table.vim

Text table manipulation for Vim and Neovim.

Quick Start

Create tables using pipes (|) and dashes (-). The table is aligned and redrawn with style characters automatically on pipe insertion.

Use the :Table Align command to perform alignment manually. Use the :Table Complete command fill missing cells and borders.

Requirements

• Vim 8.1 or later
• Neovim 0.11.5 or later

Features

• Multiline rows - Support for cells containing newlines (must be enabled)
• Cell editing window - Edit in a floating window, hooks provided (split window in Vim)
• Chunk processing - Align only nearby lines for fast operation with large tables
• Multiple table styles - Use a built-in style or define your own

Demo

table_demo.mp4

Table Detection

Tables must be

• At least two lines (rows)
• Separated by blank lines above and below (comment strings are ok)

Configuration (optional)

Configuration is buffer-local. Set defaults in your vimrc, customize per-filetype in ftplugin files, or change at runtime with :TableOption.

" vimrc - set defaults for all buffers (overridden by ftplugins)
call table#Setup({
    \ 'style': 'default',
    \ 'options': {'multiline': v:true}
    \ })

-- init.lua - set defaults for all buffers (overridden by ftplugins)
require('table_vim').setup({
    style = 'default',
    options = { multiline = true }
})

The plugin provides default configurations for markdown, org, and rst filetypes. To override these, create your own ftplugin files in after/ftplugin/.

Disable features:

call table#Setup({
    \ 'disable_mappings': v:true,
    \ 'disable_ftplugins': v:true
    \ })

See :help table-configuration for details.

Navigation

• <Tab> / <S-Tab> - Next/previous cell (wraps rows)
• <C-h> / <C-j> / <C-k> / <C-l> - Navigate left/down/up/right
• Counts work: 3<Tab> moves three cells forward

Text Objects

Cell, row, and column text objects are provided for visual and operator-pending modes. Default selects half borders; use "around" for full borders or "inner" for no borders.

Object	Description	Example
tx/ix/ax	cell	cix change cell content
tr/ir/ar	row	dtr delete row
tc/ic/ac	column	yac yank full column

Counts work: d2tc deletes two columns.

See :help table-text-objects for details.

Chunk Processing

For performance, the align action (auto-align and :Table Align) only processes the lines near the cursor. The :Table Complete command processes the entire table and may be slow for large tables.

Cell Editing

:Table EditCell opens cells in a split window (Vim) or floating window (Neovim) for greater control over editing. Especially useful for multiline cells. Use TableCellEditPre and TableCellEditPost autocommands to customize behavior. See :help table-events.

Commands

:Table

:Table EditCell         " Edit cell in split/floating window
:Table Complete         " Fill missing cells and borders
:Table Align            " Align table columns
:Table ToDefault        " Convert to default style
:Table ToStyle {style}  " Convert to specified style (updates the table option)

:TableOption

Runtime configuration for the current buffer, changes do not persist across vim sessions. Use without arguments to show current config.

:TableOption Style [name]                 " Get/set style
:TableOption Option [key] [value]         " Get/set option
:TableOption StyleOption [key] [value]    " Get/set style option
:TableOption RegisterStyle [name]         " Save current style (session only)

Note: Registering a style is only for the current session. Store them in your vim/nvim config file to persist across sessions.

Common options:

Option	Default	Description
multiline	false	Allow cells to contain newlines
default_alignment	left	Default column alignment: l, c, or r
preserve_indentation	true	Keep leading whitespace in multiline cell

Built-in styles: default, markdown, org, rest, single, double

Example: :TableOption Style markdown | :TableOption Option multiline true

See :help table-commands and :help table-styles for details.

Keybindings

Auto-alignment, navigational, and text object keybindings are mapped by default in a context-aware manner. They only activate when the cursor is on a table line, otherwise, your existing key maps work normally.

To disable all default mappings, use the disable_mappings configuration option. Maps can be customized with the available <Plug> mappings.

Keybindings for table actions are not provided but can be added easily:

" Example mappings (add to vimrc/init.vim)
nnoremap <leader>ta    <Plug>(table_align)
nnoremap <leader><bar> <Plug>(table_complete)
nnoremap <leader>td    <Plug>(table_to_default)
nnoremap <leader>te    <Plug>(table_cell_edit)

Limitations

• No merged/spanning cells (multiline rows are supported)
• i_vertical and i_horizontal must be different characters

License

Mozilla Public License 2.0 - See LICENSE