8 ms·

I’ll be that one person: org-mode already does tables with formulas and all[1], if you’re interested in text-based spreadsheets [1]: https://orgmode.org/manua

by sulami 7y ago

I’ll be that one person: org-mode already does tables with formulas and all[1], if you’re interested in text-based spreadsheets [1]: https://orgmode.org/manual/Tables.html https://orgmode.org/manual/Tables.html

ggm 7y ago
Recent convert but org mode columnar sums still look a bit tricky. M-x org-md-export-to-markdown is my friend!
- zelphirkalt 7y ago
  Sums of a whole column in org mode tables is among the simples formulas you can write for tables. Just call the sum function (vsum?), enter the start cell and end cell, and where you want to put the result. That's it. Except that it is text only, I don't see what's more difficult, than entering a formula in a GUI spreadsheet app.
  - ggm 7y ago
    The examples on the web have weird markup
    - zelphirkalt 7y ago
      I should write some examples for tables and put them in a repo somewhere. You are right, sometimes the examples require a bit of trying and a lot of thinking, before one can apply them. That should not be. However, once you figure it out, it is amazing ;)
      - ggm 7y ago
        Please do!
  - abdullahkhalids 7y ago
    I used org-mode tables to tabulate student grades for a course I was teaching last semester. Summing single columns was okay. But I needed to drop selected assignments (had a column with 1s and 0s). And then had to figure out the percentage marks each student had in the assignment component. It was honestly a huge pain. I could have written the formulas for this in under 15 min on a regular spreadsheet software. With org-mode I spent hours trying to figure it out. In the end I had a hacky solution that I don't want to use again.
vim-guru 7y ago
this
hkt 7y ago
..one person? I admire your optimism.
danieldk 7y ago
And markdown-mode provides similar easy table editing for Markdown. This is what I have been using primarily on Linux. On the Mac I also use TableFlip [1], which provides an Excel-like interface for tables and works with any Markdown editor that automatically reloads a file on changes. It's a one-time purchase, no subscriptions. [1] https://tableflipapp.com https://tableflipapp.com
- jakew 7y ago
  That looks cool. But if you want to have only one application to do the job, there is another option.
dig1 7y ago
Yes! Nicely integrates with almost everything through org-mode's babel [1] (those not familiar with Emacs, org-mode babel is like Jupyter notebook on steroids). If you find org-mode table column formulas complicated, you can use other languages instead. Here is example with R [2]. For me org-mode became interface to glue other tools and languages, plus I get documenting facility for free. Just like bash/shell for unix tools. [1] https://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/babel/ https://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/babel/ [2] https://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/babel/intro.html#spreadsheet https://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/babel/intro.html#spread...
- parhamn 7y ago
  That got a good laugh out of me. Very org-mode-user of you to call Babel "Jupyter notebook on steroids". Anyone else would take one look and say "wtf are you talking about?"
  - adminu 7y ago
    Uhm, could you elaborate? Org mode/Babel supports many languages and is feature rich. Why would you say, the statement "Babel is Jupyter notebook on steroids" is laughable?
    - omaranto 7y ago
      That probably just means he or she thinks Org Mode looks ugly. People are shallow and way too into looks. At least that's what I tell myself when I fail to get people interested in Org mode. :)
    - parhamn 7y ago
      Honestly, I meant that lightly. My apologies. I found it humorous because it followed the (gui-version)^2 format of emacs-like tool endorsements. If you want an actual reason, the two are not even close. Jupyter is a multi-langauge kernel _server_. Also most of its users are data scientists and the things they care about are pandasDfs, charts, tables which makes html rendering much more capable. You might say there are plugins and ways to do all the things I mentioned org mode/babel, but that misses the point. They're very different products.
globular-toast 7y ago
One thing that's really nice is using org-mode tables in another mode. For example, I use it for LaTeX tables. I edit the table inline using org-mode then "compile" it into the LaTeX version before saving the document. It's really cool.
- sulami 7y ago
  I enable orgtbl-mode automatically in markdown-mode for that reason. It's the table bit as a minor-mode that you can use in any major mode.

