Option to ignore line and print as is

[LukasWillin]

Hey Luca

So I required a Solution to be able to print tables with same column widths but interspersed with user messages or titles because I am using the column command to build some of the CLI interfaces to display system status etc.

I already have a working implementation but I am not sure if you even want to support this in the scope of this project Because well... it's quite a niche use case I would assume.
So I would like to discuss it first and clarify the use case.

What it would achieve

Parameter

Function supports an additional parameter which accepts a prefix-string -i | --ignore-line-prefix.
Example: Given argument -i '\i' prefixed lines with \i will be ignored and not treated as columns and printed as is.

Per Line from stdin

1. If $line starts with given argument from parameter -i do not use it to align columns and skip it.
2. If $line starts with given argument from parameter -i print only the sub-string starting from ignore-line-prefix's length

A table could be something like the following where sections are separated by titles or messages but columns for all sections are aligned the same.

This is a title or message for section 1:
Statuslabel A1     : value-xyz A1   Statuslabel A2 : value A2       Statuslabel A3 : value A3
Statuslabel-xyz B1 : value B1       Statuslabel B2 : value B2       Statuslabel B3 : value-xyz B3

This is a title or message for section 2:
Statuslabel C1     : value C1       Statuslabel C2 : value-xyz C2   Statuslabel C3 : value C3
Statuslabel D1     : value-xyz D1   Statuslabel D2 : value D2       Statuslabel D3 : value D3

...

Let me know what you think and if I should open a PR for you to review.

Cheers :)
Lukas

[LukeSavefrogs]

Hi Lukas... I'll try to look into this issue and understand what you need.

Thank you in advance for your contribution ☺

[LukeSavefrogs]

Hi @LukasWillin,
I would really like to see your working implementation, so that i can understand if could be a useful addition to the project..

Do you think you could update your fork and make a PR?

Sorry for the delay but i was caught up with a lot of things. 😃

[LukeSavefrogs]

Also, could you include a separate file in the tests/ folder which contains the desired output first with column and then with column_ansi? This way it's easier to understand the differences.

[LukasWillin]

Hi Luca

Sry for the late response! I will do so this afternoon.

[LukeSavefrogs]

Hi Luca

Sry for the late response! I will do so this afternoon.

Ty! 😄

[LukasWillin]

@LukeSavefrogs
I created a draft PR, as I didn't have time today to test how my changes play together with yours just yet.
So currently the code changes are just there for you to review if you want.
Automated tests should hopefully follow tomorrow or on the weekend.

[LukeSavefrogs]

@LukeSavefrogs
I created a draft PR, as I didn't have time today to test how my changes play together with yours just yet.
So currently the code changes are just there for you to review if you want.
Automated tests should hopefully follow tomorrow or on the weekend.

Thank you! I'll take a look 😄

[kaz-utashiro]

I stopped here by chance.
There is a wonderful command called teip (https://github.com/greymd/teip).
You can use it like this:

teip -v -g '(^|:)$' -- column -t

Then only lines which does not match the pattern (^|:)$ will be passed to column command and replaced by the result.

BTW, I also have a column-like command which can handle ANSI terminal sequences.
https://github.com/tecolicom/App-ansicolumn

[LukeSavefrogs]

BTW, I also have a column-like command which can handle ANSI terminal sequences.
https://github.com/tecolicom/App-ansicolumn

I'll add this project to the list of similar projects.

Thank you for sharing 🎉