Metadata-Version: 2.1
Name: vistab
Version: 1.1.1
Summary: A simple module for creating ASCII tables
Author-email: Gabriele Fariello <gfariello@fariel.com>
License: BSD 3-Clause License
        
        Copyright (c) 2026, Gabriele Fariello
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Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 3
Classifier: Operating System :: OS Independent
Requires-Python: >=3.7
Description-Content-Type: text/markdown
License-File: LICENSE
Requires-Dist: wcwidth
Provides-Extra: cjk
Requires-Dist: cjkwrap; extra == "cjk"
Provides-Extra: dev
Requires-Dist: pytest; extra == "dev"

[README](README.md) | [API](docs/API.md) | [CLI](docs/CLI.md) | [SPEC](FUNCTIONAL_SPEC.md) | [CHANGELOG](CHANGELOG.md)

# vistab

`vistab` is a lightweight Python module for creating beautiful text-based ASCII/Unicode tables. It comes out-of-the-box with support for fluid terminal formatting (ANSI escape sequences), coordinate-based discrete cell styling, and guarantees consistent string lengths across languages and scripts (RTL and LTR) and color variations.

## Key Features

- **Lightweight Native Core**: Operates primarily off the Python standard library with `wcwidth` enabling accurate string geometry calculations.
- **Color-Aware Word Wrapping**: measures and wraps table widths over embedded, invisible ANSI formatting sequences without breaking table geometry.
- **Coordinate-Based Styling API**: Colorize rows, columns, headers, or specific cells declaratively (e.g. `set_header_style(bg="red", bold=True)`).
- **Hierarchical TOML Configurations**: Persist your favorite table paddings and layout themes cross-project using a localized `.vistab.toml`.
- **Advanced Data Parsing**: Injects automatic text wrapping, infers scientific datatypes, and parses CSV files.

## Detailed Documentation
Looking for an exhaustive configuration breakdown or command-line parser bindings?

- **[Vistab Python API Reference](docs/API.md)** *(Covers all objects, data formatting algorithms, and properties)*
- **[Command-Line (CLI) Manual](docs/CLI.md)** *(Covers mapping raw CSV structures and terminal limits)*

## Installation

You can install `vistab` directly via pip:

```bash
pip install vistab
```

> **Note**: For complex Asian/CJK full-width character wrapping support, install the optional component using `pip install vistab[cjk]`.

## Quick Start

Getting started with `vistab` is simple. Initialize a `Vistab` instance, set up column alignments and paddings, and append your rows.

```python
from vistab import Vistab

table = Vistab(style="round-header", padding=1)
# Left, Right, Center alignment
table.set_cols_align(["l", "r", "c"])
# Top, Middle, Bottom vertical alignment
table.set_cols_valign(["t", "m", "b"])

table.add_rows([
    ["Name", "Age", "Nickname"],
    ["Ms\nSarah\nJones", 27, "Sarah"],
    ["Mr\nJohn\nDoe", 45, "Johnny"],
    ["Dr\nEmma\nBrown", 34, "Em"]
])

print(table.draw())
```

**Output:**

> **Note on Web Rendering:** We display the raw output below as an image because some package registries (like PyPI) enforce code-block font stacks (e.g., `Source Code Pro`) that lack glyphs for Unicode Extended Box Drawing characters. When falling back to secondary system fonts for characters like `╭` or `╪`, the physical grid mathematically misaligns. On your local terminal—and on full-featured renderers like GitHub or BitBucket—the actual text output mathematically aligns perfectly!

![Screenshot: Terminal output displaying a formatted 3-column data matrix. The headers are 'Name', 'Age', and 'Nickname'. The table perfectly encapsulates complex multi-line text blocks across individual cells mapping 'Sarah Jones' directly alongside her age, wrapped inside exactly aligned rounded Unicode border geometries.](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fariello/vistab/main/docs/assets/vistab-code-output-01.png)

## Built-in Styles

To view available styles, run:
```bash
vistab --demo styles
```
![Available Styles](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fariello/vistab/main/docs/assets/vistab-demo-styles.png)

## Cookbook Examples

While `Vistab` excels at rendering arrays, it's also a data-aware formatting engine. Because the API uses a **fluent** architecture, you can chain multiple logic mutations without intermediate variables.

### 1. Data Modification & Sorting

You can completely replace data sets or sequentially sort physical rows tracking exact coordinate values without needing `pandas` overhead: 
```python
table = Vistab(style="round", padding=1)

# Sort the array tracking the second column (col_idx=1) descending...
table.set_rows(my_messy_csv_data, header=True).sort_by(1, reverse=True)
```

### 2. Output Formatting & Safe Dimensional Windows

Sometimes querying SQL leaves us with extensive data dimensions. We can protect logging interfaces elegantly:
```python
# Force-limit outputs protecting CLI limits! 
table.set_max_rows(10).set_max_cols(5)
```

### 3. Data Formatting & Precision

You can apply data overrides directly to lock precision across specific columns:
```python
# Force all floats to evaluate to precisely two digits
table.set_precision(2)

# Pass formatting arrays coercing columns sequentially
# a=auto, t=text, i=int, f=float, e=sci
table.set_cols_dtype(["a", "t", "f", "i"])

# Bypass the global precision using inline modifiers
# Here, col 2 maps `f4` (float + precision 4 digits)
table.set_cols_dtype("a,t,f4,i")
```

When evaluated, the `a` (automatic) datatype parses columns by inferring numeric types (`scientific` -> `float` -> `integer`), creating uniform alignment.

