30.13 Editing Text-based Tables
Table Mode provides an easy and intuitive way to create and edit WYSIWYG
text-based tables. Here is an example of such a table:
+-----------------+--------------------------------+-----------------+
| Command | Description | Key Binding |
+-----------------+--------------------------------+-----------------+
| forward-char |Move point right N characters | C-f |
| |(left if N is negative). | |
| | | |
| |On reaching end of buffer, stop | |
| |and signal error. | |
+-----------------+--------------------------------+-----------------+
| backward-char |Move point left N characters | C-b |
| |(right if N is negative). | |
| | | |
| |On attempt to pass beginning or | |
| |end of buffer, stop and signal | |
| |error. | |
+-----------------+--------------------------------+-----------------+
Table Mode allows the contents of the table such as this one to be
easily manipulated by inserting or deleting characters inside a cell.
A cell is effectively a localized rectangular edit region and edits to
a cell do not affect the contents of the surrounding cells. If the
contents do not fit into a cell, then the cell is automatically
expanded in the vertical and/or horizontal directions and the rest of
the table is restructured and reformatted in accordance with the
growth of the cell.