Table truncates long strings

[theqbz]

Sometimes I want to display a very long string in an ftxui::Table cell. In such a case, the table reaches the maximum possible size - for example, the edge of the screen - but the long string does not form a line break, even if I store it in a ftxui::paragraph instead of text. The end of the string is simply cut off. Can you suggest a method for how such long strings could be displayed properly in an ftxui::Table?

I think it is possible that perhaps the ftxui::paragraph does not know the boundaries within the table, within which it can extend, so the line break does not apply. If so, how can I pass this information to the paragraph?

Actual result:

First column  The Very Long String
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
something     012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678

Expected result:

First column  The Very Long String
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
something     012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678
              90123456789

Sorry for this poor illustration, I hope it helps you understand my idea.

I use ftxui::Table through a wrapper class, in two ways:

• No interactive screen loop is running, just displaying data in the terminal. (using MyTable::print())
• Interactive screen loop is running and I embed the Table as an ftxui::Element in an ftxui::hbox. (using MyTable::getRenderer())

// In MyTable.cpp
//
// Member variables used in the following functions:
// m_table is an ftxui::Table
// m_tableContent is a std::vector<ftxui::Elements>

void MyTable::setTableContent(const std::vector<std::vector<std::string>>& p_tableContent)
{
    m_tableContent.clear();
    std::vector<ftxui::Elements> table {};
    for (const std::vector<std::string>& row : p_tableContent) {
        ftxui::Elements tableRow {};
        for (const std::string& cell : row) {
            tableRow.push_back(ftxui::hbox(ftxui::paragraph(cell)));
        }
        m_tableContent.push_back(tableRow);
    }
}

void MyTable::print()
{
    if (m_tableContent.empty()) {
        return;
    }
    m_table = m_tableContent;
    m_table.SelectAll().SeparatorVertical(ftxui::EMPTY);
    m_table.SelectRow(0).BorderBottom(ftxui::LIGHT);
    ftxui::Element table { m_table.Render() };
    ftxui::Screen screen { ftxui::Screen::Create(ftxui::Dimension::Fit(table)) };
    ftxui::Render(screen, table);
    screen.Print();
}

ftxui::Element MyTable::getRenderer()
{
    if (!m_tableContent.empty()) {
        m_table = m_tableContent;
        m_table.SelectAll().SeparatorVertical(ftxui::LIGHT);
        m_table.SelectRow(0).BorderBottom(ftxui::LIGHT);
        m_table.SelectRow(0).DecorateCells(ftxui::bold);
    }
    return m_table.Render();
}

[ArthurSonzogni]

Hello @theqbz,

See the paragraph implementation using flexbox:

namespace {
Elements Split(const std::string& the_text) {
  Elements output;
  std::stringstream ss(the_text);
  std::string word;
  while (std::getline(ss, word, ' ')) {
    output.push_back(text(word));
  }
  return output;
}
}  // namespace

/// @brief Return an element drawing the paragraph on multiple lines.
/// @ingroup dom
/// @see flexbox.
Element paragraph(const std::string& the_text) {
  return paragraphAlignLeft(the_text);
}

/// @brief Return an element drawing the paragraph on multiple lines, aligned on
/// the left.
/// @ingroup dom
/// @see flexbox.
Element paragraphAlignLeft(const std::string& the_text) {
  static const auto config = FlexboxConfig().SetGap(1, 0);
  return flexbox(Split(the_text), config);
}

You see we split the text into words, and put each word into a flexbox. As a result, you can't split elsewhere than inside a space.

What you can try:

Element SplitableText(const std::string& the_text) {
  // Split every ~8 characters.
  Elements miniwords;
  for (size_t i = 0; i < the_text.size(); i += 8) {
    miniwords.push_back(text(the_text.substr(i, 8)));
  }
  return flexbox(std::move(miniwords));
}

I hope this will be working for you, but note that flexbox doesn't work flawlessly.
Note that flexbox is not working flawlessly. I hope