Advanced Styling Examples

Using Colors

Tabular supports both predefined terminal colors and custom RGB colors for text foreground and background.

Color Enum

Use the Color enum for standard terminal colors:

Table table;
table.addRow({"Status", "Message"})
     .addRow({"Success", "Operation completed"})
     .addRow({"Error", "Operation failed"});

// Green foreground for success
table[1][0].style().fg(Color::Green);

// Red foreground for error
table[2][0].style().fg(Color::Red);

// Blue foreground for message
table[1][1].style().fg(Color::Blue);
table[2][1].style().fg(Color::Yellow);

render(table.str() + '\n', stdout);

RGB Colors

For precise color control, use the Rgb struct:

Table table;
table.addRow({"ID", "Dev", "Task", "Priority", "Status"})
     .addRow({"001", "Alice Carlisle", "Authentication", "High", "In Progress"})
     .addRow({"002", "Henry Dawson", "Database", "Medium", "Completed"})
     .addRow({"003", "Carol Bennett", "Frontend", "High", "Testing"})
     .addRow({"004", "Amelia Turner", "API", "Low", "Not Started"})
     .addRow({"005", "Charlotte Whitaker", "Documentation", "Medium", "In Progress"});

// Define priority colors
Rgb high = {255, 0, 0};      // Red
Rgb medium = {255, 165, 0};  // Orange
Rgb low = {165, 255, 0};     // Light green

// Apply base colors to developer names
table[1][1].style().base(high);
table[2][1].style().base(medium);
table[3][1].style().base(high);
table[4][1].style().base(low);
table[5][1].style().base(medium);

// Apply foreground colors to priority column
table[1][3].style().fg(high);
table[2][3].style().fg(medium);
table[3][3].style().fg(high);
table[4][3].style().fg(low);
table[5][3].style().fg(medium);

render(table.str() + '\n', stdout);

Text Attributes

Apply text styling attributes using the attrs() method:

Table table;
table.addRow({"Product", "Price", "Status"})
     .addRow({"Laptop", "$999", "Available"});

// Bold header
table[0][0].style().attrs(Attr::Bold);

// Bold with underline using bitwise OR
table[0][2].style().attrs(Attr::Bold | Attr::Underline);

Available Attributes

Attr::Bold - Bold text
Attr::Dim - Dimmed text
Attr::Italic - Italic text
Attr::Underline - Single underline
Attr::Dunderline - Double underline (not widely supported)
Attr::Blink - Blinking text
Attr::Flink - Fast blink (very rare support)
Attr::Reverse - Reverse video
Attr::Concealed - Hidden text
Attr::Crossed - Crossed-out text

Text attribute support depends on your terminal emulator. Some attributes may not work in all terminals.

Column Alignment

Control text alignment within columns using the align() configuration:

Individual Cells
Entire Table
Specific Column

Table table;
table.addRow({"Left", "Center", "Right"})
     .addRow({"A", "B", "C"});

table[0][0].config().align(Align::Left);
table[0][1].config().align(Align::Center);
table[0][2].config().align(Align::Right);

Table table;
table.addRow({"ID", "Dev", "Task", "Priority", "Status"})
     .addRow({"001", "Alice Carlisle", "Authentication", "High", "In Progress"});

// Center all columns
for (auto &row : table.rows()) {
  for (auto &column : row.columns()) {
    column.config().align(Align::Center);
  }
}

Table table;
table.addRow({"Product", "Price", "Stock"})
     .addRow({"Laptop", "$999", "15"})
     .addRow({"Mouse", "$25", "150"});

// Right-align prices
for (int i = 0; i < 3; ++i) {
  table[i][1].config().align(Align::Right);
}

Padding Configuration

Customize cell padding using the Padd struct:

Table table;
table.addRow({
  "   __        ___.         .__\n"
  " _/  |______ \\_ |__  __ __|  | _____ _______\n"
  " \\   __\\__  \\ | __ \\|  |  \\  | \\\\__  \\_  __ \\\n"
  "  |  |  / __ \\| \\_\\ \\  |  /  |__/ __ \\|  | \\/\n"
  "  |__| (____  /___  /____/|____(____  /__|\n"
  "           \\/    \\/                \\/\n",
})
.addRow({
  "lightweight header-only library for constructing well-formatted, "
  "fully-customizable CLI tables."
});

