How To Best way to draw table in console app C

Question

I have an interesting question  Imagine I have a lot of data changing in very fast intervals  I want to display that data as a table in console app  f ex   -------------------------------------------------------------------------      Column 1          Column 2          Column 3          Column 4       -------------------------------------------------------------------------                                                                                                                                                                                                                               -------------------------------------------------------------------------   How to keep things fast and how to fix column widths   I know how to do that in java  but I don t how it s done in C

User · Answer

This is an improvement to a previous answer. It adds support for values with varying lengths and rows with a varying number of cells. For example:

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
¦Identifier¦     Type¦               Description¦  CPU Credit Use¦Hours¦Balance¦
+----------+---------+--------------------------+----------------+-----+-------+
¦ i-1234154¦ t2.small¦       This is an example.¦         3263.75¦  360¦
+----------+---------+--------------------------+----------------+-----+
¦ i-1231412¦ t2.small¦  This is another example.¦         3089.93¦
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

Here is the code:

public class ArrayPrinter
{
    const string TOP_LEFT_JOINT = "+";
    const string TOP_RIGHT_JOINT = "+";
    const string BOTTOM_LEFT_JOINT = "+";
    const string BOTTOM_RIGHT_JOINT = "+";
    const string TOP_JOINT = "-";
    const string BOTTOM_JOINT = "-";
    const string LEFT_JOINT = "+";
    const string JOINT = "+";
    const string RIGHT_JOINT = "¦";
    const char HORIZONTAL_LINE = '-';
    const char PADDING = ' ';
    const string VERTICAL_LINE = "¦";

    private static int[] GetMaxCellWidths(List<string[]> table)
    {
        int maximumCells = 0;
        foreach (Array row in table)
        {
            if (row.Length > maximumCells)
                maximumCells = row.Length;
        }

        int[] maximumCellWidths = new int[maximumCells];
        for (int i = 0; i < maximumCellWidths.Length; i++)
            maximumCellWidths[i] = 0;

        foreach (Array row in table)
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < row.Length; i++)
            {
                if (row.GetValue(i).ToString().Length > maximumCellWidths[i])
                    maximumCellWidths[i] = row.GetValue(i).ToString().Length;
            }
        }

        return maximumCellWidths;
    }

    public static string GetDataInTableFormat(List<string[]> table)
    {
        StringBuilder formattedTable = new StringBuilder();
        Array nextRow = table.FirstOrDefault();
        Array previousRow = table.FirstOrDefault();

        if (table == null || nextRow == null)
            return String.Empty;

        // FIRST LINE:
        int[] maximumCellWidths = GetMaxCellWidths(table);
        for (int i = 0; i < nextRow.Length; i++)
        {
            if (i == 0 && i == nextRow.Length - 1)
                formattedTable.Append(String.Format("{0}{1}{2}", TOP_LEFT_JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE), TOP_RIGHT_JOINT));
            else if (i == 0)
                formattedTable.Append(String.Format("{0}{1}", TOP_LEFT_JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE)));
            else if (i == nextRow.Length - 1)
                formattedTable.AppendLine(String.Format("{0}{1}{2}", TOP_JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE), TOP_RIGHT_JOINT));
            else
                formattedTable.Append(String.Format("{0}{1}", TOP_JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE)));
        }

        int rowIndex = 0;
        int lastRowIndex = table.Count - 1;
        foreach (Array thisRow in table)
        {
            // LINE WITH VALUES:
            int cellIndex = 0;
            int lastCellIndex = thisRow.Length - 1;
            foreach (object thisCell in thisRow)
            {
                string thisValue = thisCell.ToString().PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[cellIndex], PADDING);

                if (cellIndex == 0 && cellIndex == lastCellIndex)
                    formattedTable.AppendLine(String.Format("{0}{1}{2}", VERTICAL_LINE, thisValue, VERTICAL_LINE));
                else if (cellIndex == 0)
                    formattedTable.Append(String.Format("{0}{1}", VERTICAL_LINE, thisValue));
                else if (cellIndex == lastCellIndex)
                    formattedTable.AppendLine(String.Format("{0}{1}{2}", VERTICAL_LINE, thisValue, VERTICAL_LINE));
                else
                    formattedTable.Append(String.Format("{0}{1}", VERTICAL_LINE, thisValue));

                cellIndex++;
            }

            previousRow = thisRow;

