scribe
A library for pretty-printing tables of Elixir structs and maps with customizable styling and pagination.
What is scribe?
Scribe is an Elixir library that formats lists of maps and structs into readable ASCII tables, making it easier to inspect data in the console. It solves the problem of unreadable default Elixir printing for large collections, such as database query results, by providing a clean, tabular output.
Elixir developers working in IEx or console environments who need to visualize and inspect structured data like query results, logs, or collections of maps and structs.
Developers choose Scribe for its simplicity and flexibility, offering automatic table generation with minimal configuration while supporting extensive customization like column selection, multiple styling formats, and pagination for large datasets.
Overview
Pretty-print tables of Elixir structs and maps.
Use Cases
Best For
- Displaying database query results (e.g., from Ecto) in a clean, tabular format in the IEx console.
- Inspecting large collections of maps or structs during debugging or development sessions.
- Generating formatted tables for reports or logs with customizable columns and headers.
- Creating paginated console outputs for navigating extensive datasets using the integrated pane library.
- Producing tables in specific styles like PostgreSQL, GitHub Markdown, or borderless formats for different presentation needs.
- Customizing table output with function-based column values, such as concatenating fields or applying transformations.
Not Ideal For
- Projects requiring graphical user interfaces or web-based table displays
- Real-time applications needing live table updates or streaming data visualization
- Teams working with non-Elixir codebases or needing cross-language compatibility
- Use cases demanding high-performance rendering of extremely large datasets without pagination overhead
Pros & Cons
Pros
Scribe automatically creates tables with headers from the first element's keys, eliminating manual setup for common data structures like query results, as shown in the README where printing a list of maps generates a table instantly.
Supports specifying columns with custom headers and function-based values, such as concatenating fields into a full name column, demonstrated in the README with examples using tuples and anonymous functions.
Offers five built-in styles like Psql and Github Markdown, plus custom adapters, allowing developers to switch formats without extra code, as highlighted in the styling section with clear examples.
Uses the pane library to paginate large tables in the console, making it easier to navigate extensive datasets, as seen in the console example where users can scroll through results interactively.
Cons
Scribe is designed solely for ASCII table printing in the console, so it cannot generate HTML, CSV, or other formats for web or external use without additional work, limiting its applicability in multi-environment projects.
Pagination functionality relies on the pane library, adding an extra dependency and potential maintenance issues if pane becomes outdated or incompatible with future Elixir versions.
The README does not address how Scribe handles malformed data, such as empty lists or inconsistent structs, which could lead to runtime errors or unformatted outputs in production scenarios.
While pagination helps, printing very large tables without it may consume significant memory and time, as Scribe formats the entire dataset before output, which could slow down IEx sessions with massive collections.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Projects
ratatouilleA TUI (terminal UI) kit for Elixir
owlA toolkit for writing command-line user interfaces.
progress_barCommand-line progress bars and spinners for Elixir.
table_rexAn Elixir app which generates text-based tables for display
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