(This page copied from https://github.com/xoofx/markdig/tree/master/src/Markdig.Tests/Specs. Used with permission.)

Table extensions

This section describes the different extensions supported:

Grid Table

A grid table allows having multiple lines per cells and allows spanning cells over multiple columns. The following shows a simple grid table:

Header Column1 Header Column2
  1. ab
  2. cde
  3. f

This is a quot For the second column
Second row spanning on two columns
Back to one column 
+---------+---------+
| Header  | Header  |
| Column1 | Column2 |
+=========+=========+
| 1. ab   | > This is a quote
| 2. cde  | > For the second column 
| 3. f    |
+---------+---------+
| Second row spanning
| on two columns
+---------+---------+
| Back    |         |
| to      |         |
| one     |         |
| column  |         |

Rule #1 The first line of a grid table must be a row separator. It must start with the column separator character + used to separate columns in a row separator.

Each column separator:

  • starts with optional spaces
  • followed by an optional : to specify left align, followed by optional spaces
  • followed by a sequence of one or more - characters, followed by optional spaces
  • followed by an optional : to specify right align (or center align if left align is also defined)
  • ends with optional spaces

The first row separator must be followed by a regular row. A regular row must start with a | character starting at the same position as the column separator + of the first row separator.

The following is a valid row separator:

This is a table 
+---------+---------+
| This is | a table |
.
<table>
<col style="width:50%" />
<col style="width:50%" />
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>This is</td>
<td>a table</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

The following is not a valid row separator:

|-----xxx----+---------+ | This is | not a table

|-----xxx----+---------+
| This is    | not a table
.
<p>|-----xxx----+---------+
| This is    | not a table</p>

Rule #2 A regular row can continue a previous regular row when the column separators | are positioned at the same position as those of the previous line. If they are positioned at the same location, the column may span over multiple columns:

Col1 Col1a Col2 Col2a Col3 Col3a
Col1b Col3b
Col1c 
+---------+---------+---------+
| Col1    | Col2    | Col3    |
| Col1a   | Col2a   | Col3a   |
| Col1b             | Col3b   |
| Col1c                       |
.
<table>
<col style="width:33.33%" />
<col style="width:33.33%" />
<col style="width:33.33%" />
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Col1
Col1a</td>
<td>Col2
Col2a</td>
<td>Col3
Col3a</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">Col1b</td>
<td>Col3b</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="3">Col1c</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

A row header is separated using +========+ instead of +---------+:

This is a table 
+---------+---------+
| This is | a table |
+=========+=========+
.
<table>
<col style="width:50%" />
<col style="width:50%" />
<thead>
<tr>
<th>This is</th>
<th>a table</th>
</tr>
</thead>
</table>

The last column separator | may be omitted:

This is a table with a longer text in the second column 
+---------+---------+
| This is | a table with a longer text in the second column
.
<table>
<col style="width:50%" />
<col style="width:50%" />
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>This is</td>
<td>a table with a longer text in the second column</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

The respective widths of the columns are calculated from the ratio between the total size of the first table row without counting the +: +----+--------+----+ would be divided between:

  • ---- → 4 characters
  • -------- → 8 characters
  • ---- → 4 characters

The total size is 16 characters, so the widths would be 4/16 = 25%, 8/16 = 50%, and 4/16 = 25%.

A B C D E 
+----+--------+----+
| A  |  B C D | E  |
+----+--------+----+
.
<table>
<col style="width:25%" />
<col style="width:50%" />
<col style="width:25%" />
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>A</td>
<td>B C D</td>
<td>E</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Alignment might be specified on the first row using the character ::

A B C 
+-----+:---:+-----+
|  A  |  B  |  C  |
+-----+-----+-----+
.
<table>
<col style="width:33.33%" />
<col style="width:33.33%" />
<col style="width:33.33%" />
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>A</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">B</td>
<td>C</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

A grid table may have cells spanning both columns and rows:

AAAAA B B B
D D D E
CCCCC 
+---+---+---+
| AAAAA | B |
+---+---+ B +
| D | E | B |
+ D +---+---+
| D | CCCCC |
+---+---+---+
.
<table>
<col style="width:33.33%" />
<col style="width:33.33%" />
<col style="width:33.33%" />
<tbody>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">AAAAA</td>
<td rowspan="2">B
B
B</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="2">D
D
D</td>
<td>E</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">CCCCC</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

A grid table may have cells with both colspan and rowspan:

AAAAA AAAAA AAAAA B
C
D E F 
+---+---+---+
| AAAAA | B |
+ AAAAA +---+
| AAAAA | C |
+---+---+---+
| D | E | F |
+---+---+---+
.
<table>
<col style="width:33.33%" />
<col style="width:33.33%" />
<col style="width:33.33%" />
<tbody>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" rowspan="2">AAAAA
AAAAA
AAAAA</td>
<td>B</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>D</td>
<td>E</td>
<td>F</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

A grid table may not have irregularly shaped cells:

+---+---+---+ | AAAAA | B | + A +---+ B + | A | C | B | +---+---+---+ | DDDDD | E | +---+---+---+

+---+---+---+
| AAAAA | B |
+ A +---+ B +
| A | C | B |
+---+---+---+
| DDDDD | E |
+---+---+---+
.
<p>+---+---+---+
| AAAAA | B |
+ A +---+ B +
| A | C | B |
+---+---+---+
| DDDDD | E |
+---+---+---+</p>

An empty + on a line should result in a simple empty list output:

+

+
.
<ul>
<li></li>
</ul>