            // SEPARATING LINE:
            if (rowIndex != lastRowIndex)
            {
                nextRow = table[rowIndex + 1];

                int maximumCells = Math.Max(previousRow.Length, nextRow.Length);
                for (int i = 0; i < maximumCells; i++)
                {
                    if (i == 0 && i == maximumCells - 1)
                    {
                        formattedTable.Append(String.Format("{0}{1}{2}", LEFT_JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE), RIGHT_JOINT));
                    }
                    else if (i == 0)
                    {
                        formattedTable.Append(String.Format("{0}{1}", LEFT_JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE)));
                    }
                    else if (i == maximumCells - 1)
                    {
                        if (i > previousRow.Length)
                            formattedTable.AppendLine(String.Format("{0}{1}{2}", TOP_JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE), TOP_RIGHT_JOINT));
                        else if (i > nextRow.Length)
                            formattedTable.AppendLine(String.Format("{0}{1}{2}", BOTTOM_JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE), BOTTOM_RIGHT_JOINT));
                        else if (i > previousRow.Length - 1)
                            formattedTable.AppendLine(String.Format("{0}{1}{2}", JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE), TOP_RIGHT_JOINT));
                        else if (i > nextRow.Length - 1)
                            formattedTable.AppendLine(String.Format("{0}{1}{2}", JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE), BOTTOM_RIGHT_JOINT));
                        else
                            formattedTable.AppendLine(String.Format("{0}{1}{2}", JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE), RIGHT_JOINT));
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        if (i > previousRow.Length)
                            formattedTable.Append(String.Format("{0}{1}", TOP_JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE)));
                        else if (i > nextRow.Length)
                            formattedTable.Append(String.Format("{0}{1}", BOTTOM_JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE)));
                        else
                            formattedTable.Append(String.Format("{0}{1}", JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE)));
                    }
                }
            }

            rowIndex++;
        }

        // LAST LINE:
        for (int i = 0; i < previousRow.Length; i++)
        {
            if (i == 0)
                formattedTable.Append(String.Format("{0}{1}", BOTTOM_LEFT_JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE)));
            else if (i == previousRow.Length - 1)
                formattedTable.AppendLine(String.Format("{0}{1}{2}", BOTTOM_JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE), BOTTOM_RIGHT_JOINT));
            else
                formattedTable.Append(String.Format("{0}{1}", BOTTOM_JOINT, String.Empty.PadLeft(maximumCellWidths[i], HORIZONTAL_LINE)));
        }

