Cellbrush: Generate HTML tables with PHP

A library to generate complex HTML tables with PHP, with support for rowspan and colspan.

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Table structure:

• String keys to identify rows and columns when building the table.
• Colspan and rowspan using column groups and row groups.
• Remaining empty cells filled in automatically, to preserve the structural integrity.
• Warning on cell collisions.

Tag attributes:

• Easily add row classes.
• Easily add row striping classes (odd/even zebra striping and more).
• Easily add column classes that apply to all cells in the column.
• Set html attributes for a row, or for all cells of a column.

API design:

• Method chaining instead of huge arrays of doom.
• Shortcut notations for frequently used stuff.
• Return value and parameter types nicely documented, so your IDE can let you know about possible operations.
• Exceptions thrown for integrity violation.
• Composer and PSR-4.

Basic usage

A simple 3x3 table with the diagonal cells filled.

$table = \Donquixote\Cellbrush\Table\Table::create()
  ->addRowNames(['row0', 'row1', 'row2'])
  ->addColNames(['col0', 'col1', 'col2'])
  ->td('row0', 'col0', 'Diag 0')
  ->td('row1', 'col1', 'Diag 1')
  ->td('row2', 'col2', 'Diag 2')
;
$html = $table->render();

Diag 0
	Diag 1
		Diag 2

Too verbose? Look for "Shortcut syntax" below.

Cells in thead and tfoot

A table like above, but with added thead section.

Column names are shared between table sections, but new rows need to be defined for each section.

$table = ...
$table->thead()
  ->addRowName('head row')
  ->th('head row', 'col0', 'H0')
  ->th('head row', 'col1', 'H1')
  ->th('head row', 'col2', 'H2')
;
$html = $table->render();

H0	H1	H2
Diag 0
	Diag 1
		Diag 2

Additional tbody sections

By default, every addRowName() and td() or th() goes into the main tbody section.

So, the following two are equivalent:

$table->td('row0', 'col0', 'Cell contents');
$table->tbody()->td('row0', 'col0', 'Cell contents');

More named tbody sections can be added like this:

$table->tbody('tb1')
  ->addRowName(..)
  ->td(..)

Again, the column definitions are shared between table sections, but row definitions need to be added separately.

Full rowspan and colspan

To let a cell span the entire width of the table, simply set the column name to ''. Likewise, set the row name to '' to span the entire height of the table section.

$table->thead()
  ->addRowName('head row')
  ->td('head row', '', 'Horizontal cell in thead.')
;
$table
  ->...
  ->td('', 'col1', 'Vertical cell')
;

Horizontal cell in thead.
#	Vertical cell	#
#		#
#		#

Column groups

Named column groups allow for cells with colspan. In the below example, the column name "products" specifies a colspan cell that spans all 3 products.* cells, whereas "products.a", "products.b" and "products.c" specifies specific cells without colspan.

$table->addColNames(['legend', 'products.a', 'products.b', 'products.c']);
$table->thead()
  ->addRowName('head')
  ->th('head', 'legend', 'Legend')
  // The "Products" label will span 3 columns: products.a, products.b, products.c
  ->th('head', 'products', 'Products')
  ->addRowName('name')
  ->th('name', 'legend', 'Product name')
  ->th('name', 'products.a', 'Product A')
  ->th('name', 'products.b', 'Product B')
  ->th('name', 'products.c', 'Product C')
;
$table
  ->addRowName('width')
  ->th('width', 'legend', 'Width')
  ->td('width', 'products.a', '55 cm')
  ->td('width', 'products.b', '102 cm')
  ..
  ->addRowName('height')
  ..
  ->addRowName('price')
  ->td('price', 'products.a', '7.66 EUR')

Legend	Products
Product name	Product A	Product B	Product C
Width	55 cm	102 cm	7 cm

Row groups

Similar to column groups.

$table = Table::create()
  ->addColNames(['legend', 'sublegend', 0, 1])
  ->addRowNames(['dimensions.width', 'dimensions.height', 'price'])
  ->th('dimensions', 'legend', 'Dimensions')
  ->th('dimensions.width', 'sublegend', 'Width')
  ->th('dimensions.height', 'sublegend', 'Height')
  ->th('price', 'legend', 'Price')
;
$table->headRow()->thMultiple(['Product 0', 'Product 1']);
$table->rowHandle('dimensions.width')->tdMultiple(['2cm', '5cm']);
$table->rowHandle('dimensions.height')->tdMultiple(['14g', '22g']);
$table->rowHandle('price')->tdMultiple(['7,- EUR', '5,22 EUR']);

		Product 0	Product 1
Dimensions	Width	2cm	5cm
	Height	14g	22g
Price		7,- EUR	5,22 EUR

