Formatting pipe tables using the markdown package

Question

I'm using the pipeTables option in the LaTeX markdown package to render tables in markdown. I'm looking for a way to format said tables so that they display both vertical and horizontal lines.

The author of the package seems to have hinted at a solution, but my level of TeX is not sufficient to understand how to modify it to get both vertical and horizontal lines:

\usepackage[pipeTables,tableCaptions]{markdown}
\makeatletter
\def\markdownLaTeXReadAlignments#1{%
  \addto@hook\markdownLaTeXTableAlignment{|}%
  \advance\markdownLaTeXColumnCounter by 1\relax
  \if#1d%
    \addto@hook\markdownLaTeXTableAlignment{l}%
  \else
    \addto@hook\markdownLaTeXTableAlignment{#1}%
  \fi
  \ifnum\markdownLaTeXColumnCounter<\markdownLaTeXColumnTotal\relax\else
    \addto@hook\markdownLaTeXTableAlignment{|}%
    \expandafter\@gobble
  \fi\markdownLaTeXReadAlignments}
\makeatother

Alternatively, if there are other solutions that allow me to format all tables post-hoc that would work as well.

NBur · Accepted Answer · 2021-06-03T17:11:42.573

It's possible to tweak the code. But this produces ugly tables… IMHO it's far better to use the booktabs style (as pointed out in the link you provided; for instance, you can check this answer).

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{ifthen} % to set up complex condition
\usepackage{float} % to modify position specifier
\usepackage[
pipeTables,
tableCaptions,
]{markdown}
\makeatletter
\renewcommand*{\fps@table}{H} % to set up tables' position specifier to "H"
% Add vertical delimiter
\def\markdownLaTeXReadAlignments#1{%
    \addto@hook\markdownLaTeXTableAlignment{|}%
    \advance\markdownLaTeXColumnCounter by 1\relax
    \if#1d%
    \addto@hook\markdownLaTeXTableAlignment{l}%
    \else
    \addto@hook\markdownLaTeXTableAlignment{#1}%
    \fi
    \ifnum\markdownLaTeXColumnCounter<\markdownLaTeXColumnTotal\relax\else
    \addto@hook\markdownLaTeXTableAlignment{|}%
    \expandafter\@gobble
    \fi\markdownLaTeXReadAlignments}
% Add horizontal delimiter
\def\markdownLaTeXRenderTableRow#1{%
    \markdownLaTeXColumnCounter=0%
    \ifnum\markdownLaTeXRowCounter=0\relax
    \markdownLaTeXReadAlignments#1%
    \markdownLaTeXTable=\expandafter\expandafter\expandafter{%
        \expandafter\the\expandafter\markdownLaTeXTable\expandafter{%
            \the\markdownLaTeXTableAlignment}}%
    \addto@hook\markdownLaTeXTable{\markdownLaTeXTopRule}%
    \else
    \markdownLaTeXRenderTableCell#1%
    \fi
    % modifications here
    \ifthenelse{\(\markdownLaTeXRowCounter>0\relax \AND \markdownLaTeXRowCounter<\markdownLaTeXRowTotal\relax\)}{%
        \addto@hook\markdownLaTeXTable\markdownLaTeXMidRule
    }{}
    %%
    \advance\markdownLaTeXRowCounter by 1\relax
    \ifnum\markdownLaTeXRowCounter>\markdownLaTeXRowTotal\relax
    \markdownInfo{\the\markdownLaTeXTable}
    \markdownInfo{\the\markdownLaTeXTableEnd}
    \the\markdownLaTeXTable
    \the\markdownLaTeXTableEnd
    \expandafter\@gobble
    \fi\markdownLaTeXRenderTableRow}
\makeatother
\begin{filecontents*}{./example.md}
This is a table:



  Right
  Left
  Default
  Center




  12
  12
  12
  12


  123
  123
  123
  123


  1
  1
  1
  1



: Demonstration of pipe table syntax.
\end{filecontents*}
\begin{document}
    \markdownInput{./example.md}
\end{document}

As you can see, lines are not correctly connected.

Edit

You can format the header by includind the following code before the \makeatother (modify the header style to fit your needs):

\def\headerStyle#1{{\sffamily\bfseries #1}}
\def\markdownLaTeXRenderTableCell#1{%
    \advance\markdownLaTeXColumnCounter by 1\relax
    \ifnum\markdownLaTeXColumnCounter<\markdownLaTeXColumnTotal\relax
        \ifnum\markdownLaTeXRowCounter=1\relax
            \addto@hook\markdownLaTeXTable{\headerStyle{#1}&}%
        \else
            \addto@hook\markdownLaTeXTable{#1&}%
        \fi
    \else
        \ifnum\markdownLaTeXRowCounter=1\relax
        \addto@hook\markdownLaTeXTable{\headerStyle{#1}\\}%
        \else
        \addto@hook\markdownLaTeXTable{#1\\}%
        \fi
    \expandafter\@gobble
    \fi\markdownLaTeXRenderTableCell}

Awesome - this works beautifully. I'm not sure what you meant by booktabs, how would one work with that & pipeTables? Also, is there a way of formatting the header? — Nathaniel Bubis, Jun 03 '21 at 16:25

Formatting pipe tables using the markdown package

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