beautifultable

Common errors

• AttributeError: 'BeautifulTable' object has no attribute 'append_row'

  cause Attempting to use the `append_row` method from `beautifultable` version 0.x on a 1.x installation.
  fix The `append_row` method was replaced. Use `table.rows.append(data_list)` instead for `beautifultable` versions 1.0.0 and later.

• NameError: name 'BeautifulTable' is not defined

  cause The `BeautifulTable` class was not imported into the current scope.
  fix Add `from beautifultable import BeautifulTable` at the top of your Python file or before using the class.

• TypeError: The value for 'width' must be a positive number.

  cause Incorrectly trying to set the overall table width using an attribute that no longer exists or expects a specific type/range, or using a method from a previous API version.
  fix For the maximum table width, use `table.max_width = <integer>`. For individual column widths, use `table.columns.width = {column_name: width}` or `table.columns.width[column_name] = width`.

Warnings

• breaking Version 1.0.0 introduced a complete rewrite of the API. Many methods and attributes from 0.x versions (e.g., `append_row`, `column_headers`, `set_width`) were removed or replaced with new object-oriented interfaces (e.g., `table.rows.append`, `table.columns.header`, `table.max_width`).
  Fix: Refer to the 1.x documentation/README for the new API. Common changes include using `table.columns.<attr>` for column-specific settings and `table.rows.<attr>` for row-specific settings.
• gotcha The project has not been actively maintained since its last release in January 2020. While stable for its intended use, this means there will be no new features, security updates, or bug fixes for any newly discovered issues.
  Fix: Assess if the current feature set meets your needs. For projects requiring active development, consider alternatives if `beautifultable`'s current state is insufficient.
• gotcha When handling mixed data types or special characters, `beautifultable` might require explicit type casting or alignment settings. Incorrect numeric precision or text wrapping can lead to unaligned columns.
  Fix: Ensure data types are consistent within columns or convert them to strings before adding to the table. Use `table.columns.precision` for numbers and `table.columns.wrap_text` for long strings. Experiment with `table.max_width` and `table.columns.width` to control column layout.

Install

• pip install beautifultable Install stable version

Imports

• BeautifulTable

  from beautifultable import BeautifulTable

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to create a BeautifulTable, set column headers, add rows, and customize column alignment. The output is a formatted string ready for terminal display.

from beautifultable import BeautifulTable

table = BeautifulTable()
table.columns.header = ["Name", "Age", "City"]
table.rows.append(["John", 30, "New York"])
table.rows.append(["Jane", 25, "London"])
table.rows.append(["Doe", 35, "Paris"])

# Example of setting column alignment
table.columns.align["Age"] = BeautifulTable.ALIGN_RIGHT

print(table)