30.13.9 Conversion Between Plain Text and Tables
The command table-capture captures plain text in a region and
turns it into a table. Unlike table-recognize (see 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.
1, 2, 3, 4
5, 6, 7, 8
, 9, 10
When you invoke M-x table-capture on 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 regexp, a newline is
used for a row delimiter regexp, 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 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 regexp 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.
