Table Converter

Table Converter

Convert heading-based Markdown documents to Markdown tables and back. The plugin transforms structural information into tabular form, making it easy to switch between hierarchical and tabular representations of the same data.

How it works

The plugin converts between two formats for the same data:

Document format (heading-based structure):

# Table Title

## Row 1 Title

### Column A Title

A1 text.

### Column B Title

B1 text.

## Row 2 Title

### Column A Title

A2 text.

### Column B Title

B2 text.

Table format (Markdown table):

| Table Title | Column A Title | Column B Title |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Row 1 Title | A1 text. | B1 text. |
| Row 2 Title | A2 text. | B2 text. |

The document format uses headings to define structure: the title (#), row titles (##), and column titles (###), with content beneath column headings forming table cells.

Usage

Three commands are available from the command palette:

• Convert document ↔ table — converts the entire active note. Available only when the active file is a Markdown note.
• Convert selection ↔ table — converts the current selection in place. Available only when there is a non-empty selection. Selection conversions are not backed up separately; undo with Ctrl/Cmd+Z if needed.
• Transpose rows ↔ columns — swaps rows and columns in the entire active note, keeping its format (a document stays a document, a table stays a table). Available only when the active file is a Markdown note.

Both convert commands automatically detect whether the input is a document or a table and convert it to the other format.

None of the three commands (or their menu items) are offered for one of the plugin's own generated notes — a backup (*.BAK.md) or an error note (*.errors.md) — since converting or transposing those doesn't make sense.

The same actions are available from the right-click menu:

• The file menu (right-click a Markdown file, e.g. in the file explorer) shows Convert document ↔ table and Transpose rows ↔ columns.
• The editor menu (right-click inside a note) shows Convert selection ↔ table when there is a selection, otherwise Convert document ↔ table and Transpose rows ↔ columns.

Transpose example

Transposing the table above yields the equivalent of:

| Table Title | Row 1 Title | Row 2 Title |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Column A Title | A1 text. | A2 text. |
| Column B Title | B1 text. | B2 text. |

The title stays the same; original column titles become row titles (ordered by first occurrence) and original row titles become column titles (in their original order). Transposing a document works the same way, in document form. Transposing a note whose title would then equal one of the new column titles (an original row title) is rejected, since titles are never renamed to avoid the conflict.

Settings

• Backup location — where to save a copy of the note before converting it:

  • Same folder as the note (default) — creates a Note.BAK.md file next to the source note (for Note.md).
  • Dedicated backup folder — saves the backup into a configurable vault folder (default: "Table Converter backups"), mirroring the note's own folder structure underneath it (e.g. Projects/Notes.md backs up to Table Converter backups/Projects/Notes.BAK.md), so notes with the same name in different folders don't collide. Folders are created automatically if missing.
  • Off — no backup is written. Selection conversions never write a backup, regardless of this setting; use undo instead.

• Error reporting — how conversion errors are reported when validation fails:

  • Dialog (default) — shows a dialog listing each error with its line number; clicking an error jumps the editor to that line if the note is open.
  • Error note — writes an .errors.md file next to the source note, as in earlier versions.

  Either way, a stale error note from a previous failed conversion is deleted automatically on the next successful conversion.

Installation

Once the plugin is listed in the community plugins, you can install it from within Obsidian.

For manual installation: download main.js and manifest.json from the latest release and place them in <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/table-converter/.

You can also use BRAT (Beta Reviewers Auto-update Tool) to install and auto-update the plugin from its GitHub releases.

Development

Install dependencies:

npm install

Start the development server:

npm run dev

Build for production:

npm run build

Run tests:

npm test

To release a new version:

npm version patch|minor|major
git push --follow-tags

The CI/CD pipeline will automatically build and publish a GitHub release.

License

MIT