        return formattedTable.ToString();
    }
}

User · Answer

There re several open-source libraries which allow console table formatting  ranging from simple  like the code samples in the answers here  to more advanced   ConsoleTable  Judging by NuGet stats  the most popular library for formatting tables is ConsoleTable  Tables are constructed like this  from the readme file    var table   new ConsoleTable  one    two    three    table AddRow 1  2  3        AddRow  this line should be longer    yes it is    oh      Tables can be formatted using one of the predefined styles  It ll look like this   --------------------------------------------------   one                          two         three   --------------------------------------------------   1                            2           3       --------------------------------------------------   this line should be longer   yes it is   oh      --------------------------------------------------   This library expects single-line cells with no formatting   There re a couple of libraries based on ConsoleTable with slightly extended feature sets  like more line styles   CsConsoleFormat  If you need more complex formatting  you can use CsConsoleFormat     Here s a table generated from a process list  from a sample project    new Grid   Stroke   StrokeHeader  StrokeColor   DarkGray        AddColumns          new Column   Width   GridLength Auto            new Column   Width   GridLength Auto  MaxWidth   20            new Column   Width   GridLength Star 1             new Column   Width   GridLength Auto              AddChildren          new Cell   Stroke   StrokeHeader  Color   White                AddChildren  Id            new Cell   Stroke   StrokeHeader  Color   White                AddChildren  Name            new Cell   Stroke   StrokeHeader  Color   White                AddChildren  Main Window Title            new Cell   Stroke   StrokeHeader  Color   White                AddChildren  Private Memory            processes Select process   gt  new                 new Cell   Stroke   StrokeRight                    AddChildren process Id               new Cell   Stroke   StrokeRight  Color   Yellow  TextWrap   TextWrapping NoWrap                    AddChildren process ProcessName               new Cell   Stroke   StrokeRight  Color   White  TextWrap   TextWrapping NoWrap                    AddChildren process MainWindowTitle               new Cell   Stroke   LineThickness None  Align   HorizontalAlignment Right                    AddChildren process PrivateMemorySize64 ToString  n0                        The end result will look like this     It supports any kind of table lines  several included and customizable   multi-line cells with word wrap  colors  columns growing based on content or percentage  text alignment etc       CsConsoleFormat was developed by me

User · Answer

I wanted variable-width columns  and I didn t particularly care about the box characters   Also  I needed to print some extra information for each row   So in case anyone else needs that  I ll save you few minutes   public class TestTableBuilder        public interface ITextRow               String Output            void Output StringBuilder sb           Object Tag   get  set               public class TableBuilder   IEnumerable lt ITextRow gt                protected class TextRow   List lt String gt   ITextRow                       protected TableBuilder owner   null              public TextRow TableBuilder Owner                                owner   Owner                  if  owner    null  throw new ArgumentException  Owner                              public String Output                                 StringBuilder sb   new StringBuilder                    Output sb                   return sb ToString                              public void Output StringBuilder sb                                sb AppendFormat owner FormatString  this ToArray                               public Object Tag   get  set                       public String Separator   get  set             protected List lt ITextRow gt  rows   new List lt ITextRow gt             protected List lt int gt  colLength   new List lt int gt              public TableBuilder                         Separator                            public TableBuilder String separator                this                         Separator   separator                     public ITextRow AddRow params object   cols                        TextRow row   new TextRow this               foreach  object o in cols                                String str   o ToString   Trim                    row Add str                   if  colLength Count  gt   row Count                                        int curLength   colLength row Count - 1                       if  str Length  gt  curLength  colLength row Count - 1    str Length                                    else                                       colLength Add str Length                                               rows Add row               return row                     protected String  fmtString   null          public String FormatString                       get                               if   fmtString    null                                        String format                           int i   0                      foreach  int len in colLength                                                format    String Format     0  - 1    2    i    len  Separator                                             format      r n                        fmtString   format                                    return  fmtString                                   public String Output                         StringBuilder sb   new StringBuilder                foreach  TextRow row in rows                                row Output sb                             return sb ToString                        region IEnumerable Members          public IEnumerator lt ITextRow gt  GetEnumerator                         return rows GetEnumerator                       System Collections IEnumerator System Collections IEnumerable GetEnumerator                         return rows GetEnumerator                        endregion              static void Main String   args                TableBuilder tb   new TableBuilder            tb AddRow  When    ID    Name            tb AddRow  ----    --    ----             tb AddRow DateTime Now   1    Name1            tb AddRow DateTime Now   1    Name2             Console Write tb Output             Console WriteLine                or          StringBuilder sb   new StringBuilder            int i   0          foreach  ITextRow tr in tb                        tr Output sb               if  i    gt  1  sb AppendLine  more stuff per line                      Console Write sb ToString               Output    When                 ID  Name ----                 --  ---- 2 4 2013 8 37 44 PM  1   Name1 2 4 2013 8 37 44 PM  1   Name2  When                 ID  Name ----                 --  ---- 2 4 2013 8 37 44 PM  1   Name1 more stuff per line 2 4 2013 8 37 44 PM  1   Name2 more stuff per line

