Boxxy - JavaScript Box Drawing Library

A JavaScript library for creating ASCII art layouts and tables, translated from OCaml. Perfect for creating formatted console output, tables, and text-based user interfaces. Includes a CLI tool for converting CSV data to ASCII tables.

Features

• Box Creation: Create boxes from strings, characters, or filled with patterns
• Layout Management: Stack boxes horizontally and vertically with alignment options
• Table Generation: Convert data arrays into formatted ASCII tables
• CSV CLI Tool: Pipe CSV data directly to create ASCII tables
• Framing: Add borders and frames around content
• Flexible Alignment: Support for left, center, and right alignment

Quick Start

import { printBox, framed, fromString, makeTableFromCsv } from './index.js';

// Create a simple framed box
const box = framed(fromString("Hello, World!"));
printBox(box);

// Create a table from CSV data
const csvData = [
  ['Name', 'Age', 'City'],
  ['Alice', '30', 'New York'],
  ['Bob', '25', 'Chicago']
];
const table = makeTableFromCsv(csvData);
printBox(table);

CLI Usage

Convert CSV data to ASCII tables by piping to the boxxy command:

# From a CSV file
cat data.csv | npx boxxy

# From inline data
echo 'Name,Age,City
Alice,30,New York
Bob,25,Los Angeles' | npx boxxy

# With tab-separated values
cat data.tsv | npx boxxy

# Get help
npx boxxy --help

# Get version
npx boxxy --version

CLI Options

• -h, --help - Show help message and usage examples
• -v, --version - Display version information

Testing

# Test CSV converter
npm run test-csv

API Reference

Core Functions

• fromString(s) - Create a box from a string
• fill(char, height, width) - Create a filled box
• beside(left, right, align?) - Stack boxes horizontally
• above(top, bottom, align?) - Stack boxes vertically
• framed(box) - Add a frame around a box
• makeTableFromCsv(csvData) - Create a table from CSV data array
• makeTableFromCsv(csvData) - Create a table from CSV data (array of arrays)

Alignment Options

• HorizontalAlign.LEFT, HorizontalAlign.CENTER, HorizontalAlign.RIGHT
• VerticalAlign.TOP, VerticalAlign.CENTER, VerticalAlign.BOTTOM

Example Output

$ echo 'Product,Price,Rating
Laptop,999.99,4.5
Coffee Mug,12.50,4.8' | npx boxxy

.------------------------------.
| Product    | Price  | Rating |
|------------|--------|--------|
| Laptop     | 999.99 |  4.5   |
| Coffee Mug | 12.50  |  4.8   |
'------------------------------'

License

MIT