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	Description	Common Use
mysql	MySQL query output	Database schema
csv	Comma-separated values	Spreadsheet data
json	JSON (object, 2d, column, keyed modes)	API data
jsonl	JSON Lines	Streaming data
markdown	Markdown tables	Documentation
html	HTML tables	Web pages
sql	SQL INSERT statements	Database imports
excel	Excel files	Spreadsheet files
xml	XML format	Structured data
latex	LaTeX tables	Academic papers
mediawiki	MediaWiki tables	Wiki content
twiki	TWiki/TracWiki format	Wiki content
template	Custom templates	Custom output

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