by sulami 7y ago

ggm 7y ago

Recent convert but org mode columnar sums still look a bit tricky. M-x org-md-export-to-markdown is my friend!

zelphirkalt 7y ago
Sums of a whole column in org mode tables is among the simples formulas you can write for tables. Just call the sum function (vsum?), enter the start cell and end cell, and where you want to put the result. That's it. Except that it is text only, I don't see what's more difficult, than entering a formula in a GUI spreadsheet app.
- ggm 7y ago
  The examples on the web have weird markup
  - zelphirkalt 7y ago
    I should write some examples for tables and put them in a repo somewhere. You are right, sometimes the examples require a bit of trying and a lot of thinking, before one can apply them. That should not be. However, once you figure it out, it is amazing ;)
    - ggm 7y ago
      Please do!
- abdullahkhalids 7y ago
  I used org-mode tables to tabulate student grades for a course I was teaching last semester. Summing single columns was okay. But I needed to drop selected assignments (had a column with 1s and 0s). And then had to figure out the percentage marks each student had in the assignment component. It was honestly a huge pain. I could have written the formulas for this in under 15 min on a regular spreadsheet software. With org-mode I spent hours trying to figure it out. In the end I had a hacky solution that I don't want to use again.

vim-guru 7y ago

this

hkt 7y ago

..one person? I admire your optimism.

danieldk 7y ago

And markdown-mode provides similar easy table editing for Markdown. This is what I have been using primarily on Linux. On the Mac I also use TableFlip [1], which provides an Excel-like interface for tables and works with any Markdown editor that automatically reloads a file on changes. It's a one-time purchase, no subscriptions. [1] https://tableflipapp.com https://tableflipapp.com

jakew 7y ago
That looks cool. But if you want to have only one application to do the job, there is another option.

dig1 7y ago

Yes! Nicely integrates with almost everything through org-mode's babel [1] (those not familiar with Emacs, org-mode babel is like Jupyter notebook on steroids). If you find org-mode table column formulas complicated, you can use other languages instead. Here is example with R [2]. For me org-mode became interface to glue other tools and languages, plus I get documenting facility for free. Just like bash/shell for unix tools. [1] https://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/babel/ https://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/babel/ [2] https://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/babel/intro.html#spreadsheet https://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/babel/intro.html#spread...

parhamn 7y ago
That got a good laugh out of me. Very org-mode-user of you to call Babel "Jupyter notebook on steroids". Anyone else would take one look and say "wtf are you talking about?"
- adminu 7y ago
  Uhm, could you elaborate? Org mode/Babel supports many languages and is feature rich. Why would you say, the statement "Babel is Jupyter notebook on steroids" is laughable?
  - omaranto 7y ago
    That probably just means he or she thinks Org Mode looks ugly. People are shallow and way too into looks. At least that's what I tell myself when I fail to get people interested in Org mode. :)
  - parhamn 7y ago
    Honestly, I meant that lightly. My apologies. I found it humorous because it followed the (gui-version)^2 format of emacs-like tool endorsements. If you want an actual reason, the two are not even close. Jupyter is a multi-langauge kernel _server_. Also most of its users are data scientists and the things they care about are pandasDfs, charts, tables which makes html rendering much more capable. You might say there are plugins and ways to do all the things I mentioned org mode/babel, but that misses the point. They're very different products.

globular-toast 7y ago

One thing that's really nice is using org-mode tables in another mode. For example, I use it for LaTeX tables. I edit the table inline using org-mode then "compile" it into the LaTeX version before saving the document. It's really cool.

sulami 7y ago
I enable orgtbl-mode automatically in markdown-mode for that reason. It's the table bit as a minor-mode that you can use in any major mode.