1572777 - Output from console.table cannot be copy-pasted nicely into a spreadsheet

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(DevTools :: Console, enhancement, P3)

Description

[Christian Sonne [:cers]]

The output of console.table, while tabular, doesn't behave well when copy-pasted into a spreadsheet (currently I've only tested with google sheets).

Steps to reproduce

1. Open console
2. Run: console.table(Array(10))
3. Select and copy output
4. paste into spreadsheet

What happened?

The output now is all in one column, like so:

(index)
Values
0
undefined
1
undefined
2
undefined
3
undefined
4
undefined
5
undefined
6
undefined
7
undefined
8
undefined
9
undefined

What should have happened?

Content should have been pasted into relevant cells, like:

(index)	Values
0	undefined
1	undefined
2	undefined
3	undefined
4	undefined
5	undefined
6	undefined
7	undefined
8	undefined
9	undefined

Comment 1

[Christian Sonne [:cers]]

Attachment: console.table.diff

This is a WIP patch that fixes the problem by actually outputting a table, but because having a fixed header in an actual table is wonky, it's a little less than ideal.

Maybe someone knows another way of making it copy-pastable into a spreadsheet?

All my other attempts (like using display: table/table-row/table-cell) failed.

Comment 2

[Nicolas Chevobbe [:nchevobbe]]

Yeah, I tried reverting back to a plain table with sticky th at some point, but that wasn't working well.
No idea how the grid gets translated into a string when copying (this has always been a very consuming thing to get right)

Comment 3

[Christian Sonne [:cers]]

(In reply to Nicolas Chevobbe [:nchevobbe] from comment #2)

Yeah, I tried reverting back to a plain table with sticky th at some point, but that wasn't working well.

I think my patch is working pretty well, but there may be a slight difference in the borders. That might also be fixable though.

It's perhaps worth noting that Chrome doesn't have fixed headers - maybe it's not needed?

No idea how the grid gets translated into a string when copying (this has always been a very consuming thing to get right)

Maybe an alternative solution is to change the logic here https://dxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/source/dom/base/nsPlainTextSerializer.cpp#605 such that it's not just based on the tag name, but also/instead the display style? Maybe something with display: table-cell; should work the same as a td/th element?

Comment 4

[BugBot [:suhaib / :marco/ :calixte]]

The bug assignee didn't login in Bugzilla in the last 7 months.
:nchevobbe, could you have a look please?
For more information, please visit auto_nag documentation.

Comment 5

[Christian Sonne [:cers]]

Attachment: 1572777.diff

Updated version of the patch. It seems to work better now than before though.

Do I need to get a designer to look it over, or what is the path forward here?

Comment 6

[Nicolas Chevobbe [:nchevobbe]]

Thanks Christian
Could you push your patch using moz-phab (see https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/contributing/contribution_quickref.html#to-submit-a-patch) ?
We will probably need to update https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/source/devtools/client/webconsole/test/browser/browser_webconsole_console_table.js and https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/source/devtools/client/webconsole/test/browser/browser_webconsole_console_table_post_alterations.js since you changed the markup. You should be able to run the test locally with mach test (see https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/contributing/contribution_quickref.html#to-test-a-change-locally)

Comment 7

[Christian Sonne [:cers]]

Attachment: Bug 1572777 - Make output of console.table() use an actual table, so it can be pasted into a spreadsheet r?jdescottes

Comment 8

[BugBot [:suhaib / :marco/ :calixte]]

The bug assignee is inactive on Bugzilla, so the assignee is being reset.

Comment 9

[Jan Honza Odvarko [:Honza] (always need-info? me)]

This has been requested also here: https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/make-console-table-results-paste-friendly-simply-by-adding-tab/idc-p/22023

Christian, this would be very nice enhancement. Any chance to finish the patch? Anything blocking it?

Comment 10

[BugBot [:suhaib / :marco/ :calixte]]

Redirect a needinfo that is pending on an inactive user to the triage owner.
:nchevobbe, since the bug has recent activity, could you have a look please?

For more information, please visit auto_nag documentation.

Comment 11

[Jan Honza Odvarko [:Honza] (always need-info? me)]

Nicolas, should we mark this as good-first-bug?
Or rather do it ourselves?

Comment 12

[Nicolas Chevobbe [:nchevobbe]]

yes, the patch attached only need a few adjustments, I'll update it and land it

Comment 13

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/58eb265f2750
Make output of console.table() use an actual table, so it can be pasted into a spreadsheet r=jdescottes

Comment 14

[Atila Butkovits]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/58eb265f2750