Tabulate provides powerful exporters that allow you to convert your formatted tables into popular documentation and typesetting formats. This enables you to use Tabulate for terminal display while also generating content for documentation, websites, and academic papers.
Available Exporters
Tabulate includes three exporters:
- MarkdownExporter: Export to GitHub-flavored Markdown
- AsciiDocExporter: Export to AsciiDoc format
- LatexExporter: Export to LaTeX tabular environment
Markdown Export
The MarkdownExporter converts tables to GitHub-flavored Markdown format, preserving column alignment.
Basic Usage
#include <tabulate/markdown_exporter.hpp>
using namespace tabulate;
int main() {
Table movies;
movies.add_row({"S/N", "Movie Name", "Director", "Estimated Budget", "Release Date"});
movies.add_row({"tt1979376", "Toy Story 4", "Josh Cooley", "$200,000,000", "21 June 2019"});
movies.add_row({"tt3263904", "Sully", "Clint Eastwood", "$60,000,000", "9 September 2016"});
movies.add_row({"tt1535109", "Captain Phillips", "Paul Greengrass", "$55,000,000", " 11 October 2013"});
// center align 'Director' column
movies.column(2).format().font_align(FontAlign::center);
// right align 'Estimated Budget' column
movies.column(3).format().font_align(FontAlign::right);
// right align 'Release Date' column
movies.column(4).format().font_align(FontAlign::right);
// Color header cells
for (size_t i = 0; i < 5; ++i) {
movies[0][i].format().font_color(Color::yellow).font_style({FontStyle::bold});
}
// Export to Markdown
MarkdownExporter exporter;
auto markdown = exporter.dump(movies);
std::cout << markdown << std::endl;
}
The source code for this example is available at samples/markdown_export.cpp in the repository.
Markdown Output
The exporter generates proper Markdown tables with alignment specifications:
| S/N | Movie Name | Director | Estimated Budget | Release Date |
| :---- | :---- | :---: | ----: | ----: |
| tt1979376 | Toy Story 4 | Josh Cooley | $200,000,000 | 21 June 2019 |
| tt3263904 | Sully | Clint Eastwood | $60,000,000 | 9 September 2016 |
| tt1535109 | Captain Phillips | Paul Greengrass | $55,000,000 | 11 October 2013 |
Markdown Alignment Rules
Unlike Tabulate, Markdown only supports per-column alignment, not per-cell alignment. The MarkdownExporter uses the formatting of header cells to determine column alignment. Columns are left-aligned by default if no alignment is specified.
FontAlign::left → :---- (left-aligned)FontAlign::center → :---: (center-aligned)FontAlign::right → ----: (right-aligned)
AsciiDoc Export
The AsciiDocExporter converts tables to AsciiDoc format, preserving alignment and basic font styles (bold and italic).
Basic Usage
#include <tabulate/asciidoc_exporter.hpp>
using namespace tabulate;
int main() {
Table movies;
movies.add_row({"S/N", "Movie Name", "Director", "Estimated Budget", "Release Date"});
movies.add_row({"tt1979376", "Toy Story 4", "Josh Cooley", "$200,000,000", "21 June 2019"});
movies.add_row({"tt3263904", "Sully", "Clint Eastwood", "$60,000,000", "9 September 2016"});
movies.add_row({"tt1535109", "Captain Phillips", "Paul Greengrass", "$55,000,000", " 11 October 2013"});
// center align 'Director' column
movies.column(2).format().font_align(FontAlign::center);
// right align 'Estimated Budget' column
movies.column(3).format().font_align(FontAlign::right);
// right align 'Release Date' column
movies.column(4).format().font_align(FontAlign::right);
movies[1][2].format().font_style({FontStyle::bold, FontStyle::italic});
movies[2][1].format().font_style({FontStyle::italic});
// Color header cells
for (size_t i = 0; i < 5; ++i) {
movies[0][i]
.format()
.font_color(Color::white)
.font_style({FontStyle::bold})
.background_color(Color::blue);
}
AsciiDocExporter exporter;
auto asciidoc = exporter.dump(movies);
std::cout << asciidoc << std::endl;
}
The source code for this example is available at samples/asciidoc_export.cpp in the repository.
