✅ Manual Creation

Type a table using pipe characters (|) as column separators:

When you press Tab after entering content, the table auto-aligns.

✅ Table Creation Command

Press C-c | or use scimax.table.create to insert a table template.

You'll be prompted for the number of columns and rows.

✅ Converting Text to Table

Select comma-separated or tab-separated text, then use C-c | to convert it to a table.

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✅ Moving Between Cells

✅ Quick Navigation

✅ Adding/Removing Rows

✅ Adding/Removing Columns

✅ Moving Rows/Columns

✅ Separator Lines

Insert horizontal separator lines to divide table sections:

Example with separators:

| Item     | Price |
|----------+-------|
| Widget A | 10.00 |
| Widget B | 15.00 |
|----------+-------|
| Total    | 25.00 |

✅ Automatic Alignment

Tables auto-align when you press Tab. Column widths adjust to fit content.

✅ Column Width Specification

Specify fixed column widths using in a cell:

Text exceeding the width is truncated in display (but preserved internally).

✅ Horizontal Alignment

Specify alignment using , , or :

Combine with width: for left-aligned, 10 characters wide.

Formula Line

Formulas are defined in a #+TBLFM: line below the table:

Cell References

Formula Syntax

Formulas use the syntax: targetexpression=

,#+TBLFM: $4=$2*$3

This sets column 4 to the product of columns 2 and 3.

Multiple formulas separated by :::

,#+TBLFM: $4=$2*$3::@>$4=vsum(@2$4..@-1$4)

Built-in Functions

Example:

Recalculating Formulas

Place your cursor on the #+TBLFM: line and press C-c C-c to apply all formulas.

Formula Examples

✅ Named Parameters and Constants

Named parameters let you use meaningful names instead of cell references.

,#+CONSTANTS: pi=3.14159 e=2.71828 tax_rate=0.075

✅ Duration and Time Calculations

Tables can calculate with time/duration values in HH:MM or HH:MM:SS format.

✅ Remote Table References

Reference cells from other named tables in the document:

The remote(tablename, reference) function retrieves a value from another table named with #+NAME:.

✅ Formula Highlighting

Toggle formula highlighting to visualize which cells are affected by formulas:

When enabled:

• Green highlight: Cells that are targets of formulas (will be calculated)

• Blue highlight: Cells that are referenced in formulas (source values)

• Yellow highlight: The #+TBLFM line itself

✅ Format Specifiers

Control how formula results are displayed:

✅ Importing Tables

Import data from CSV files:

The import command will prompt for the file path and delimiter.

Exporting Tables

Export formats:

• CSV (comma-separated values)

• TSV (tab-separated values)

• Other delimited formats

✅ Sorting

Sorting options:

• Alphabetic (A-Z or Z-A)

• Numeric (ascending or descending)

✅ HTML Export

Tables export as HTML <table> elements with proper styling.

✅ LaTeX Export

Tables export as LaTeX tabular environments:

\begin{tabular}{llr}
Name & Age & City \\
\hline
Alice & 30 & New York \\
Bob & 25 & Boston \\
\end{tabular}

✅ Markdown Export

Tables export in GitHub-flavored Markdown format:

| Name  | Age | City     |
|-------|-----|----------|
| Alice | 30  | New York |
| Bob   | 25  | Boston   |

✅ Table Design

1. Use headers - Always include a header row with column names

2. Add separators - Use |---| lines to separate headers from data

3. Align numbers right - Numeric columns are easier to read right-aligned

4. Keep columns focused - One type of data per column

✅ Formula Organization

1. Comment complex formulas - Add explanations for non-obvious calculations

2. Build incrementally - Test formulas one at a time

3. Use named tables - For tables referenced elsewhere

✅ Large Tables

For large datasets:

1. Consider using source blocks with pandas/R for complex analysis

2. Import data rather than typing manually

3. Export results to tables for presentation

Keybindings

Commands