User · Answer

I have a project on GitHub that you can use  https   github com BrunoVT1992 ConsoleTable  You can use it like this   var table   new Table     table SetHeaders  Name    Date    Number     for  int i   0  i  lt   10  i          if  i   2    0          table AddRow   name  i    DateTime Now AddDays -i  ToLongDateString    i ToString         else         table AddRow   long name  i    DateTime Now AddDays -i  ToLongDateString     i   5000  ToString        Console WriteLine table ToString       It will give this result

User · Answer

You could do something like the following   static int tableWidth   73   static void Main string   args        Console Clear        PrintLine        PrintRow  Column 1    Column 2    Column 3    Column 4        PrintLine        PrintRow                      PrintRow                      PrintLine        Console ReadLine       static void PrintLine         Console WriteLine new string  -   tableWidth       static void PrintRow params string   columns        int width    tableWidth - columns Length    columns Length      string row             foreach  string column in columns                row    AlignCentre column  width                    Console WriteLine row      static string AlignCentre string text  int width        text   text Length  gt  width   text Substring 0  width - 3            text       if  string IsNullOrEmpty text                 return new string      width             else               return text PadRight width -  width - text Length    2  PadLeft width

User · Answer

Use MarkDownLog library  you can find it on NuGet   you can simply use the extension ToMarkdownTable   to any collection  it does all the formatting for you    Console WriteLine      yourCollection Select s   gt  new                                               column1   s col1                          column2   s col2                          column3   s col3                          StaticColumn    X                                              ToMarkdownTable       Output looks something like this   Column1    Column2     Column3     StaticColumn    --------   ---------   ---------   --------------                                    X

User · Answer

Edit  thanks to  superlogical  you can now find and improve the following code in github     I wrote this class based on some ideas here  The columns width is optimal  an it can handle object arrays with this simple API   static void Main string   args      IEnumerable lt Tuple lt int  string  string gt  gt  authors       new               Tuple Create 1   Isaac    Asimov          Tuple Create 2   Robert    Heinlein          Tuple Create 3   Frank    Herbert          Tuple Create 4   Aldous    Huxley              Console WriteLine authors ToStringTable      new     Id    First Name    Surname        a   gt  a Item1  a   gt  a Item2  a   gt  a Item3          Result              Id   First Name   Surname       ----------------------------      1    Isaac        Asimov         2    Robert       Heinlein       3    Frank        Herbert        4    Aldous       Huxley              Here is the class   public static class TableParser     public static string ToStringTable lt T gt       this IEnumerable lt T gt  values      string   columnHeaders      params Func lt T  object gt    valueSelectors          return ToStringTable values ToArray    columnHeaders  valueSelectors          public static string ToStringTable lt T gt       this T   values      string   columnHeaders      params Func lt T  object gt    valueSelectors          Debug Assert columnHeaders Length    valueSelectors Length        var arrValues   new string values Length   1  valueSelectors Length           Fill headers     for  int colIndex   0  colIndex  lt  arrValues GetLength 1   colIndex                arrValues 0  colIndex    columnHeaders colIndex                 Fill table rows     for  int rowIndex   1  rowIndex  lt  arrValues GetLength 0   rowIndex                for  int colIndex   0  colIndex  lt  arrValues GetLength 1   colIndex                    arrValues rowIndex  colIndex    valueSelectors colIndex             Invoke values rowIndex - 1   ToString                       return ToStringTable arrValues          public static string ToStringTable this string    arrValues          int   maxColumnsWidth   GetMaxColumnsWidth arrValues       var headerSpliter   new string  -   maxColumnsWidth Sum i   gt  i   3  - 1        var sb   new StringBuilder        for  int rowIndex   0  rowIndex  lt  arrValues GetLength 0   rowIndex                for  int colIndex   0  colIndex  lt  arrValues GetLength 1   colIndex                       Print cell         string cell   arrValues rowIndex  colIndex           cell   cell PadRight maxColumnsWidth colIndex            sb Append                 sb Append cell                     Print end of line       sb Append               sb AppendLine              Print splitter       if  rowIndex    0                  sb AppendFormat     0      headerSpliter           sb AppendLine                       return sb ToString           private static int   GetMaxColumnsWidth string    arrValues          var maxColumnsWidth   new int arrValues GetLength 1        for  int colIndex   0  colIndex  lt  arrValues GetLength 1   colIndex                for  int rowIndex   0  rowIndex  lt  arrValues GetLength 0   rowIndex                    int newLength   arrValues rowIndex  colIndex  Length          int oldLength   maxColumnsWidth colIndex            if  newLength  gt  oldLength                      maxColumnsWidth colIndex    newLength                               return maxColumnsWidth            Edit  I added a minor improvement - if you want the column headers to be the property name  add the following method to TableParser  note that it will be a bit slower due to reflection    public static string ToStringTable lt T gt       this IEnumerable lt T gt  values      params Expression lt Func lt T  object gt  gt    valueSelectors      var headers   valueSelectors Select func   gt  GetProperty func  Name  ToArray      var selectors   valueSelectors Select exp   gt  exp Compile    ToArray      return ToStringTable values  headers  selectors      private static PropertyInfo GetProperty lt T gt  Expression lt Func lt T  object gt  gt  expresstion      if  expresstion Body is UnaryExpression          if   expresstion Body as UnaryExpression  Operand is MemberExpression              return   expresstion Body as UnaryExpression  Operand as MemberExpression  Member as PropertyInfo               if   expresstion Body is MemberExpression           return  expresstion Body as MemberExpression  Member as PropertyInfo        return null

