Printing to stringstream and retaining formatting #116

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1. p-ranav commented on Apr 2, 2024

   

   p-ranav

   on Apr 2, 2024

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   Could you redirect std::cout to a buffer? I'm not sure if this works but it's worth a try.

   std::stringstream buffer;
   std::streambuf* prevcoutbuf = std::cout.rdbuf(buffer.rdbuf());
   
   // print your table
   std::cout << yourTable << std::endl;
   
   // Get the table as a string
   std::string text = buffer.str();
   
   // Restore original buffer before exiting
   std::cout.rdbuf(prevcoutbuf);
2. suitmyself commented on Oct 15, 2024

   

   suitmyself

   on Oct 15, 2024

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   Could you redirect std::cout to a buffer? I'm not sure if this works but it's worth a try.

   std::stringstream buffer;
   std::streambuf* prevcoutbuf = std::cout.rdbuf(buffer.rdbuf());
   
   // print your table
   std::cout << yourTable << std::endl;
   
   // Get the table as a string
   std::string text = buffer.str();
   
   // Restore original buffer before exiting
   std::cout.rdbuf(prevcoutbuf);

   not work
3. nepto commented on Feb 1, 2025

   

   nepto

   on Feb 1, 2025

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   It actually does work.

   So let me summarize it. If you have table the standard way of printing is:

   std::cout << table;
   

   When you want to capture the string, you can use table.str().c_str()

   However, when you print it, the formatting (notably colors) is lost:

   printf("%s", table.str().c_str()); // formatting and colors are lost
   

   The workaround that @p-ranav provided is a good one and works as expected. You can capture the string and do whatever you want with it. Also print it with printf() with all the formatting retained:

   std::stringstream buffer;
   std::streambuf* prevcoutbuf = std::cout.rdbuf(buffer.rdbuf());
   std::cout << table << std::endl;
   std::string text = buffer.str();
   printf("%s", text.c_str()); // formatting and colors are good
   std::cout.rdbuf(prevcoutbuf);
   

   It would be great if Tabulate had a function for capturing the string, but this workaround works just fine.
4. nepto commented on Sep 29, 2026

   

   nepto

   on Sep 29, 2026

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   Quick follow-up to my comment above: the rdbuf swap does not help if the table contains a nested table. That one loses its colors for a different reason.

   Fixed in #137
5. p-ranav

   closed this as completedon Oct 3, 2026