AsciiDoc Output
[cols="<,<,^,>,>"]
|===
|*S/N*|*Movie Name*|*Director*|*Estimated Budget*|*Release Date*
|tt1979376|Toy Story 4|*_Josh Cooley_*|$200,000,000|21 June 2019
|tt3263904|_Sully_|Clint Eastwood|$60,000,000|9 September 2016
|tt1535109|Captain Phillips|Paul Greengrass|$55,000,000| 11 October 2013
|===
AsciiDoc Features
Column alignment
Uses [cols="<,<,^,>,>"] syntax where < = left, ^ = center, > = right
Font styles
Supports *bold*, _italic_, and *_bold italic_* formatting
Per-cell formatting
Unlike Markdown, AsciiDoc supports formatting individual cells
LaTeX Export
The LatexExporter generates LaTeX tabular environments suitable for academic papers and scientific documents.
Basic Usage
#include <tabulate/latex_exporter.hpp>
using namespace tabulate;
int main() {
Table movies;
movies.add_row({"S/N", "Movie Name", "Director", "Estimated Budget", "Release Date"});
movies.add_row({"tt1979376", "Toy Story 4", "Josh Cooley", "$200,000,000", "21 June 2019"});
movies.add_row({"tt3263904", "Sully", "Clint Eastwood", "$60,000,000", "9 September 2016"});
movies.add_row({"tt1535109", "Captain Phillips", "Paul Greengrass", "$55,000,000", " 11 October 2013"});
// center align 'Director' column
movies.column(2).format().font_align(FontAlign::center);
// right align 'Estimated Budget' column
movies.column(3).format().font_align(FontAlign::right);
// right align 'Release Date' column
movies.column(4).format().font_align(FontAlign::right);
LatexExporter exporter;
exporter.configure().indentation(8);
auto latex = exporter.dump(movies);
std::cout << latex << std::endl;
}
The source code for this example is available at samples/latex_export.cpp in the repository.
LaTeX Output
\begin{tabular}
{lclrr}
S/N & Movie Name & Director & Estimated Budget & Release Date \\
tt1979376 & Toy Story 4 & Josh Cooley & $200,000,000 & 21 June 2019 \\
tt3263904 & Sully & Clint Eastwood & $60,000,000 & 9 September 2016 \\
tt1535109 & Captain Phillips & Paul Greengrass & $55,000,000 & 11 October 2013 \\
\end{tabular}
LaTeX Configuration
The LatexExporter supports configuration through the ExportOptions class:
LatexExporter exporter;
exporter.configure().indentation(4); // Set row indentation
LaTeX Alignment
The exporter translates alignment settings to LaTeX column specifications:
FontAlign::left → l (left-aligned column)FontAlign::center → c (center-aligned column)FontAlign::right → r (right-aligned column)
Comparison Table
| Feature | Markdown | AsciiDoc | LaTeX |
|---|
| Column Alignment | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Per-cell Alignment | No | No | No |
| Bold/Italic | No | Yes | No |
| Color Support | No | No | No |
| Configuration | None | None | Indentation |
| Use Case | Documentation | Technical docs | Academic papers |
Common Workflow
Design your table
Create and format your table using Tabulate’s full feature set
Display in terminal
Use std::cout << table for terminal output with colors and styles
Export to documentation
Use an exporter to generate Markdown/AsciiDoc/LaTeX for documentation
Include in documents
Copy the exported output into your documentation or LaTeX source files
Best Practices
- Test both outputs: Verify that your table looks good both in the terminal and in the exported format
- Use header formatting: Format header cells to ensure proper column alignment in exports
- Keep it simple for exports: Complex formatting like colors won’t translate to all formats
- Choose the right exporter: Use Markdown for GitHub/docs, AsciiDoc for technical documentation, LaTeX for papers
- Configure appropriately: Use indentation settings for cleaner LaTeX output
Colors, most font styles, and complex borders are not preserved in exports. Exporters focus on structure and basic formatting only.