User · Answer

In case if this helps someone  this is a simple class I wrote for my need  You can change it easily to fit your needs   using System Collections Generic  using System Linq   namespace Utilities       public class TablePrinter               private readonly string   titles          private readonly List lt int gt  lengths          private readonly List lt string   gt  rows   new List lt string   gt              public TablePrinter params string   titles                        this titles   titles              lengths   titles Select t   gt  t Length  ToList                       public void AddRow params object   row                        if  row Length    titles Length                                throw new System Exception   Added row length   row Length   is not equal to title row length   titles Length                                rows Add row Select o   gt  o ToString    ToArray                 for  int i   0  i  lt  titles Length  i                                  if  rows Last   i  Length  gt  lengths i                                         lengths i    rows Last   i  Length                                                     public void Print                         lengths ForEach l   gt  System Console Write   -    new string  -   l     -                 System Console WriteLine                    string line                   for  int i   0  i  lt  titles Length  i                                  line           titles i  PadRight lengths i                                    System Console WriteLine line                      lengths ForEach l   gt  System Console Write   -    new string  -   l     -                 System Console WriteLine                    foreach  var row in rows                                line                       for  int i   0  i  lt  row Length  i                                          if  int TryParse row i   out int n                                                 line           row i  PadLeft lengths i              numbers are padded to the left                                           else                                               line           row i  PadRight lengths i                                                                  System Console WriteLine line                                    lengths ForEach l   gt  System Console Write   -    new string  -   l     -                 System Console WriteLine                           Sample usage   var t   new TablePrinter  id    Column A    Column B    t AddRow 1   Val A1    Val B1    t AddRow 2   Val A2    Val B2    t AddRow 100   Val A100    Val B100    t Print      Output    ----- ---------- ----------    id    Column A   Column B    ----- ---------- ----------      1   Val A1     Val B1         2   Val A2     Val B2       100   Val A100   Val B100    ----- ---------- ----------

User · Answer

It s easier in VisualBasic net   If you want the user to be able to manually enter data into a table   Console Write  Enter Data For Column 1         Dim Data1 As String   Console ReadLine     Console Write  Enter Data For Column 2         Dim Data2 As String   Console ReadLine      Console WriteLine   0 -20   1 -10   2 -10      Data Type      Column 1      Column 2        Console WriteLine   0 -20   1 -10   2 -10     Data Entered    Data1  Data2       Console WriteLine  ENTER To Exit         Console ReadLine     It should look like this

