Japanese Document

FluentTextTable

Have you ever just wanted to output .NET object out to console?

FluentTextTable makes it easy to use a text table that also supports full-width characters!

var users = new[]
{
    new User {Id = 1, EnglishName = "Bill Gates", JapaneseName = "ビル・ゲイツ", Birthday = DateTime.Parse("1955/10/28")},
    new User {Id = 2, EnglishName = "Steven Jobs", JapaneseName = "スティーブ・ジョブズ", Birthday = DateTime.Parse("1955/2/24")}
};
Build
    .TextTable<User>()
    .WriteLine(users);

The complex formatting of tables can be changed flexibly and fluently.

Build
    .TextTable<User>(builder =>
    {
        builder
            .Borders.Horizontals.AllStylesAs("-")
            .Borders.HeaderHorizontal.AllStylesAs("=")
            .Columns.Add(x => x.Id).HorizontalAlignmentAs(HorizontalAlignment.Right)
            .Columns.Add(x => x.Name).VerticalAlignmentAs(VerticalAlignment.Center)
            .Columns.Add(x => x.Birthday).VerticalAlignmentAs(VerticalAlignment.Bottom).FormatAs("{0:yyyy/MM/dd}")
            .Columns.Add(x => x.Occupations).FormatAs("- {0}");
    })
    .WriteLine(users);

Horizontal and vertical alignment, multi-line cells, string formatting, border styles, margins, etc.

And this supports markdowns as well.

Build
    .MarkdownTable<User>()
    .WriteLine(users);

Table of Contents

• Quick Start
• Markdown format
• Multi-line cell support
• Styles
  • Column format
  • Borders
  • Margins
  • Paddings

Quick Start

NET Framework 4.0 (or higher) and .NET Standard 2.0 (or higher) are supported. Install and use it from NuGet.

> Install-Package FluentTextTable

Define the class to be output.

public class User
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string EnglishName { get; set; }
    public string JapaneseName { get; set; }
    public DateTime Birthday;
}

Use the Build class to create a table for the output class.

By default, all public properties and fields are included in the output.

var table = Build.TextTable<User>();

Create and output an object corresponding to a row.

var users = new[]
{
    new User {Id = 1, EnglishName = "Bill Gates", JapaneseName = "ビル・ゲイツ", Birthday = DateTime.Parse("1955/10/28")},
    new User {Id = 2, EnglishName = "Steven Jobs", JapaneseName = "スティーブ・ジョブズ", Birthday = DateTime.Parse("1955/2/24")}
};
Build
    .TextTable<User>()
    .WriteLine(users);

Markdown format

FluentTextTable supports the popular Markdown format.

Build
    .MarkdownTable<User>()
    .WriteLine(users);

You can also align to the center or right. See Column format for details.

Multi-line cell support

Supports line breaks in a single cell.

A new line is output in one of the following cases

• The string properties and field containing the line feed code
• Properties and fields defined in IEnumerable, such as Array and List

  private class User
  {
      public int Id { get; set; }
      public string Name { get; set; }
      public DateTime Birthday;
      public string Parents { get; set; }
      public string[] Occupations { get; set; }
  }
  
  var users = new[]
  {
      new User
      {
          Id = 1, 
          Name = "Bill Gates", 
          Birthday = DateTime.Parse("1955/10/28"),
          Parents = $"Bill Gates Sr.{Environment.NewLine}Mary Maxwell Gates",
          Occupations = new []{"Software developer", "Investor", "Entrepreneur", "Philanthropist"}
      }
  };
  
  var table = Build.TextTable<User>(builder =>
  {
      builder
          .Columns.Add(x => x.Id).NameAs("ID").HorizontalAlignmentAs(HorizontalAlignment.Right)
          .Columns.Add(x => x.Name).VerticalAlignmentAs(VerticalAlignment.Center)
          .Columns.Add(x => x.Birthday).VerticalAlignmentAs(VerticalAlignment.Bottom).FormatAs("{0:yyyy/MM/dd}")
          .Columns.Add(x => x.Parents).VerticalAlignmentAs(VerticalAlignment.Center).FormatAs("- {0}")
          .Columns.Add(x => x.Occupations).HorizontalAlignmentAs(HorizontalAlignment.Center);
  });
  table.WriteLine(users);

  

  See Column Format for details of the format.

