30.13.3 Table Recognition
Table Mode maintains special text properties in the buffer to allow
editing in a convenient fashion. When a buffer with tables is saved
to its file, these text properties are lost, so when you visit this
file again later, Emacs does not see a table, but just formatted text.
To resurrect the table text properties, issue the M-x
table-recognize command. It scans the current buffer, recognizes
valid table cells, and attaches appropriate text properties to allow
for table editing. The converse command, table-unrecognize, is
used to remove the special text properties and revert the buffer back
to plain text.
An optional numeric prefix argument can precede the
table-recognize command. If the argument is negative, tables
in the buffer become inactive. This is equivalent to invoking
table-unrecognize.
Similar functions exist to enable or disable tables within a region,
enable or disable individual tables, and enable/disable individual
cells. These commands are:
- M-x table-recognize-region
- Recognize tables within the current region and activate them.
- M-x table-unrecognize-region
- Deactivate tables within the current region.
- M-x table-recognize-table
- Recognize the table under point and activate it.
- M-x table-unrecognize-table
- Deactivate the table under point.
- M-x table-recognize-cell
- Recognize the cell under point and activate it.
- M-x table-unrecognize-cell
- Deactivate the cell under point.
For another way of converting text into tables, see Table Conversion.