User · Answer

public static void ToPrintConsole this DataTable dataTable                   Print top line         Console WriteLine new string  -   75                Print col headers         var colHeaders   dataTable Columns Cast lt DataColumn gt    Select arg   gt  arg ColumnName           foreach  String s in colHeaders                        Console Write     0 -20    s                     Console WriteLine                Print line below col headers         Console WriteLine new string  -   75                Print rows         foreach  DataRow row in dataTable Rows                        foreach  Object o in row ItemArray                                Console Write     0 -20    o ToString                               Console WriteLine                          Print bottom line         Console WriteLine new string  -   75

User · Answer

class ArrayPrinter            region Declarations      static bool isLeftAligned   false      const string cellLeftTop            const string cellRightTop            const string cellLeftBottom            const string cellRightBottom            const string cellHorizontalJointTop    -       const string cellHorizontalJointbottom    -       const string cellVerticalJointLeft            const string cellTJoint            const string cellVerticalJointRight             const string cellHorizontalLine    -       const string cellVerticalLine               endregion       region Private Methods      private static int GetMaxCellWidth string    arrValues                int maxWidth   1           for  int i   0  i  lt  arrValues GetLength 0   i                          for  int j   0  j  lt  arrValues GetLength 1   j                                  int length   arrValues i  j  Length                  if  length  gt  maxWidth                                        maxWidth   length                                                     return maxWidth             private static string GetDataInTableFormat string    arrValues                string formattedString   string Empty           if  arrValues    null              return formattedString           int dimension1Length   arrValues GetLength 0           int dimension2Length   arrValues GetLength 1            int maxCellWidth   GetMaxCellWidth arrValues           int indentLength    dimension2Length   maxCellWidth     dimension2Length - 1             printing top line          formattedString   string Format   0  1  2  3    cellLeftTop  Indent indentLength   cellRightTop  System Environment NewLine            for  int i   0  i  lt  dimension1Length  i                          string lineWithValues   cellVerticalLine              string line   cellVerticalJointLeft              for  int j   0  j  lt  dimension2Length  j                                  string value    isLeftAligned    arrValues i  j  PadRight maxCellWidth         arrValues i  j  PadLeft maxCellWidth                        lineWithValues    string Format   0  1    value  cellVerticalLine                   line    Indent maxCellWidth                   if  j  lt   dimension2Length - 1                                         line    cellTJoint                                              line    cellVerticalJointRight              formattedString    string Format   0  1    lineWithValues  System Environment NewLine               if  i  lt   dimension1Length - 1                                 formattedString    string Format   0  1    line  System Environment NewLine                                      printing bottom line         formattedString    string Format   0  1  2  3    cellLeftBottom  Indent indentLength   cellRightBottom  System Environment NewLine           return formattedString             private static string Indent int count                return string Empty PadLeft count   -                                 endregion       region Public Methods      public static void PrintToStream string    arrValues  StreamWriter writer                if  arrValues    null              return           if  writer    null              return           writer Write GetDataInTableFormat arrValues               public static void PrintToConsole string    arrValues                if  arrValues    null              return           Console WriteLine GetDataInTableFormat arrValues                endregion      static void Main string   args                           int value   997          string    arrValues   new string 5  5           for  int i   0  i  lt  arrValues GetLength 0   i                          for  int j   0  j  lt  arrValues GetLength 1   j                                  value                    arrValues i  j    value ToString                                    ArrayPrinter PrintToConsole arrValues           Console ReadLine

User · Answer

Use String Format with alignment values   For example   String Format    0 5   1 5   2 5   3 5     arg0  arg1  arg2  arg3     To create one formatted row

[c#] How To: Best way to draw table in console app (C#)

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