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Overview

The Column class represents a single cell in a table. It manages content, styling (colors and attributes), and layout configuration (alignment, padding, width). Columns support automatic text wrapping and multi-line content.

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Class Definition

namespace tabular {
  class Column;
}

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Constructors

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Default Constructor

Column()
Creates an empty column. Example: 
tabular::Column col;

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String Constructor

Column(std::string content)
Creates a column with the specified content.
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content
std::string
Initial content for the column
Example: 
tabular::Column col("Hello, World!");

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Methods

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content()

Gets or sets the column’s content. 
void content(std::string content)
const std::string& content() const
std::string& content()
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content
std::string
New content for the column
Returns: Reference to the content string Example: 
Column col;
col.content("Updated content");

std::string text = col.content();

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config()

Accesses the column’s configuration settings. 
Config& config()
const Config& config() const
Returns: Reference to the Config object Example: 
Column col("Text");
col.config()
   .align(Align::Center)
   .width(20)
   .padd(Padd(1, 1, 2, 2));

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style()

Accesses the column’s style settings. 
Style& style()
const Style& style() const
Returns: Reference to the Style object Example: 
Column col("Styled Text");
col.style()
   .fg(Color::Green)
   .bg(Color::Black)
   .attrs(Attr::Bold);

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lines()

Gets the rendered lines of the column after applying wrapping and formatting. 
const std::vector<std::string>& lines() const
Returns: Vector of formatted strings (one per line) Note: This method uses caching and is automatically called during table rendering. Example: 
Column col("Long text that will wrap");
col.config().width(10);

for (const auto& line : col.lines()) {
  std::cout << line << std::endl;
}

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clr()

Clears the column content and resets all configuration and styling. 
void clr()
Example: 
Column col("Data");
col.clr(); // Column is now empty with default settings

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Nested Classes

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Column::Config

Configuration class for column layout settings.

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Methods

align() 
Config& align(const Align alignment)
Align align() const
Sets or gets the text alignment.
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alignment
Align
Alignment mode: Align::Left, Align::Center, or Align::Right (default: Left)
Example: 
col.config().align(Align::Center);
padd() 
Config& padd(const Padd padd)
Padd padd() const
Sets or gets the padding around the content.
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padd
Padd
Padding struct with top, bottom, left, right values (default: 0, 0, 1, 1)
Example: 
// Padding: 1 top/bottom, 2 left/right
col.config().padd(Padd(1, 2));

// Padding: custom for each side
col.config().padd(Padd(1, 1, 3, 3));
width() 
Config& width(const size_t width)
size_t width() const
Sets or gets the column width in characters.
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width
size_t
Width in characters (0 means auto-calculate, default: 0)
Example: 
col.config().width(30);
delimiter() 
Config& delimiter(std::string delimiter)
std::string delimiter() const
Sets the delimiter character used when wrapping long words.
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delimiter
std::string
Character(s) to append when breaking words (default: ”-”)
Example: 
col.config().delimiter("-");
skipEmptyLineIndent() 
Config& skipEmptyLineIndent(const bool skip)
bool skipEmptyLineIndent() const
Controls whether to skip indentation for empty lines.
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skip
bool
If true, don’t add padding to empty lines at the start (default: true)
Example: 
col.config().skipEmptyLineIndent(false);
reset() 
void reset()
Resets all configuration to default values.

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Column::Style

Styling class for colors and text attributes.

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Methods

fg() 
Style& fg(Color color)
Style& fg(const Rgb rgb)
uint32_t fg() const
bool hasFg() const
Sets or gets the foreground (text) color.
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color
Color | Rgb
Color enum value or RGB color
Example: 
// Using Color enum
col.style().fg(Color::BrightGreen);

// Using RGB
col.style().fg(Rgb(255, 100, 50));
bg() 
Style& bg(Color color)
Style& bg(const Rgb rgb)
uint32_t bg() const
bool hasBg() const
Sets or gets the background color.
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color
Color | Rgb
Color enum value or RGB color
Example: 
// Using Color enum
col.style().bg(Color::Black);

// Using RGB
col.style().bg(Rgb(30, 30, 30));
base() 
Style& base(Color color)
Style& base(const Rgb rgb)
uint32_t base() const
bool hasBase() const
Sets the base background color (fills empty space in the column).
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color
Color | Rgb
Color enum value or RGB color
Example: 
col.style().base(Color::BrightBlack);
attrs() 
Style& attrs(Attr attr)
Style& attrs(const Style& attr)
Attr attrs() const
bool hasAttrs() const
Sets text attributes (bold, italic, underline, etc.).
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attr
Attr
Attribute or combination of attributes using | operator
Example: 
// Single attribute
col.style().attrs(Attr::Bold);

// Multiple attributes
col.style().attrs(Attr::Bold | Attr::Underline);
Reset Methods 
void resetFg()
void resetBg()
void resetBase()
void resetAttrs()
void reset()
Reset individual styling components or all styling. Example: 
col.style().resetFg();    // Clear foreground color
col.style().reset();      // Clear all styling

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Examples

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Basic Column with Styling

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

Column col("Important");
col.config().align(Align::Center);
col.style()
   .fg(Color::BrightRed)
   .attrs(Attr::Bold | Attr::Underline);

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Column with Custom Width and Padding

Column col("This is a long text that will be wrapped");
col.config()
   .width(20)
   .padd(Padd(0, 0, 2, 2))  // 2 chars padding left/right
   .align(Align::Left)
   .delimiter("-");

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Multi-line Content

Column col("Line 1\nLine 2\nLine 3");
col.config()
   .width(30)
   .align(Align::Center)
   .padd(Padd(1, 1, 1, 1));  // Add padding around content

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Colored Background

Column col("Highlighted");
col.style()
   .fg(Color::White)
   .bg(Color::Blue)
   .base(Color::Blue);  // Fill empty space with blue

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RGB Colors

Column col("Custom Colors");
col.style()
   .fg(Rgb(255, 100, 50))      // Orange text
   .bg(Rgb(30, 30, 30))        // Dark gray background
   .attrs(Attr::Bold);

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Text Attributes Combinations

Column col("Styled Text");

// Bold and italic
col.style().attrs(Attr::Bold | Attr::Italic);

// Bold, underline, and colored
col.style()
   .fg(Color::BrightCyan)
   .attrs(Attr::Bold | Attr::Underline);

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Dynamic Content

Column col;

// Set content dynamically
col.content("Initial");
std::cout << col.content() << std::endl;

// Update content
col.content("Updated");

// Access content by reference
col.content() += " - Modified";

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See Also

  • Row - Row class reference
  • Color - Color and RGB reference
  • Alignment - Align, Padd, and Attr enums
  • Table - Table class reference

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