TTB2 — Terminal Table Builder 2.0

TTB2 is the new and improved 2.0 version of the terminal table builder. It features a clean ncurses UI that displays table data live, list-based menus, autosave, paging for wide and tall tables, an inline search mode, and interactive row/column deletion. CSV and XLSX import/export support is built in, with simple PDF export for sharing table snapshots.

All of the features you're used to, just improved.

Install

Debian/Ubuntu package

Go to the latest TTB2 release and download the .deb file.

Install the downloaded package:

sudo apt install ./ttb2_VERSION_ARCH.deb

Replace ttb2_VERSION_ARCH.deb with the name of the file you downloaded.

Build from source

Install dependencies (Debian/Ubuntu packages):

• GCC/Clang (build-essential) sudo apt install build-essential
• ncurses (wide-char) (libncursesw5-dev) sudo apt install libncursesw5-dev
• SQLite3 (libsqlite3-dev) sudo apt install libsqlite3-dev
• JSON-C (libjson-c-dev) sudo apt install libjson-c-dev
• zlib (zlib1g-dev) sudo apt install zlib1g-dev

Build the native binary:

make

This produces ./build/ttb2.

Install to your PATH:

sudo make install

Override the install prefix if needed:

make install PREFIX=/usr
make install DESTDIR=/tmp/package-root

Clean:

make clean

Usage

ttb2
ttb2 path/to/data.csv
ttb2 path/to/data.xlsx
ttb2 path/to/table.ttbl
ttb2 path/to/book.ttbx

Supported startup inputs:

• .csv
• .xlsx
• .ttbl
• .ttbx directory books

Highlights

• Interactive table editing (add columns/rows; rename columns; change types; edit cells)
• Fast load and render times; smooth scrolling even on large tables
• Low‑RAM seek paging (SQLite-backed, streaming windows; no OFFSET) — toggle in Settings
• Row‑number gutter (centered, toggle in Settings)
• Data types: int, float, str, bool (color‑coded)
• Column paging with ←/→ and footer hints
• Row paging with ↑/↓
• Search mode: press F to search; navigate matches with ←/→/↑/↓; Esc exits; exact substring highlight inside the selected cell
• Edit mode tools: [x] Delete Row, [Shift+X] Delete Column (guarded), [Backspace] Clear Cell, [v] Move Row/Column, [V] Swap Row/Column
• Paged edit footer hints with Tab to switch between footer pages
• Workspace auto-save to .ttbx projects (toggle via Settings, manual save with S)
• Table Manager: Easily switch between tables within a book, rename, and delete tables.
• Settings modal (saved to settings/settings.json; includes core toggles and editor color options)
• Exports: native CSV, XLSX, and PDF save options (no external runtime required)

Screenshots

Main UI

Table Menu

Editor Keybindings

• c Add column

• r Add row

• e Edit mode (arrows to navigate, Enter to edit, Esc to exit)

• f Search mode (arrows to jump matches, Esc to exit)

• S Save workspace project

• Ctrl+H Jump to top‑left (Home)

• m Table menu (Rename, Save, Load, New Table, DB Manager, Settings)

• q Quit

• In Edit mode:

  • Enter Edit cell
  • F Search mode
  • x Delete row (interactive; Enter confirms)
  • Shift+X Delete column (interactive; Enter confirms)
  • v Move row or column (row when on a body row, column when on the header)
  • V Swap row or column (row when on a body row, column when on the header)
  • Tab Cycle footer hint pages
  • Backspace Clear cell (with confirmation)
  • Move row prompts for Above or Below after you pick the destination row
  • Move column prompts for Left or Right after you pick the destination column
  • Ctrl+H Jump to top‑left (Home)
  • Esc Back

Performance / Low‑RAM Mode

• Enable “Low‑RAM seek paging” in Settings to browse large datasets without loading everything into memory.
• Rows are fetched in small windows and rendered incrementally to keep memory and latency stable.
• On Windows terminals, flicker is minimized by double‑buffered updates and scanning only visible rows for column widths.

Workspace & Exports

• A project workspace lives in workspace/session.ttbx by default. The file is created automatically and updated whenever autosave triggers or you press S.
• Use the Export menu to write the current data as:
  • .ttbl – a single-table snapshot
  • .ttbx – a project/workbook bundle
  • .csv, .xlsx, or .pdf
• Export now lets you browse to a destination directory in-app before entering the output filename.

Runtime Files

• Settings are stored in settings/settings.json.
• The active workspace session book is stored in workspace/session.ttbx while the app is running.

CI

GitHub Actions installs build deps and runs a simple make; build logs are visible in the job output.

Author

Luke Canada (canadaluke888@gmail.com)