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Enabling lossless editing of Markdown files with mixed text and tables (tirenvi v0.3.0)
I previously wrote about creating "tirenvi".
However, what I had in mind from the very beginning was not just a simple CSV/TSV editor, but to:
Handle cases where tables are embedded within text naturally
In other words, I designed it with the assumption of scenarios like Markdown (GFM), where:
- Tables exist in the middle of text
- Tables have a structure
- The document must not be broken as text, even after editing
Differences between v0.1.0 and this release
In v0.1.0, I focused on:
- Tables as standalone entities
I aimed to create a state where they could be edited stably.
And now, in v0.3.0, it can handle:
- Text and tables mixed together
without any issues. Although the design anticipated this from the start, this release marks the point where it has finally reached a practical level.
Demo
Raw Markdown → structured table view → adjust column widths → edit cells → back to raw Markdown
The formatting remains intact even when going back and forth (lossless round-trip). You can edit the text while the tables are still embedded.
What you can do now
- Edit Markdown containing mixed text and tables directly
- Edit while maintaining line breaks within cells
- Adjust column widths (numeric specification/increment, auto-adjustment, repeatable)
- Use it seamlessly with Vim operations
More than just GFM
It also supports the Pukiwiki format.
While it is quite minor compared to GFM, tirenvi treats both as the same TIR (Table In Representation). It is not dependent on a specific format, but is designed from the perspective of "handling tables embedded within text."
tirenvi is not a GFM editor
This is an important point.
tirenvi is not a GFM editor. It is strictly "an editor for editing TIR (Structured Tables)."
Markdown (GFM) is just one of its applications. Rather than editing Markdown, it feels more like "editing structured tables in a way that is safely reversible."
Future plans
What I am thinking about next is:
- tirenvi for VSCode
Now that the foundation as a TIR editor on Neovim has been established, I am considering whether the same concept can be realized in VSCode.
It is still in the planning stage, but it has the potential for:
- TIR editing without dependency on Vim
- Expansion to a wider range of users
Conclusion
With this v0.3.0 release, I feel that I have taken a step forward from "a tool to edit tables" to "a tool that can handle documents with mixed text and tables."
I am finally reaching the design I aimed for from the beginning.
Discussion