Plugin: Markdown Table Formatter

CalebJohn · 2021-03-15T05:24:48.338Z

@roman_r_m you might be interested in the prettier code formatter. I had originally written a "Prettify Selection" command into my rich markdown plugin, but unfortunately it does not work on the current version, so it's been commented out for awhile. You can see the code I used here.

In any case I think that kind of functionality is probably better in a separate plugin. If you're interested I think it would be great to combine the prettier tool with your plugin. I'd be happy to help contribute as well if you'd like.

roman_r_m · 2021-03-15T14:14:30.470Z

Thanks Caleb. I had a look at the prettier lib and looks like it's all I need, it already seems to have MD table formatter built-in.
I'll give it a try over the next few days. Contributions are always welcome of course.

roman_r_m · 2021-03-31T08:23:22.695Z

Now that Joplin 1.8 is (pre-)released the plugin should be available for download.

zimmer · 2021-05-13T18:51:53.093Z

Hi nice plugin, however it breaks when left/right/center column alignment is used. Not a huge deal to rectify manually but thought I'd mention if it's able to be fixed. Thanks again.

skwire · 2021-05-13T19:55:07.303Z

Hmm...seems to work fine for me. I use the basic colon formatting like this:

| Column 1 | Column 2   |
|---------:|:----------:|
| Foo      | Bar        |
| Foo      | Bar        |

I've assigned a hotkey to the "Format Table" menu option so, after making table changes, I press the hotkey, and the text table appears to be formatted properly. Are you doing something differently?

roman_r_m · 2021-05-13T20:19:05.746Z

Do you have an example?

zimmer · 2021-05-13T21:32:04.078Z

Here you go, thanks for taking a look. I have Tabs plugin but see the same result with Tabs disabled. Also see the same result with the line break removed. Any issues with my formatting?

I should mention I'm using Windows portable v1.8.5

Table plugin1920×1050 437 KB

rxliuli · 2021-05-14T01:17:18.116Z

So why not use prettier? Or use a more primitive remark for parsing. You only need to deal with alignment issues. There is no need to recreate the wheels of the markdown parser.

rxliuli · 2021-05-14T02:11:22.741Z

The effect is as follows

joplin-prettier1474×859 314 KB

you will see

The table is formatted
Non-standard + is treated as -, * is treated as _
The missing blank lines are filled in, and the extra blank lines are deleted
Wrong ordered list was corrected
The code is formatted correctly

I mentioned a PR on GitHub, but it should be noted that since I do not use Joplin’s built-in editor So it didn’t deal with details, including

Only format the selected part when selected
The cursor position before and after formatting should be consistent
Support right click, toolbar or use shortcut keys to format

roman_r_m · 2021-05-14T07:19:43.211Z

Thanks, I'll have a look but not right now. I won't have access to my PC today and possibly tomorrow

roman_r_m · 2021-08-19T20:05:48.169Z

Just pushed a new version 1.2.0:

add context menu item (Add "Format Table" to context menu · Issue #7 · roman-r-m/joplin-plugin-table-formatter · GitHub)
(mostly) fix alignment (The table formatter does not respect alignment! · Issue #6 · roman-r-m/joplin-plugin-table-formatter · GitHub)

whitewall · 2021-08-29T14:51:25.051Z

This is such a wonderful plugin! The only thing I had been using the wysiwyg editor was for plugins and this is going to free me from that. Except...

Is there a way for the formater to help with column creation? I have tried adding the column in the first three rows and doing the format, but it didn't do anything. Is there something I'm missing?

A workaround is to go to the wysiwyg and add the column there. The only disadvantage of that is that it deletes blank rows.

Also, have you thought about adding an icon to the toolbar for formatting?

Thanks again!

roman_r_m · 2021-08-30T12:25:31.063Z

whitewall:

I have tried adding the column in the first three rows and doing the format, but it didn't do anything. Is there something I'm missing?

You need to add something like this

|
|- <- the 2nd line must have at least one dash
|
|

whitewall · 2021-08-30T13:39:17.658Z

Sorry, I'm not catching it. Here is what I am trying. (All failed attempts)

addnewcolumn

I want to add a fourth column. Eventually I can get the fourth column formatted after I add the first three rows completely. But what I'm looking for is to have the remaining pipes added down the whole table. Otherwise on a long table I have to add them all manually. It's obviously not a huge burden. I was just wondering if there was something I'm missing.

johano · 2021-08-30T19:39:33.446Z

@whitewall, the template plugin is quite useful for a selection of skeleton tables. Then it's just Ctrl+Alt+I to paste your boilerplate table into a note, and from there to copy and paste a bunch of extra rows, or select and delete several rows as required.
For anything other than small tables though, I usually use the external editor facility (Typora here)—it allows easy set up of the number of columns and rows, and the insertion/deletion of columns/rows without fuss. Much easier than CodeMirror for bigger tables.

roman_r_m · 2021-08-30T19:49:43.259Z

Ah, right. I misunderstood you.
The plugin can only format valid tables, it won't add new columns.

bepolymathe · 2021-08-30T20:11:14.602Z

roman_r_m:

The plugin can only format valid tables, it won't add new columns.

But it could be a great addition for those who are used to using similar functions with vim.

jamestansx · 2021-09-10T11:35:02.374Z

Hi, @roman_r_m

Following your demo, it couldn't be formatted like how you show in the demo. Instead, it could only be formatted if - exists in the table.

Version:
Joplin: 2.4.6 (prod, win32)
Table Formatter Plugin: v1.2.2

See the gif for more info
table-formatter-testing

Thanks for this wonderful plugin!

roman_r_m · 2021-09-10T12:08:25.320Z

That demo might be out of date.
The plugin can only format what's already a valid markdown table, which requires the 2nd row with dashes.

CalebJohn · 2021-12-01T17:28:52.160Z

I just came across a cool library for handling markdown tables celldown. I thought it would be relevant for this plugin.