Combination of row groups and column groups

$table = (new Table())
  // Add columns.
  ->addColName('name')
  ->addColNames(['info.color', 'info.price'])
  // Add banana row group.
  ->addRowNames(['banana.description', 'banana.info'])
  ->th('banana', 'name', 'Banana')
  ->td('banana.description', 'info', 'A yellow fruit.')
  ->td('banana.info', 'info.color', 'yellow')
  ->td('banana.info', 'info.price', '60 cent')
;
// Alternative syntax with handles, see "Shortcut syntax" below.
$table->addRow('coconut')->th('name', 'Coconut');
$table->addRow('coconut.description')->td('info', 'Has liquid inside.');
$table->addRow('coconut.info')
  ->td('info.color', 'brown')
  ->td('info.price', '3 dollar')
;
$table->headRow()
  ->th('name', 'Name')
  ->th('info.color', 'Color')
  ->th('info.price', 'Price')
;

Name	Color	Price
Banana	A yellow fruit.
	yellow	60 cent
Coconut	Has liquid inside.
	brown	3 dollar

Nested groups

Groups can have unlimited depth.

$table = Table::create()
  ->addRowNames(['T', 'B.T', 'B.B.T', 'B.B.B'])
  ->addColNames(['L', 'R.L', 'R.R.L', 'R.R.R'])
  ->td('T', '', 'top')
  ->td('B', 'L', 'bottom left')
  ->td('B.T', 'R', 'B.T / R')
  ->td('B.B', 'R.L', 'B.B / R.L')
  ->td('B.B.T', 'R.R', 'B.B.T / R.R')
  ->td('B.B.B', 'R.R.L', 'B.B.B / R.R.L')
  ->td('B.B.B', 'R.R.R', 'B.B.B / R.R.R')
;

top
bottom left	B.T / R
	B.B / R.L	B.B.T / R.R
		B.B.B / R.R.L	B.B.B / R.R.R

Open-ended cells

Open-end cells allow overlapping colspan cells, like bricks in a wall.

$table = (new Table())->addColNames([0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]);
$table->addRow(0)->tdMultiple([0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]);
$table->addRow(1)
  ->tdOpenEnd(0, '0..2')
  ->tdOpenEnd(3, '3..4')
  ->tdOpenEnd(5, '5')
  ->tdOpenEnd(6, '6..7')
;
$table->addRow(2)
  ->tdOpenEnd(0, '0..1')
  ->tdOpenEnd(2, '2..3')
  ->tdOpenEnd(4, '4..6')
  ->tdOpenEnd(7, '7')
;

0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
0..2			3..4		5	6..7
0..1		2..3		4..6			7

Shortcut syntax with row handles and column handles

RowHandle and *ColHandle allow you to omit one of $rowName and $colName to address a table cell.

$table = (new Table())
  ->addRowNames(['row0', 'row1', 'row2'])
  ->addColNames(['legend', 'col0', 'col1', 'col2'])
  ...
;
// Add cells in a "head0" row in the thead section.
$table->headRow()
  ->th('col0', 'Column 0')
  ->th('col1', 'Column 1')
  ->th('col2', 'Column 2')
;
// Add cells in a "legend" column.
$table->colHandle('legend')
  ->th('row0', 'Row 0')
  ->th('row1', 'Row 1')
  ->th('row2', 'Row 2')
;

	Column 0	Column 1	Column 2
Row 0	Diag 0
Row 1		Diag 1
Row 2			Diag 2

Row classes

Row classes can be added quite easily with addRowClass().

$table->addRowClass('row0', 'rowClass0');

Row striping

Row striping classes can be added to a table section with addRowStriping().

The default striping is ['odd', 'even'], but different patterns can be added with three or more stripes.

// Odd/even zebra striping.
$table->addRowStriping();
// 3-way striping.
$table->addRowStriping(['1of3', '2of3', '3of3']);

The striping always applies to a table section. By default, this wil be the main tbody section.

Column classes

You can use addColClass() to add a class to all cells of a column. This can be done either for all table sections at once, or for specific table sections.

$table->addColClass('col0', 'allSectionsColumn0');
$table->tbody()->addColClass('col0', 'tbodyColumn0');

Cell classes

Use addCellClass() to add classes to individual cells.

$table->addCellClass('row0', 'col0', 'my_class');

Column Reordering

Columns can be reordered even after the cells are already added.

// Create a table, and render it.
$table = Table::create()
  ->addRowNames(['row0', 'row1', 'row2'])
  ->addColNames(['col0', 'col1', 'col2'])
  ->td('row0', 'col0', 'Diag 0')
  ->td('row1', 'col1', 'Diag 1')
  ->td('row2', 'col2', 'Diag 2')
;
print $table->render();

Diag 0
	Diag 1
		Diag 2

// Reorder the columns, and render again.
$table->setColOrder(['col1', 'col2', 'col0']);
print $table->render();

		Diag 0
Diag 1
	Diag 2

More examples?

You can see more examples in the unit tests.

Planned features

Next steps:

• Collision detection.
• Dedicated exception classes.