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Pre-defined Border Styles

Tabular provides several pre-defined border styles that you can apply to your tables using static methods from the Border class.

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Modern Style

Clean, thin Unicode box-drawing characters: 
Table table;
table.addRow({"Countries Capitals"})
     .addRow({"United States", "Washington"})
     .addRow({"Brazil", "Brasilia"})
     .addRow({"France", "Paris"});

table.border(Border::modern());
render(table.str() + '\n', stdout);
Characters used:
  • Horizontal: ─
  • Vertical: │
  • Corners: ┌, ┐, └, ┘
  • Connectors: ├, ┤, ┬, ┴, ┼

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Rounded Style

Soft, rounded corners with thin lines: 
Table table;
table.addRow({"ID", "Name", "Status"})
     .addRow({"001", "Alice", "Active"})
     .addRow({"002", "Bob", "Inactive"});

table.border(Border::rounded());
render(table.str() + '\n', stdout);
Characters used:
  • Horizontal: ─
  • Vertical: │
  • Corners: ╭, ╮, ╰, ╯ (rounded)
  • Connectors: ├, ┤, ┬, ┴, ┼

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Heavy Style

Bold, thick lines for emphasis: 
Table table;
table.addRow({"Product", "Price"})
     .addRow({"Laptop", "$999"})
     .addRow({"Mouse", "$25"});

table.border(Border::heavy());
render(table.str() + '\n', stdout);
Characters used:
  • Horizontal: ━
  • Vertical: ┃
  • Corners: ┏, ┓, ┗, ┛
  • Connectors: ┣, ┫, ┳, ┻, ╋

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Doubled Style

Double-line borders: 
Table table;
table.addRow({"Task", "Priority"})
     .addRow({"Authentication", "High"})
     .addRow({"Database", "Medium"});

table.border(Border::doubled());
render(table.str() + '\n', stdout);
Characters used:
  • Horizontal: ═
  • Vertical: ║
  • Corners: ╔, ╗, ╚, ╝
  • Connectors: ╠, ╣, ╦, ╩, ╬

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Blank Style

Invisible borders with spaces (maintains table structure): 
Table table;
table.addRow({"Column 1", "Column 2"})
     .addRow({"Data 1", "Data 2"});

table.border(Border::blank());
render(table.str() + '\n', stdout);
Use case: When you want column alignment without visible borders.

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None Style

No borders at all (null characters): 
Table table;
table.addRow({"Item 1", "Item 2"})
     .addRow({"Value 1", "Value 2"});

table.border(Border::none());
render(table.str() + '\n', stdout);
Use case: Minimalist output without any border structure.

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Comparing Border Styles

table.border(Border::modern());
// Clean, professional appearance
// Good for: Reports, dashboards

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Custom Border Parts

You can customize individual border components by creating a Border object and modifying specific parts.

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Customizing Glyphs

Change the characters used for border parts: 
Table table;
table.addRow({"Header"})
     .addRow({"Content"});

Border border;

// Use '=' for horizontal lines
border.horizontal('=');
// or explicitly
border.horizontal().glyph('=');

// Use '#' for vertical lines
border.vertical('#');

// Custom corners
border.cornerTopLeft('*');
border.cornerTopRight('*');
border.cornerBottomLeft('*');
border.cornerBottomRight('*');

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

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Border Colors

Apply colors to border parts using the fg() and bg() methods: 
Table table;
table.addRow({"Status", "Message"})
     .addRow({"OK", "System operational"});

Border border = Border::modern();

// Red horizontal lines
border.horizontal().fg(Color::Red);

// Blue vertical lines
border.vertical().fg(Color::Blue);

// Green corners
border.cornerTopLeft().fg(Color::Green);
border.cornerTopRight().fg(Color::Green);
border.cornerBottomLeft().fg(Color::Green);
border.cornerBottomRight().fg(Color::Green);

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

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Border Part Reference

All available border parts you can customize:
MethodDescriptionDefault Glyph
horizontal()Horizontal lines-
vertical()Vertical lines|
cornerTopLeft()Top-left corner+
cornerTopRight()Top-right corner+
cornerBottomLeft()Bottom-left corner+
cornerBottomRight()Bottom-right corner+
intersection()Four-way intersection+
connectorLeft()Left T-junction+
connectorRight()Right T-junction+
connectorTop()Top T-junction-
connectorBottom()Bottom T-junction-

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Advanced Border Customization

Create completely custom borders with mixed styles: 
Table table;
table.addRow({"ID", "Name", "Status"})
     .addRow({"001", "Alice", "Active"})
     .addRow({"002", "Bob", "Inactive"})
     .addRow({"003", "Charlie", "Active"});

// Start with a base style
Border border = Border::modern();

// Customize specific parts
border.horizontal().glyph(U'═').fg(Color::Cyan);
border.vertical().glyph(U'│').fg(Color::Blue);

// Custom corners with RGB
Rgb gold = {255, 215, 0};
border.cornerTopLeft().glyph(U'╔').fg(gold);
border.cornerTopRight().glyph(U'╗').fg(gold);
border.cornerBottomLeft().glyph(U'╚').fg(gold);
border.cornerBottomRight().glyph(U'╝').fg(gold);

// Color the connectors
border.connectorLeft().fg(Color::Green);
border.connectorRight().fg(Color::Green);
border.connectorTop().fg(Color::Yellow);
border.connectorBottom().fg(Color::Yellow);
border.intersection().fg(Color::Magenta);

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

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Clearing Border Colors

You can remove colors from border parts: 
Border border = Border::modern();

// Add colors
border.horizontal().fg(Color::Red).bg(Color::Blue);

// Clear foreground only
border.horizontal().clrFg();

// Clear background only
border.horizontal().clrBg();

// Clear both foreground and background
border.horizontal().clr();

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Creating a Custom Border from Scratch

Border border;

// Set all parts manually
border.horizontal(U'~');
border.vertical(U'║');
border.cornerTopLeft(U'◢');
border.cornerTopRight(U'◣');
border.cornerBottomLeft(U'◥');
border.cornerBottomRight(U'◤');
border.intersection(U'╬');
border.connectorLeft(U'╠');
border.connectorRight(U'╣');
border.connectorTop(U'╦');
border.connectorBottom(U'╩');

// Apply colors
Rgb cyan = {0, 255, 255};
border.horizontal().fg(cyan);
border.vertical().fg(cyan);

table.border(border);
When using custom Unicode glyphs, ensure your terminal supports the characters you’re using. Some terminals may not render certain Unicode characters correctly.

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