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Overview

This page documents the alignment, padding, and text attribute types used throughout Tabular for layout and styling control.

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Align Enum

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Definition

namespace tabular {
  enum class Align {
    Left,
    Right,
    Center
  };
}

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Values

  • Align::Left - Align text to the left (default)
  • Align::Center - Center text horizontally
  • Align::Right - Align text to the right

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Usage

Used in Column::Config to control text alignment within columns. Example: 
using namespace tabular;

Column col("Text");
col.config().align(Align::Center);
Visual Example: 
Table table;
table.config().width(60);

table.addRow({"Left", "Center", "Right"});
table[0].column(0).config().align(Align::Left);
table[0].column(1).config().align(Align::Center);
table[0].column(2).config().align(Align::Right);

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Padd Struct

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Definition

namespace tabular {
  struct Padd {
    uint8_t top;
    uint8_t bottom;
    uint8_t left;
    uint8_t right;
  };
}

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Fields

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top
uint8_t
Number of empty lines above content (default: 0)
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bottom
uint8_t
Number of empty lines below content (default: 0)
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left
uint8_t
Number of spaces to the left of content (default: 1)
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right
uint8_t
Number of spaces to the right of content (default: 1)

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Constructors

Default Constructor 
constexpr Padd()
Creates padding with default values: top=0, bottom=0, left=1, right=1 Symmetric Constructor 
constexpr Padd(uint8_t vertical, uint8_t horizontal)
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vertical
uint8_t
Sets both top and bottom padding
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horizontal
uint8_t
Sets both left and right padding
Example: 
Padd p(1, 2);  // top=1, bottom=1, left=2, right=2
Full Constructor 
constexpr Padd(uint8_t top, uint8_t bottom, uint8_t left, uint8_t right)
Example: 
Padd p(1, 2, 3, 4);  // top=1, bottom=2, left=3, right=4

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Usage

Used in Column::Config to add spacing around column content. Example: 
using namespace tabular;

Column col("Content");

// Symmetric padding
col.config().padd(Padd(1, 2));  // 1 vertical, 2 horizontal

// Custom padding for each side
col.config().padd(Padd(2, 1, 3, 3));  // 2 top, 1 bottom, 3 left, 3 right

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Attr Enum

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Definition

namespace tabular {
  enum class Attr : uint16_t {
    Bold       = 1,
    Dim        = 1 << 1,
    Italic     = 1 << 2,
    Underline  = 1 << 3,
    Dunderline = 1 << 4,
    Blink      = 1 << 5,
    Flink      = 1 << 6,
    Reverse    = 1 << 7,
    Concealed  = 1 << 8,
    Crossed    = 1 << 9,
  };
}

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Values

  • Attr::Bold - Bold/bright text
  • Attr::Dim - Dimmed text (less bright)
  • Attr::Italic - Italic text
  • Attr::Underline - Single underline
  • Attr::Dunderline - Double underline (not widely supported)
  • Attr::Blink - Slow blink (rarely supported)
  • Attr::Flink - Fast blink (rarely supported)
  • Attr::Reverse - Swap foreground and background colors
  • Attr::Concealed - Hidden text
  • Attr::Crossed - Strikethrough text

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Operators

Attributes can be combined using the bitwise OR operator: 
Attr operator|(Attr lhs, Attr rhs)
Attr& operator|=(Attr& lhs, const Attr rhs)
Example: 
Attr combined = Attr::Bold | Attr::Underline;

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Usage

Used in Column::Style to apply text formatting attributes. Example: 
using namespace tabular;

Column col("Styled Text");

// Single attribute
col.style().attrs(Attr::Bold);

// Multiple attributes
col.style().attrs(Attr::Bold | Attr::Underline);

// Combining with colors
col.style()
   .fg(Color::Green)
   .attrs(Attr::Bold | Attr::Italic);

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Examples

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Alignment Examples

#include <tabular/table.h>
using namespace tabular;

Table table;
table.config().width(70);

// Create row with different alignments
table.addRow({"Left Aligned", "Center Aligned", "Right Aligned"});
table[0].column(0).config().align(Align::Left);
table[0].column(1).config().align(Align::Center);
table[0].column(2).config().align(Align::Right);

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Padding Examples

using namespace tabular;

// No padding
Column col1("Tight");
col1.config().padd(Padd(0, 0, 0, 0));

// Default padding (1 space left/right)
Column col2("Default");
col2.config().padd(Padd());

// Extra horizontal padding
Column col3("Spacious");
col3.config().padd(Padd(0, 3));  // 3 spaces on each side

// Vertical padding
Column col4("Tall");
col4.config().padd(Padd(2, 0));  // 2 empty lines above and below

// Custom padding for all sides
Column col5("Custom");
col5.config().padd(Padd(1, 1, 2, 2));

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Text Attributes Examples

using namespace tabular;

// Bold text
Column bold("Bold");
bold.style().attrs(Attr::Bold);

// Italic text
Column italic("Italic");
italic.style().attrs(Attr::Italic);

// Underlined text
Column underlined("Underlined");
underlined.style().attrs(Attr::Underline);

// Bold and underlined
Column combined("Bold + Underline");
combined.style().attrs(Attr::Bold | Attr::Underline);

// Multiple attributes
Column multi("Multi");
multi.style().attrs(Attr::Bold | Attr::Italic | Attr::Underline);

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Styled Header Row

using namespace tabular;

Table table;
table.border(Border::modern());

// Add header row
table.addRow({"Name", "Status", "Score"});

// Style the entire header row
for (auto& col : table[0].columns()) {
  col.style()
     .fg(Color::BrightWhite)
     .bg(Color::Blue)
     .attrs(Attr::Bold);
  col.config()
     .align(Align::Center)
     .padd(Padd(0, 2));  // Extra horizontal padding
}

table[0].config().hasBottom(true);

using namespace tabular;

table.addRow({"Total", "---", "100"});

int lastRow = table.rows().size() - 1;
for (auto& col : table[lastRow].columns()) {
  col.style().attrs(Attr::Dim);
  col.config().align(Align::Right);
}

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Reverse Video Effect

Column highlighted("IMPORTANT");
highlighted.style()
           .fg(Color::White)
           .bg(Color::Red)
           .attrs(Attr::Bold | Attr::Reverse);  // Swap fg/bg

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Crossed/Strikethrough Text

Column deleted("Deprecated");
deleted.style()
       .fg(Color::Red)
       .attrs(Attr::Crossed | Attr::Dim);

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Terminal Support

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Well-Supported Attributes

  • Attr::Bold - Universally supported
  • Attr::Italic - Widely supported in modern terminals
  • Attr::Underline - Universally supported
  • Attr::Reverse - Universally supported
  • Attr::Dim - Widely supported
  • Attr::Crossed - Supported in most modern terminals

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Limited Support Attributes

  • Attr::Dunderline - Limited support (double underline)
  • Attr::Blink - Rarely supported (often disabled)
  • Attr::Flink - Rarely supported (fast blink)
  • Attr::Concealed - Limited support (hidden text)

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Constants

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RESET_ESC

constexpr auto RESET_ESC = "\x1b[0m";
ANSI escape sequence to reset all styling attributes.

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DEFAULT_WIDTH

constexpr uint64_t DEFAULT_WIDTH = 50;
Default table width in characters.

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MIN_COLUMN_WIDTH

constexpr uint8_t MIN_COLUMN_WIDTH = 2;
Minimum width for a column in characters.

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See Also

  • Column - Column configuration and styling
  • Color - Color and RGB reference
  • Table - Table class reference

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