// No padding for ASCII art (horizontal and vertical)
table[0][0].config().padd(Padd(0, 0));

// Center align the description
table[1][0].config().align(Align::Center);

// Don't skip empty whitespaces at the start of lines
// This is important when spaces at the start are part of the design
table[0][0].config().skipEmptyLineIndent(false);

table.config().width(48);
table.border(Border::rounded());

render(table.str() + '\n', stdout);

Padd Constructor:

Padd() - Default padding
Padd(horizontal, vertical) - Set horizontal (left/right) and vertical (top/bottom) padding

Complete Styling Example

Here’s a comprehensive example combining colors, attributes, alignment, and custom widths:

#include "tabular/table.h"
#include "tabular/render.h"

void adjustWidth(Table &table)
{
  // Set specific widths for each column
  for (int i = 0; i < 6; ++i) table[i][0].config().width(5);
  for (int i = 0; i < 6; ++i) table[i][1].config().width(20);
  for (int i = 0; i < 6; ++i) table[i][2].config().width(16);
  for (int i = 0; i < 6; ++i) table[i][3].config().width(10);
  for (int i = 0; i < 6; ++i) table[i][4].config().width(13);

  // Total: 5 + 20 + 16 + 10 + 13 = 64
  // With borders: 64 + 6 = 70
  table.config().width(70);
}

void styleTable(Table &table)
{
  // Underline the ID numbers
  for (int i = 1; i < 6; ++i) table[i][0].style().attrs(Attr::Underline);

  // Priority colors
  Rgb high = {255, 0, 0};
  Rgb medium = {255, 165, 0};
  Rgb low = {165, 255, 0};

  // Color developer names by priority
  table[1][1].style().base(high);
  table[2][1].style().base(medium);
  table[3][1].style().base(high);
  table[4][1].style().base(low);
  table[5][1].style().base(medium);

  // Dim task descriptions
  for (int i = 1; i < 6; ++i) table[i][2].style().attrs(Attr::Dim);

  // Color priorities
  table[1][3].style().fg(high);
  table[2][3].style().fg(medium);
  table[3][3].style().fg(high);
  table[4][3].style().fg(low);
  table[5][3].style().fg(medium);

  // Color status
  table[1][4].style().fg(Color::Blue);
  table[2][4].style().fg(Color::Green);
  table[3][4].style().fg(Color::Yellow);
  table[4][4].style().fg(Color::Red);
  table[5][4].style().fg(Color::Blue);
}

void alignColumns(Table &table)
{
  // Center all columns
  for (auto &row : table.rows()) {
    for (auto &column : row.columns()) {
      column.config().align(Align::Center);
    }
  }
}

int main()
{
  using namespace tabular;
  Table table;

  table.addRow({"ID", "Dev", "Task", "Priority", "Status"})
       .addRow({"001", "Alice Carlisle", "Authentication", "High", "In Progress"})
       .addRow({"002", "Henry Dawson", "Database", "Medium", "Completed"})
       .addRow({"003", "Carol Bennett", "Frontend", "High", "Testing"})
       .addRow({"004", "Amelia Turner", "API", "Low", "Not Started"})
       .addRow({"005", "Charlotte Whitaker", "Documentation", "Medium", "In Progress"});

  adjustWidth(table);
  styleTable(table);
  alignColumns(table);

  table.border(Border::rounded());

  render(table.str() + '\n', stdout);
  return 0;
}

This example creates a styled task management table with:

Underlined ID numbers
Priority-based colored developer names and priority values
Dimmed task descriptions
Colored status indicators
Center-aligned content
Custom column widths
Rounded borders

Get Started

Core Concepts

Examples

Advanced Styling Examples

Using Colors

Color Enum

RGB Colors

Text Attributes

Available Attributes

Column Alignment

Padding Configuration

Complete Styling Example

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Concepts

Examples

​Using Colors

​Color Enum

​RGB Colors

​Text Attributes

​Available Attributes

​Column Alignment

​Padding Configuration

​Complete Styling Example

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Using Colors

Color Enum

RGB Colors

Text Attributes

Available Attributes

Column Alignment

Padding Configuration

Complete Styling Example