│            │          ├──────────────┼────────┤
│            │          │ Content Team │ Eve    │
└────────────┴──────────┴──────────────┴────────┘

Note: Hierarchical merging groups repeated values (e.g., "Engineering" spans multiple rows, "Backend" spans two teams), creating a tree-like structure.

7. Custom Padding with Merging

Showcase custom padding and combined horizontal/vertical merging (inspired by TestMergeWithPadding in merge_test.go).

package main

import (
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter/renderer"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter/tw"
	"os"
)

func main() {
	data := [][]string{
		{"1/1/2014", "Domain name", "Successful", "Successful"},
		{"1/1/2014", "Domain name", "Pending", "Waiting"},
		{"1/1/2014", "Domain name", "Successful", "Rejected"},
		{"", "", "TOTAL", "$145.93"},
	}

	table := tablewriter.NewTable(os.Stdout,
		tablewriter.WithRenderer(renderer.NewBlueprint(tw.RendererConfig{
			Settings: tw.Settings{
				Separators: tw.Separators{BetweenRows: tw.On},
			},
		})),
		tablewriter.WithConfig(tablewriter.Config{
			Row: tw.CellConfig{
				Formatting:   tw.CellFormatting{MergeMode: tw.MergeBoth},
				ColumnAligns: []tw.Align{tw.Skip, tw.Skip, tw.AlignRight, tw.AlignLeft},
			},
			Footer: tw.CellConfig{
				Padding: tw.CellPadding{
					Global:    tw.Padding{Left: "*", Right: "*"},
					PerColumn: []tw.Padding{{}, {}, {Bottom: "^"}, {Bottom: "^"}},
				},
				ColumnAligns: []tw.Align{tw.Skip, tw.Skip, tw.AlignRight, tw.AlignLeft},
			},
		}),
	)
	table.Header([]string{"Date", "Description", "Status", "Conclusion"})
	table.Bulk(data)
	table.Render()
}

Output:

┌──────────┬─────────────┬────────────┬────────────┐
│   DATE   │ DESCRIPTION │   STATUS   │ CONCLUSION │
├──────────┼─────────────┼────────────┴────────────┤
│ 1/1/2014 │ Domain name │              Successful │
│          │             ├────────────┬────────────┤
│          │             │    Pending │ Waiting    │
│          │             ├────────────┼────────────┤
│          │             │ Successful │ Rejected   │
├──────────┼─────────────┼────────────┼────────────┤
│          │             │      TOTAL │ $145.93    │
│          │             │^^^^^^^^^^^^│^^^^^^^^^^^^│
└──────────┴─────────────┴────────────┴────────────┘

8. Nested Tables

Create a table with nested sub-tables for complex layouts (inspired by TestMasterClass in extra_test.go).

package main

import (
	"bytes"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter/renderer"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter/tw"
	"os"
)

func main() {
	// Helper to create a sub-table
	createSubTable := func(s string) string {
		var buf bytes.Buffer
		table := tablewriter.NewTable(&buf,
			tablewriter.WithRenderer(renderer.NewBlueprint(tw.RendererConfig{
				Borders: tw.BorderNone,
				Symbols: tw.NewSymbols(tw.StyleASCII),
				Settings: tw.Settings{
					Separators: tw.Separators{BetweenRows: tw.On},
					Lines:      tw.Lines{ShowFooterLine: tw.On},
				},
			})),
			tablewriter.WithConfig(tablewriter.Config{
				MaxWidth: 10,
				Row: tw.CellConfig{
					Formatting: tw.CellFormatting{Alignment: tw.AlignCenter},
				},
			}),
		)
		table.Append([]string{s, s})
		table.Append([]string{s, s})
		table.Render()
		return buf.String()
	}

	// Main table
	table := tablewriter.NewTable(os.Stdout,
		tablewriter.WithRenderer(renderer.NewBlueprint(tw.RendererConfig{
			Borders: tw.BorderNone,
			Settings: tw.Settings{
				Separators: tw.Separators{BetweenColumns: tw.On},
			},
		})),
		tablewriter.WithConfig(tablewriter.Config{
			MaxWidth: 30,
			Row: tw.CellConfig{
				Formatting: tw.CellFormatting{Alignment: tw.AlignCenter},
			},
		}),
	)
	table.Append([]string{createSubTable("A"), createSubTable("B")})
	table.Append([]string{createSubTable("C"), createSubTable("D")})
	table.Render()
}

Output:

  A | A  │  B | B  
 ---+--- │ ---+--- 
  A | A  │  B | B  
 ---+--- │ ---+--- 
         │         
  C | C  │  D | D  
 ---+--- │ ---+--- 
  C | C  │  D | D  
 ---+--- │ ---+--- 
         │         

9. Structs with Database

Render a table from a slice of structs, simulating a database query (inspired by TestStructTableWithDB in struct_test.go).

