Module

table/converters/table-layout-post-fixer

@ckeditor/ckeditor5-table/src/converters/table-layout-post-fixer

module

Filtering

Functions

  • injectTableLayoutPostFixer( model ) → void

    Injects a table layout post-fixer into the model.

    The role of the table layout post-fixer is to ensure that the table rows have the correct structure after a change() block was executed.

    The correct structure means that:

    • All table rows have the same size.
    • None of the table cells extend vertically beyond their section (either header or body).
    • A table cell has always at least one element as a child.

    If the table structure is not correct, the post-fixer will automatically correct it in two steps:

    1. It will clip table cells that extend beyond their section.
    2. It will add empty table cells to the rows that are narrower than the widest table row.
    Clipping overlapping table cells

    Such situation may occur when pasting a table (or a part of a table) to the editor from external sources.

    For example, see the following table which has a cell (FOO) with the rowspan attribute (2):

    <table headingRows="1">
      <tableRow>
        <tableCell rowspan="2"><paragraph>FOO</paragraph></tableCell>
        <tableCell colspan="2"><paragraph>BAR</paragraph></tableCell>
      </tableRow>
      <tableRow>
        <tableCell><paragraph>BAZ</paragraph></tableCell>
        <tableCell><paragraph>XYZ</paragraph></tableCell>
      </tableRow>
    </table>
    

    It will be rendered in the view as:

    <table>
      <thead>
        <tr>
          <td rowspan="2">FOO</td>
          <td colspan="2">BAR</td>
        </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
        <tr>
          <td>BAZ</td>
          <td>XYZ</td>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>
    

    In the above example the table will be rendered as a table with two rows: one in the header and second one in the body. The table cell (FOO) cannot span over multiple rows as it would extend from the header to the body section. The rowspan attribute must be changed to (1). The value (1) is the default value of the rowspan attribute so the rowspan attribute will be removed from the model.

    The table cell with BAZ in the content will be in the first column of the table.

    Adding missing table cells

    The table post-fixer will insert empty table cells to equalize table row sizes (the number of columns). The size of a table row is calculated by counting column spans of table cells, both horizontal (from the same row) and vertical (from the rows above).

    In the above example, the table row in the body section of the table is narrower then the row from the header: it has two cells with the default colspan (1). The header row has one cell with colspan (1) and the second with colspan (2). The table cell (FOO) does not extend beyond the head section (and as such will be fixed in the first step of this post-fixer). The post-fixer will add a missing table cell to the row in the body section of the table.

    The table from the above example will be fixed and rendered to the view as below:

    <table>
      <thead>
        <tr>
          <td rowspan="2">FOO</td>
          <td colspan="2">BAR</td>
        </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
        <tr>
          <td>BAZ</td>
          <td>XYZ</td>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>
    
    Collaboration and undo - Expectations vs post-fixer results

    The table post-fixer only ensures proper structure without a deeper analysis of the nature of the change. As such, it might lead to a structure which was not intended by the user. In particular, it will also fix undo steps (in conjunction with collaboration) in which the editor content might not return to the original state.

    This will usually happen when one or more users change the size of the table.

    As an example see the table below:

    <table>
      <tbody>
        <tr>
          <td>11</td>
          <td>12</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>21</td>
          <td>22</td>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>
    

    and the user actions:

    1. Both users have a table with two rows and two columns.
    2. User A adds a column at the end of the table. This will insert empty table cells to two rows.
    3. User B adds a row at the end of the table. This will insert a row with two empty table cells.
    4. Both users will have a table as below:
    <table>
      <tbody>
        <tr>
          <td>11</td>
          <td>12</td>
          <td>(empty, inserted by A)</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>21</td>
          <td>22</td>
          <td>(empty, inserted by A)</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>(empty, inserted by B)</td>
          <td>(empty, inserted by B)</td>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>
    

    The last row is shorter then others so the table post-fixer will add an empty row to the last row:

    <table>
      <tbody>
        <tr>
          <td>11</td>
          <td>12</td>
          <td>(empty, inserted by A)</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>21</td>
          <td>22</td>
          <td>(empty, inserted by A)</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>(empty, inserted by B)</td>
          <td>(empty, inserted by B)</td>
          <td>(empty, inserted by the post-fixer)</td>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>
    

    Unfortunately undo does not know the nature of the changes and depending on which user applies the post-fixer changes, undoing them might lead to a broken table. If User B undoes inserting the column to the table, the undo engine will undo only the operations of inserting empty cells to rows from the initial table state (row 1 and 2) but the cell in the post-fixed row will remain:

    <table>
      <tbody>
        <tr>
          <td>11</td>
          <td>12</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>21</td>
          <td>22</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>(empty, inserted by B)</td>
          <td>(empty, inserted by B)</td>
          <td>(empty, inserted by a post-fixer)</td>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>
    

    After undo, the table post-fixer will detect that two rows are shorter than others and will fix the table to:

    <table>
      <tbody>
        <tr>
          <td>11</td>
          <td>12</td>
          <td>(empty, inserted by a post-fixer after undo)</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>21</td>
          <td>22</td>
          <td>(empty, inserted by a post-fixer after undo)</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>(empty, inserted by B)</td>
          <td>(empty, inserted by B)</td>
          <td>(empty, inserted by a post-fixer)</td>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>
    

    Parameters

    model : Model

    Returns

    void