markdownlint/doc/md060.md

MD060 - Table column style

Tags: table

Aliases: table-column-style

Parameters:

• aligned_delimiter: Aligned delimiter columns (boolean, default false)
• style: Table column style (string, default any, values aligned / any / compact / tight)

This rule is triggered when the column separator pipe characters (|) of a GitHub Flavored Markdown table are used inconsistently.

This rule recognizes three table column styles based on popular use.

Style aligned ensures pipe characters are vertically aligned:

| Character | Meaning |
| --------- | ------- |
| Y         | Yes     |
| N         | No      |

The aligned style ignores cell content, so the following is also valid:

| Character | Meaning |
|-----------|---------|
|     Y     |     Yes |
|     N     |      No |

Style compact avoids extra padding with a single space around cell content:

| Character | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Y | Yes |
| N | No |

Style tight uses no padding at all for cell content:

|Character|Meaning|
|---|---|
|Y|Yes|
|N|No|

When this rule's style parameter is set to aligned, compact, or tight, every table must match the corresponding pattern and any violations will be reported. By default, or when the any style is used, each table is analyzed to see if it satisfies any supported style. If so, no violations are reported. If not, violations are be reported for whichever style would produce the fewest issues (i.e., whichever style is the closest match).

Setting the aligned_delimiter parameter to true requires pipe characters in the delimiter row to align with those in the header row. This can be used with compact and tight tables to make the header text more obvious. (It's already required for tables with style aligned.)

Style compact with aligned_delimiter:

| Character | Meaning |
| --------- | ------- |
| Y | Yes |
| N | No |

Style tight with aligned_delimiter:

|Character|Meaning|
|---------|-------|
|Y|Yes|
|N|No|

Note: This rule does not require leading/trailing pipe characters, so this is also a valid table for style compact:

Character | Meaning
--- | ---
Y | Yes
N | No

Note: Pipe alignment for the aligned style is based on visual appearance and not character count. Because editors typically render emoji and CJK characters at twice the width of Latin characters, this rule takes that into account for tables using the aligned style. The following table is correctly formatted and will appear aligned in most editors and monospaced fonts:

| Response | Emoji |
| -------- | ----- |
| Yes      | ✅    |
| No       | ❎    |

Rationale: Consistent formatting makes it easier to understand a document.