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter/renderer"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter/tw"
	"os"
)

type Employee struct {
	ID         int
	Name       string
	Age        int
	Department string
	Salary     float64
}

func employeeStringer(e interface{}) []string {
	emp, ok := e.(Employee)
	if !ok {
		return []string{"Error: Invalid type"}
	}
	return []string{
		fmt.Sprintf("%d", emp.ID),
		emp.Name,
		fmt.Sprintf("%d", emp.Age),
		emp.Department,
		fmt.Sprintf("%.2f", emp.Salary),
	}
}

func main() {
	employees := []Employee{
		{ID: 1, Name: "Alice Smith", Age: 28, Department: "Engineering", Salary: 75000.50},
		{ID: 2, Name: "Bob Johnson", Age: 34, Department: "Marketing", Salary: 62000.00},
		{ID: 3, Name: "Charlie Brown", Age: 45, Department: "HR", Salary: 80000.75},
	}

	table := tablewriter.NewTable(os.Stdout,
		tablewriter.WithRenderer(renderer.NewBlueprint(tw.RendererConfig{
			Symbols: tw.NewSymbols(tw.StyleRounded),
		})),
		tablewriter.WithStringer(employeeStringer),
		tablewriter.WithConfig(tablewriter.Config{
			Header: tw.CellConfig{
				Formatting: tw.CellFormatting{Alignment: tw.AlignCenter, AutoFormat: true},
			},
			Row: tw.CellConfig{
				Formatting: tw.CellFormatting{Alignment: tw.AlignLeft},
			},
			Footer: tw.CellConfig{
				Formatting: tw.CellFormatting{Alignment: tw.AlignRight},
			},
		}),
	)
	table.Header([]string{"ID", "Name", "Age", "Department", "Salary"})

	for _, emp := range employees {
		table.Append(emp)
	}

	totalSalary := 0.0
	for _, emp := range employees {
		totalSalary += emp.Salary
	}
	table.Footer([]string{"", "", "", "Total", fmt.Sprintf("%.2f", totalSalary)})
	table.Render()
}

Output:

╭────┬───────────────┬─────┬─────────────┬───────────╮
│ ID │     NAME      │ AGE │ DEPARTMENT  │  SALARY   │
├────┼───────────────┼─────┼─────────────┼───────────┤
│ 1  │ Alice Smith   │ 28  │ Engineering │ 75000.50  │
│ 2  │ Bob Johnson   │ 34  │ Marketing   │ 62000.00  │
│ 3  │ Charlie Brown │ 45  │ HR          │ 80000.75  │
├────┼───────────────┼─────┼─────────────┼───────────┤
│    │               │     │       Total │ 217001.25 │
╰────┴───────────────┴─────┴─────────────┴───────────╯

10. Simple Html Table

package main

import (
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter/renderer"
	"github.com/olekukonko/tablewriter/tw"
	"os"
)

func main() {
	data := [][]string{
		{"North", "Q1 & Q2", "Q1 & Q2", "$2200.00"},
		{"South", "Q1", "Q1", "$1000.00"},
		{"South", "Q2", "Q2", "$1200.00"},
	}

	// Configure HTML with custom CSS classes and content escaping
	htmlCfg := renderer.HTMLConfig{
		TableClass:     "sales-table",
		HeaderClass:    "table-header",
		BodyClass:      "table-body",
		FooterClass:    "table-footer",
		RowClass:       "table-row",
		HeaderRowClass: "header-row",
		FooterRowClass: "footer-row",
		EscapeContent:  true, // Escape HTML characters (e.g., "&" to "&")
	}

	table := tablewriter.NewTable(os.Stdout,
		tablewriter.WithRenderer(renderer.NewHTML(os.Stdout, false, htmlCfg)),
		tablewriter.WithConfig(tablewriter.Config{
			Header: tw.CellConfig{
				Formatting: tw.CellFormatting{
					Alignment: tw.AlignCenter,
					MergeMode: tw.MergeHorizontal, // Merge identical header cells
				},
			},
			Row: tw.CellConfig{
				Formatting: tw.CellFormatting{
					MergeMode: tw.MergeHorizontal, // Merge identical row cells
					Alignment: tw.AlignLeft,
				},
			},
			Footer: tw.CellConfig{
				Formatting: tw.CellFormatting{Alignment: tw.AlignRight},
			},
		}),
	)

	table.Header([]string{"Region", "Quarter", "Quarter", "Sales"})
	table.Bulk(data)
	table.Footer([]string{"", "", "Total", "$4400.00"})
	table.Render()
}

Output:

<table class="sales-table">
    <thead class="table-header">
        <tr class="header-row">
            <th style="text-align: center;">REGION</th>
            <th colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">QUARTER</th>
            <th style="text-align: center;">SALES</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody class="table-body">
        <tr class="table-row">
            <td style="text-align: left;">North</td>
            <td colspan="2" style="text-align: left;">Q1 &amp; Q2</td>
            <td style="text-align: left;">$2200.00</td>
        </tr>
        <tr class="table-row">
            <td style="text-align: left;">South</td>
            <td colspan="2" style="text-align: left;">Q1</td>
            <td style="text-align: left;">$1000.00</td>
        </tr>
        <tr class="table-row">
            <td style="text-align: left;">South</td>
            <td colspan="2" style="text-align: left;">Q2</td>
            <td style="text-align: left;">$1200.00</td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
    <tfoot class="table-footer">
        <tr class="footer-row">
            <td style="text-align: right;"></td>
            <td style="text-align: right;"></td>
            <td style="text-align: right;">Total</td>
            <td style="text-align: right;">$4400.00</td>
        </tr>
    </tfoot>
</table>

Command-Line Tool

The csv2table tool converts CSV files to ASCII tables. See cmd/csv2table/csv2table.go for details.

Example usage:

csv2table -f test.csv -h true -a left

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Submit issues or pull requests to the GitHub repository.

License

MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.