  In the case of markdown, it is output as a br tag.

  var table = Build.MarkdownTable<User>(builder =>
  {
      builder
          .Columns.Add(x => x.Id).NameAs("ID").HorizontalAlignmentAs(HorizontalAlignment.Right)
          .Columns.Add(x => x.Name).VerticalAlignmentAs(VerticalAlignment.Center)
          .Columns.Add(x => x.Birthday).VerticalAlignmentAs(VerticalAlignment.Bottom).FormatAs("{0:yyyy/MM/dd}")
          .Columns.Add(x => x.Parents).VerticalAlignmentAs(VerticalAlignment.Center).FormatAs("- {0}")
  });
  table.WriteLine(users);

  

  Here's how it would look like

  ID	Name	Birthday	Parents
  1	Bill Gates	1955/10/28	- Bill Gates Sr. - Mary Maxwell Gates

  In Markdown, vertical alignment is not enabled.

  Styles

  Column format

  By default, all public properties and fields are included in the output.

  static void Main()
  {
      var users = new[]
      {
          new User {Id = 1, Name = "ビル ゲイツ", Birthday = DateTime.Parse("1955/10/28")},
          new User {Id = 2, Name = "Steven Jobs", Birthday = DateTime.Parse("1955/2/24")}
      };
  
      Build
          .TextTable<User>()
          .WriteLine(users);
  }

  

  Output columns can also be specified.

  Build
      .TextTable<User>(builder =>
      {
          builder
              .Columns.Add(x => x.Name)
              .Columns.Add(x => x.Birthday);
      })
      .WriteLine(users);

  

  The columns can be formatted as follows

  • Horizontal Alignment
  • Vertical Alignment
  • Header name
  • Format

  var table = Build.TextTable<User>(builder =>
  {
      builder
          .Columns.Add(x => x.Id).NameAs("ID").HorizontalAlignmentAs(HorizontalAlignment.Right)
          .Columns.Add(x => x.Name).VerticalAlignmentAs(VerticalAlignment.Center)
          .Columns.Add(x => x.Birthday).VerticalAlignmentAs(VerticalAlignment.Bottom).FormatAs("{0:yyyy/MM/dd}")
          .Columns.Add(x => x.Parents).VerticalAlignmentAs(VerticalAlignment.Center).FormatAs("- {0}")
          .Columns.Add(x => x.Occupations).HorizontalAlignmentAs(HorizontalAlignment.Center);
  });
  table.WriteLine(users);

  Note that the cells are formatted row by row.

  

  Borders

  All borders can be changed to any style (Markdown format is not supported).

  var table = Build.TextTable<User>(builder =>
  {
      builder
          .Borders.Top
              .LeftStyleAs("-")
              .IntersectionStyleAs("-")
              .RightStyleAs("-")
          .Borders.HeaderHorizontal
              .LineStyleAs("=")
          .Borders.InsideHorizontal
              .AsDisable()
          .Borders.Bottom
              .LeftStyleAs("*")
              .IntersectionStyleAs("*")
              .RightStyleAs("*");
  });

  

  Borders can also be applied collectively as a style.

  Build
      .TextTable<User>(builder =>
      {
          builder
              .Borders.Horizontals.AllStylesAs("-")
              .Borders.InsideHorizontal.AllStylesAs("=")
              .Borders.Verticals.LineStyleAs("$");
      })
      .WriteLine(users);

  

  The following areas are defined for the borders

  • Top
  • HeaderHorizontal
  • InsideHorizontal
  • Bottom
  • Left
  • InsideVertical
  • Right

  

  The horizontal border can be changed in the following styles

  • LeftStyle
  • IntersectionStyle
  • RightStyle
  • LineStyle

  

  The vertical border can only be changed by LineStyle. Intersections are determined by the horizontal border.

  

  Margins

  You can specify the left and right margins of the table.

  Build
      .TextTable<User>(builder =>
      {
          builder
              .Margins.Left.As(4)
              .Margins.Right.As(2);
      })
      .WriteLine(users);

  

  The right margin is not needed in the console, but is useful for text.

  var text = Build
      .TextTable<User>(builder =>
      {
          builder
              .Margins.Left.As(4)
              .Margins.Right.As(2);
      })
      .ToString(users);

  Paddings

  You can set the left and right padding on the inside of the cell to any width.

  Build
      .TextTable<User>(builder =>
      {
          builder
              .Paddings.Left.As(4)
              .Paddings.Right.As(2);
      })
      .WriteLine(users);