### 4. Shorthand Styling & Native Formatting

You don't need to pass massive syntax strings to evaluate layout injections:
```python
# Conditionally highlight physical elements:
for i, condition in enumerate(my_events):
    table.color_row(i, bg="red" if condition == 'CRITICAL' else None)

# Make the header globally bold instantly:
table.bold_header()
```

## Coordinate-Based Cell Styling

`vistab` supports a fluent, declarative API to inject background colors, foreground colors, and text styles (like bolding and underlining) targeting specific grids—ranging from individual cells, whole rows, columns, headers, or borders.

![Styling Demo](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fariello/vistab/main/docs/assets/vistab-D-styling-demo.png)

## Coordinate-Based Word Wrapping (Nested Tables)

If you need absolute structural control over spatial layouts—for example, if you are embedding pre-rendered ASCII tables inside the cells of another `Vistab`—you can bypass the internal word-wrapping engine entirely using coordinate mapping. 

By setting `wrap=False` on specific axes, `Vistab` guarantees it will preserve your structural spacing verbatim without snapping or aggressively pruning layouts:

```python
# Globally bypass word-wrapping for the entire table
table.set_table_wrap(False)

# Or target specific structural coordinates
table.set_row_wrap(0, False)
table.set_col_wrap(2, False)
table.set_cell_wrap(0, 1, False)
```
If a cell bypassed with `wrap=False` exceeds `table.max_width`, `Vistab` uses a constraint router (`table.on_wrap_conflict = "warn"`) that drops trailing characters while reconstructing your internal ANSI styling sequences to prevent terminal boundary collapse.

## Streaming & Caveat Emptor Pipeline Constraints

For extremely large or infinitely generating files, you can stream data iteratively using the `--stream` flag to bypass native memory buffering constraints:

```bash
$ cat large_dataset.csv | vistab --stream
```

> [!WARNING]
> **Caveat Emptor System Limitations**: 
> When executing highly constrained pipeline commands requiring complete structured arrays logically (i.e. `--sort-by`), Vistab relies on the host OS executing standard mapping limits naturally. Pipelining infinite streams containing no terminated newlines (like `cat /dev/zero`) will unconditionally lock system buffers, triggering OS native Out-Of-Memory (OOM) failures similarly to standard POSIX `sort` behaviors. No artificial memory caps are injected structurally. 

## Hierarchical Configuration System
Stop re-typing your constructor arguments! `vistab` actively scans your execution environment for two distinct configuration architectures:

### 1. Default Fallbacks (`vistab.toml` / `config.toml`)
It evaluates paths sequentially, merging configurations: `[./vistab.toml, ./.vistab.toml, ./.config/vistab.toml, ~/.config/vistab/config.toml, ~/.config/vistab.toml, ~/.vistab.toml]`.

You can generate a default configuration file into the global user profile directly using the CLI:
```bash
vistab --create-config
```

### 2. Custom Aesthetic Themes (`themes.json`)
You can lock in CLI layout arguments by saving custom styles into `~/.config/vistab/themes.json` using the `--save-theme` directive. Once saved, these aesthetics become addressable on your machine using `--theme`.

```bash
# Safely capture a global background wash + custom last row colors 
vistab data.csv --table-bg-color bright_black --last-row-color magenta --save-theme my_custom_theme

# Execute the saved layout on another dataset modularly universally!
vistab another_data.csv --theme my_custom_theme
```

## Built-in Themes

`vistab` comes with predefined themes including `ocean`, `forest`, `graphite`, `orchid`, and `sunflower`.

You can view the built-in themes (which you can alter and save as new themes) by running:
```bash
vistab --demo themes
```
![Available Themes 1](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fariello/vistab/main/docs/assets/vistab-demo-themes-01.png)
![Available Themes 2](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fariello/vistab/main/docs/assets/vistab-demo-themes-02.png)

## Custom Themes

Let's create a test table:
```bash
cat > ~/test.csv << EOF
# ,Nam,Scor,Stat,Val
1,Al,12,Good,0.1
2,Bob,3,Bad,1.1
3,Cat,67,Ugly,1.2
4,Dan,12,Okay,3.0
5,Eve,15,Fine,0.4
6,Will,18,Meh,9.1
7,Pat,21,Great,10.2
8,Kim,24,Super,4.9
9,Sam,27,Awesome,5.9
10,Jo,30,Amazing,0.1
EOF
```


