Fixes #10 : handle printing empty table

get_table_width now returns 0 on empty table
get_string now return empty string on empty table
printing empty row now prints an empty string

beautifultable/beautifultable.py

@@ -654,7 +654,7 @@ def pop_column(self, index=-1):
         if self._column_count == 1:
             # This is the last column. So we should clear the table to avoid
             # empty rows
-            self.clear(clear_column_properties=True)
+            self.clear(clear_metadata=True)
         else:
             # Not the last column. safe to pop from row
             self._column_count -= 1
@@ -835,19 +835,19 @@ def append_column(self, header, column):
         """
         self.insert_column(self._column_count, header, column)
 
-    def clear(self, clear_column_properties=False):
+    def clear(self, clear_metadata=False):
         """Clear the contents of the table.
 
         Clear all rows of the table, and if specified clears all column specific data.
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        clear_column_properties : bool, optional
+        clear_metadata : bool, optional
             If it is true(default False), all metadata of columns such as their alignment,
             padding, width, etc. are also cleared and number of columns is set to 0.
         """
         self._table.clear()
-        if clear_column_properties:
+        if clear_metadata:
             self._initialize_table(0)
 
     def _get_horizontal_line(self, char):
@@ -874,24 +874,31 @@ def _get_horizontal_line(self, char):
             line = list(char * (int(table_width/len(char)) + 1))[:table_width]
         except ZeroDivisionError:
             line = [' '] * table_width
-        # Only if Special Intersection is enabled and horizontal line is visible
+
+        if len(line) == 0:
+            return ''
+        # Only if Special Intersection is enabled and horizontal line is
+        # visible
         if self.intersection_char and not char.isspace():
             # If left border is enabled and it is visible
             if self.left_border_char and not self.left_border_char.isspace():
-                length = min(len(self.left_border_char), len(self.intersection_char))
+                length = min(len(self.left_border_char),
+                             len(self.intersection_char))
                 for i in range(length):
                     line[i] = intersection[i]
             # If right border is enabled and it is visible
             if self.right_border_char and not self.right_border_char.isspace():
-                length = min(len(self.right_border_char), len(self.intersection_char))
+                length = min(len(self.right_border_char),
+                             len(self.intersection_char))
                 for i in range(length):
                     line[-i-1] = intersection[-i-1]
             # If column seperator is enabled and it is visible
             if self.column_seperator_char and not self.column_seperator_char.isspace():
                 index = len(self.left_border_char)
                 for i in range(self._column_count-1):
                     index += (self._column_widths[i])
-                    length = min(len(self.column_seperator_char), len(self.intersection_char))
+                    length = min(len(self.column_seperator_char),
+                                 len(self.intersection_char))
                     for i in range(length):
                         line[index+i] = intersection[i]
                     index += len(self.column_seperator_char)
@@ -956,8 +963,9 @@ def get_table_width(self):
         int
             Width of the table as number of characters.
         """
+        if self.column_count == 0:
+            return 0
         width = sum(self._column_widths)
-
         width += ((self._column_count - 1)
                   * len(self.column_seperator_char))
         width += len(self.left_border_char)
@@ -984,6 +992,9 @@ def get_string(self, recalculate_width=True):
         if recalculate_width or sum(self._column_widths) == 0:
             self.auto_calculate_width()
 
+        if len(self._table) == 0:
+            return ''
+
         string_ = []
 
         if self.top_border_char:

beautifultable/rows.py

@@ -102,15 +102,16 @@ def __str__(self):
             except ValueError:
                 row[i] = str(row[i])
         string = []
-        list_of_rows = self._get_row_within_width(row)
-        for row_ in list_of_rows:
-            for i in range(table.column_count):
-                row_[i] = '{:{align}{width}}'.format(
-                    str(row_[i]), align=align[i].value, width=width[i])
-            content = table.column_seperator_char.join(row_)
-            content = table.left_border_char + content
-            content += table.right_border_char
-            string.append(content)
+        if len(row) > 0:
+            list_of_rows = self._get_row_within_width(row)
+            for row_ in list_of_rows:
+                for i in range(table.column_count):
+                    row_[i] = '{:{align}{width}}'.format(
+                        str(row_[i]), align=align[i].value, width=width[i])
+                content = table.column_seperator_char.join(row_)
+                content = table.left_border_char + content
+                content += table.right_border_char
+                string.append(content)
         return '\n'.join(string)