Re: export a org table to ascii format (tabs) are not conserved, culprit orgtbl-to-tsv?

[Samuel Wales]

i was thinking of a nother element when i said div.

i meant pre

On 5/30/22, Samuel Wales <samologist@gmail.com> wrote:
> some web ui support some subset of html.  i think blogger does.  then
> you might have a div.  which i think [not sure] might enforce line
> breaks and also be monospace, or something like that.  [pardon my html
> ignorance.]
>
> On 5/30/22, Tim Cross <theophilusx@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Uwe Brauer <oub@mat.ucm.es> writes:
>>
>>> Hi
>>>
>>> I wanted to export a 4x4 table to ascii to insert it into a web fill in
>>> interface. However the column get distorted. I tried to tabify or
>>> untabify the buffer but it did not help.
>>>
>>>
>>> The problem also occurs when I export the table using the
>>> orgtbl-to-tsv
>>>
>>> #+begin_example
>>> | Course                       |           L |           M |           X
>>> |
>>>           J |           V |
>>> |------------------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------|
>>> | Statistics                   | 10:30-11:30 |             | 10:00-11:20
>>> |
>>>             | 10:30-11:30 |
>>> | Differential Equations       | 12:30-13:30 |             | 13:00-14:15
>>> |
>>>             | 12:30-13:30 |
>>> | Master                       | 14:30-15:30 |             | 15:30-16:30
>>> |
>>> 14:30-15:30 |             |
>>> | Numerical Analysis :00-19:00 | 18:00-19:00 | 18:00-19:00 | 18:00-19:00
>>> |
>>>             |         7.5 |
>>> |                              |             |             |
>>> |
>>> 19:00-20:00 |             |
>>> |------------------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------|
>>> |                              |             |             |
>>> |
>>>             |             |
>>>
>>> #+end_example
>>>
>>>
>>> Converted to
>>>
>>> #+begin_example
>>> Course      L       M       X       J       V
>>> Statistics  10:30-11:30             10:00-11:20             10:30-11:30
>>> Differential Equations      12:30-13:30             13:00-14:15             
>>> 12:30-13:30
>>> Master      14:30-15:30             15:30-16:30     14:30-15:30     
>>> Numerical Analysis  18:00-19:00     18:00-19:00     18:00-19:00     
>>> 18:00-19:00     
>>>                             19:00-20:00     
>>> #+end_example
>>>
>>>
>>> Any idea what is wrong here?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I think you might be working under a false expectation. A quick look at
>> the exported table example and it looks to be correct to me - values are
>> tab separated, with is what a tsv format is. There is no requirement
>> that the columns should be aligned, only that they are separated by
>> tabs.
>>
>> With regards to more formatted output options, a common issue is with
>> respect to the fonts people use. If the font being used to view th
>> eoutput is a proportional font rather than a fixed width one, then all
>> formatting will be broken. Most web interfaces tend to use proportional
>> fonts due to their more pleasing look for most people. This is also why
>> tables sent via email often don't look right for the recipient - they
>> are using a proportional or condensed font.
>>
>> As you have no control over the fonts used by those viewing your ASCII
>> content, you cannot reliably make it look well formatted. Either you
>> have to do HTML, some form of markdown or some other format with
>> enforces tgable alignment.
>>
>> If your entering data into a web UI, I would not have any expectations
>> regarding the final formatting as that will depend heavily on what the
>> backend does to the supplied input and how the data is presented to
>> anyone looking at that output.
>>
>>
>
>
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> The Kafka Pandemic
>
> A blog about science, health, human rights, and misopathy:
> https://thekafkapandemic.blogspot.com
>


-- 
The Kafka Pandemic

A blog about science, health, human rights, and misopathy:
https://thekafkapandemic.blogspot.com