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Overview

The Column class represents a single column in a table. It provides methods for accessing cells and applying uniform formatting to all cells in a column.

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Constructor

Column objects are created by calling Table::column(index). They represent a vertical slice of the table.

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Methods

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operator[]

Cell& operator[](size_t index)
Accesses a cell in the column by row index using bracket notation.
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index
size_t
Zero-based row index.
Returns: Reference to the cell at the specified row index. Example: 
// Format the first cell in column 0
table.column(0)[0].format().font_style({FontStyle::bold});

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cells

std::vector<std::reference_wrapper<Cell>> cells() const
Returns all cells in the column. Returns: Vector of reference wrappers to Cell objects.

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size

size_t size() const
Returns the number of cells in the column. Returns: Number of cells (rows) in the column.

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format

ColumnFormat format()
Accesses the column’s format settings. Returns a ColumnFormat object that applies formatting to all cells in the column. Returns: ColumnFormat object for configuring the column. Example: 
table.column(0).format()
  .width(20)
  .font_align(FontAlign::left)
  .padding_left(2);

table.column(1).format()
  .width(15)
  .font_align(FontAlign::center);

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Iterators

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begin / end

auto begin() -> CellIterator
auto end() -> CellIterator
Provides iteration over cells in the column. Example: 
for (auto& cell : table.column(2)) {
  cell.format().font_color(Color::blue);
}

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ColumnFormat Methods

The ColumnFormat class provides a fluent interface for formatting all cells in a column. All methods return a reference to the ColumnFormat object for method chaining.

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Dimensions

  • width(size_t value) - Sets the width for all cells in the column
  • height(size_t value) - Sets the height for all cells in the column

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Padding

  • padding(size_t value) - Sets padding on all sides for all cells
  • padding_left(size_t value) - Sets left padding
  • padding_right(size_t value) - Sets right padding
  • padding_top(size_t value) - Sets top padding
  • padding_bottom(size_t value) - Sets bottom padding

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Borders

  • border(const std::string& value) - Sets all border characters
  • border_left(const std::string& value) - Sets left border character
  • border_right(const std::string& value) - Sets right border character
  • border_top(const std::string& value) - Sets top border character
  • border_bottom(const std::string& value) - Sets bottom border character

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Border Colors

  • border_color(Color value) - Sets color for all borders
  • border_left_color(Color value) - Sets left border color
  • border_right_color(Color value) - Sets right border color
  • border_top_color(Color value) - Sets top border color
  • border_bottom_color(Color value) - Sets bottom border color

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Background Colors

  • border_background_color(Color value) - Sets background color for all borders
  • border_left_background_color(Color value) - Sets left border background color
  • border_right_background_color(Color value) - Sets right border background color
  • border_top_background_color(Color value) - Sets top border background color
  • border_bottom_background_color(Color value) - Sets bottom border background color

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Corners

  • corner(const std::string& value) - Sets all corner characters
  • corner_color(Color value) - Sets color for all corners
  • corner_background_color(Color value) - Sets background color for all corners

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Column Separator

  • column_separator(const std::string& value) - Sets column separator character
  • column_separator_color(Color value) - Sets column separator color
  • column_separator_background_color(Color value) - Sets column separator background color

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Font Styling

  • font_align(FontAlign value) - Sets text alignment (left, center, right)
  • font_style(const std::vector<FontStyle>& style) - Sets font styles (bold, italic, etc.)
  • font_color(Color value) - Sets font color
  • font_background_color(Color value) - Sets font background color

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Convenience Methods

  • color(Color value) - Sets font, border, and corner colors
  • background_color(Color value) - Sets background colors for font, borders, and corners

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Internationalization

  • multi_byte_characters(bool value) - Enables support for multi-byte characters
  • locale(const std::string& value) - Sets locale for text processing

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Usage Examples

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Setting Column Widths

Table table;
table.add_row({"Name", "Email", "Phone"});
table.add_row({"Alice", "[email protected]", "555-1234"});

// Set specific widths for each column
table.column(0).format().width(15);
table.column(1).format().width(30);
table.column(2).format().width(12);

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Aligning Columns

Table prices;
prices.add_row({"Item", "Price", "Quantity"});
prices.add_row({"Apple", "$0.99", "100"});
prices.add_row({"Banana", "$0.59", "150"});

// Left-align names, right-align numbers
prices.column(0).format().font_align(FontAlign::left);
prices.column(1).format().font_align(FontAlign::right);
prices.column(2).format().font_align(FontAlign::center);

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Coloring Columns

Table status;
status.add_row({"Task", "Status", "Priority"});
status.add_row({"Task 1", "Complete", "High"});
status.add_row({"Task 2", "In Progress", "Medium"});

// Color the status column based on state
status.column(1).format().font_color(Color::green);
status.column(2).format().font_color(Color::red);

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Custom Column Separators

Table data;
data.add_row({"A", "B", "C", "D"});
data.add_row({"1", "2", "3", "4"});

// Use different separator for specific columns
data.column(0).format().column_separator(":");
data.column(2).format().column_separator(" | ");

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Complete Example

#include <tabulate/table.hpp>
using namespace tabulate;

int main() {
  Table financial_report;
  
  // Add header and data
  financial_report.add_row({"Account", "Debit", "Credit", "Balance"});
  financial_report.add_row({"Checking", "$5,000", "$3,200", "$1,800"});
  financial_report.add_row({"Savings", "$10,000", "$500", "$9,500"});
  financial_report.add_row({"Investment", "$25,000", "$5,000", "$20,000"});
  
  // Format the account name column
  financial_report.column(0).format()
    .width(20)
    .font_align(FontAlign::left)
    .font_style({FontStyle::bold});
  
  // Format the numeric columns
  for (size_t i = 1; i <= 3; ++i) {
    financial_report.column(i).format()
      .width(15)
      .font_align(FontAlign::right)
      .font_color(Color::green);
  }
  
  // Special formatting for the balance column
  financial_report.column(3).format()
    .font_style({FontStyle::bold})
    .font_color(Color::cyan);
  
  std::cout << financial_report << std::endl;
  return 0;
}

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