Running:

```bash
vistab ~/test.csv --theme ocean-rows-index
```

produces:

![Theme ocean-rows-index table example](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fariello/vistab/main/docs/assets/vistab-theme-ocean-rows-index-example.png)

You may then change that theme by running:
```bash
vistab ~/test.csv --theme ocean-rows-index --no-hlines \
    --header-bg-color cyan --last-row-bg-color red --last-row-color black \
    --col0-bg-color green
```
Which results in:

![Example of a modified theme](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fariello/vistab/main/docs/assets/vistab-theme-ocean-rows-index-example-modified.png)

To see how to generate that specific output using code, you can run:

```bash
vistab ~/test.csv --theme ocean-rows-index --no-hlines \
    --header-bg-color cyan --last-row-bg-color red --last-row-color black \
    --col0-bg-color green --show-code
```
Which will output the code you need to generate that table look and feel:
```python
import vistab

custom_theme = {
    "style": "round-header",
    "decorations": 11,
    "header": {
        "fg": "bright_white",
        "bg": "cyan",
        "bold": true
    },
    "border": {
        "fg": "bright_blue"
    },
    "col_0": {
        "fg": "bright_white",
        "bg": "green",
        "bold": true
    },
    "row_-1": {
        "fg": "black",
        "bg": "red"
    },
    "alt_rows": [
        {
            "fg": "white",
            "bg": "black"
        },
        {
            "fg": "bright_white",
            "bg": "bright_black"
        }
    ]
}

table = vistab.Vistab().apply_theme(custom_theme)

# ... map inputs and execute drawing
print(table.draw())
```

OR you can save it for later use using the `--save-theme` flag:
```bash
vistab ~/test.csv --theme ocean-rows-index --no-hlines \
    --header-bg-color cyan --last-row-bg-color red --last-row-color black \
    --col0-bg-color green --save-theme my_custom_theme
```
You should see something like:
```bash
[SUCCESS] Saved layout globally as 'my_custom_theme' in /home/USER/.config/vistab/themes.json
```
You can now use it on the command line like this:
```bash
vistab ~/test.csv --theme my_custom_theme
```
Or in code like this:
```python
import vistab

table = vistab.Vistab().apply_theme("my_custom_theme")

# ... map inputs and execute drawing
print(table.draw())
```

## Discovering Output Colors (CLI)

Because terminal color renderings vary across different user host profiles and color palettes, `vistab` comes packaged with a native matrix test exposing every foreground, background, and styling text option you can safely deploy. 

You can view the palette directly on the console by executing:
```bash
vistab --demo colors
```
![Defined Colors](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fariello/vistab/main/docs/assets/vistab-demo-colors.png)

## ANSI Color Layout Support

A major benchmark advantage of `vistab` is native, invisible terminal styling support. Common ASCII libraries frequently break their visual wrapper alignments when raw terminal colors are embedded because they incorrectly count invisible geometry bytes.

You can view a comprehensive color-wrapping conformance test demonstrating dynamic alignment across complex CJK blocks by executing:
```bash
vistab --demo capabilities
```
![Test Output](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fariello/vistab/main/docs/assets/vistab-demo-capabilities.png)

## Advanced Formatting (Datatypes)

`vistab` can infer and parse formatting rules by passing data types, controlling precision for scientific floats and integers.

```python
from vistab import Vistab

table = Vistab(style="ascii")
table.set_cols_dtype(['t', 'f', 'e', 'i', 'a']) 
table.set_cols_align(["l", "r", "r", "r", "l"])

table.add_rows([
    ["text", "float", "exp", "int", "auto"],
    ["alpha", "23.45", 543, 100, 45.67],
    ["beta", 3.1415, 1.23, 78, 56789012345.12],
    ["gamma", 2.718, 2e-3, 56.8, .0000000000128]
])
```

## Limitations & Known Gaps

1. **Sorting vs. Streaming**: Vistab's `--stream` capability processes inputs infinitely, rendering data row-by-row on the fly. However, attempting to sort the stream (`--sort-by`) requires the engine to cache the entire dataset in physical memory. Streaming extremely large files combined with `--sort-by` will trigger an `Out of Memory` event.
2. **Terminal Boundaries**: The `max_width` string constraint wraps data accurately according to integer text lengths. If structural tables are placed into boundaries too thin to support physical text cells (e.g., width=2), the engine will throw a `ValueError` rather than attempting to print physically broken graphics.

## Detailed API Reference

For the complete list of endpoints, configuration schemas, parameters, and wrapping constraints available in `vistab`:
**Please refer to the absolute granular [Vistab Core API Documentation](docs/API.md)**

## License

This project is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License. See [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.

---
[README](README.md) | [API](docs/API.md) | [CLI](docs/CLI.md) | [SPEC](FUNCTIONAL_SPEC.md) | [CHANGELOG](CHANGELOG.md)
