tableconvert

Convert table data between different formats using the tableconvert command line tool.

Quick Start

Multiple ways to use tableconvert:

1. Auto-detect formats from file extensions (simplest):

tableconvert input.csv output.json

2. Short flags:

tableconvert -i input.csv -o output.json

3. Space-separated format values:

tableconvert --from csv --to json --file input.csv

4. Traditional with equals signs:

tableconvert --from=markdown --to=csv --file=input.md --result=output.csv

5. stdin/stdout:

cat input.md | tableconvert --from=markdown --to=csv

6. With format-specific options:

tableconvert input.csv output.md --bold-header --align=l,c,r

7. With transformations:

tableconvert input.csv output.json --transpose --capitalize

Common file extensions:

• .md, .markdown = markdown
• .csv = csv
• .json = json
• .jsonl, .jsonlines = jsonl
• .sql = sql
• .html, .htm = html
• .xml = xml
• .xlsx, .xls = excel
• .tex, .latex = latex
• .tmpl, .template = template
• .wiki = mediawiki
• .twiki = twiki
• .txt = must specify format explicitly

Commands

tableconvert

Convert table data from one format to another.

Basic Options:

• --from={FORMAT} or -f={FORMAT}: Source format (auto-detected from file if omitted)
• --to={FORMAT} or -t={FORMAT}: Target format (auto-detected from file if omitted)
• --file={PATH} or --input={PATH} or -i={PATH}: Input file path (optional, uses stdin if omitted)
• --result={PATH} or --output={PATH} or -o={PATH}: Output file path (optional, uses stdout if omitted)
• --verbose or -v: Enable verbose output

Quick Options:

• -h, --help: Show help message
• --help-formats: Show all supported formats and their parameters
• --help-format={FORMAT}: Show parameters for a specific format
• --mcp: Run as MCP (Model Context Protocol) server

Global Transformations:

• --transpose: Swap rows and columns
• --delete-empty: Remove empty rows
• --deduplicate: Remove duplicate rows
• --uppercase: Convert all text to UPPERCASE
• --lowercase: Convert all text to lowercase
• --capitalize: Capitalize first letter of each cell

Examples:

# Auto-detect (simplest)
tableconvert input.csv output.json

# Short flags
tableconvert -i input.csv -o output.json

# Space-separated
tableconvert --from csv --to json --file input.csv

# With options
tableconvert --from=csv --to=markdown --file=input.csv --align=l,c,r --bold-header

# With transformations
tableconvert input.csv output.json --transpose --capitalize

tableconvert --help-formats

Get information about supported formats and their parameters.

Example:

tableconvert --help-formats

Or for a specific format:

tableconvert --help-format=markdown

Supported Formats

Format-Specific Options

Format-specific options are passed as flags without values (true) or with values:

Markdown

• --align=l,c,r: Text alignment (l, c, r) - columns separated by comma
• --bold-header: Make header bold
• --bold-first-column: Bold first column
• --escape: Escape Markdown characters
• --pretty: Pretty-print with calculated column widths (default: true)

CSV

• --first-column-header: Use first column as headers
• --bom: Add Byte Order Mark
• --delimiter=TAB: Value delimiter (COMMA, TAB, SEMICOLON, PIPE, SLASH, HASH)

JSON

• --format=object: Output format (object, 2d, column, keyed)
• --minify: Minify JSON output
• --parsing-json: Parse input as JSON

SQL

• --one-insert: Multiple rows in one INSERT
• --replace: Use REPLACE instead of INSERT
• --dialect=mysql: SQL dialect (none, mysql, oracle, mssql, postgresql)
• --table=tablename: Table name

HTML

• --first-column-header: Use first column as headers
• --div: Use div instead of table
• --minify: Minify HTML
• --thead: Include thead/tbody tags

Excel

• --first-column-header: Use first column as headers
• --sheet-name=Sheet1: Excel sheet name
• --auto-width: Auto-adjust column widths
• --text-format: Force text format (default: true)

LaTeX

• --bold-first-column: Bold first column
• --bold-first-row: Bold first row
• --borders=1111,1111: Border style
• --caption="Table Caption": Table caption
• --escape: Escape LaTeX characters (default: true)
• --ht: Place here or top of page
• --label=table:label: Table label
• --location=above: Caption location (above, below)
• --mwe: Minimal working example
• --table-align=centering: Table alignment (centering, raggedleft, raggedright)
• --text-align=l: Text alignment (l, c, r)

MediaWiki

• --first-row-header: Use first row as headers
• --minify: Minify MediaWiki table
• --sort: Make table sortable

XML

• --minify: Minify XML
• --root-element=dataset: Root element tag
• --row-element=record: Row element tag
• --declaration: Include XML declaration (default: true)

Template

• --template=file.tmpl: Template file path

ASCII

• --style=box: Table style (box, plus, dot, bubble)

Global Transformations

Apply these to any format conversion:

• --transpose: Swap rows and columns
• --delete-empty: Remove empty rows
• --deduplicate: Remove duplicate rows
• --uppercase: Convert all text to UPPERCASE
• --lowercase: Convert all text to lowercase
• --capitalize: Capitalize first letter of each cell

Example with transformations:

tableconvert --from=csv --to=json --file=input.csv --uppercase --deduplicate

Usage Examples

MySQL to Markdown (auto-detect)

tableconvert mysql.txt output.md --bold-header

CSV to JSON with options

tableconvert input.csv output.json --minify --format=object

SQL to CSV with transformation

tableconvert input.sql output.csv --table=users --capitalize

Get format info

tableconvert --help-format=markdown

Using short flags

tableconvert -i data.csv -o data.json -v

Notes

• Format selection: Auto-detected from file extensions, or specify with --from/--to
• .txt files: Must specify format explicitly (not auto-detected)
• Input data must be properly formatted for the source format
• Special characters are automatically escaped where needed
• UTF-8 characters are handled correctly
• Use tableconvert --help-formats to see all available options for a format
• All options from docs/arguments.md are supported

Common Patterns

Converting database schema (auto-detect):

tableconvert schema.txt output.md --bold-header --escape

Creating SQL inserts from data:

tableconvert data.csv output.sql --table=users --one-insert --dialect=mysql

Generating HTML tables:

tableconvert data.json output.html --thead --minify=false

Excel to Markdown for docs:

tableconvert data.xlsx output.md --bold-header --align=l,c,r

Quick pipe conversion:

cat data.csv | tableconvert --from csv --to json --uppercase