TableConfig

TableConfig controls how tables are displayed when rendering objects, including headers, separators, indices, and collection truncation.

Properties
Examples

Properties

Property	Type	Default	Description
`ShowArrayIndices`	`bool`	`true`	Show index numbers for array elements
`ShowTableHeaders`	`bool`	`true`	Show column headers in tables
`NoColumnWrapping`	`bool`	`false`	Prevent text wrapping in columns
`ExpandTables`	`bool`	`false`	Expand tables to full width
`ShowMemberTypes`	`bool`	`false`	Show a column with member types
`ShowRowSeparators`	`bool`	`false`	Show separator lines between rows
`MaxCollectionCount`	`int`	`int.MaxValue`	Maximum number of collection items to display
`BorderStyle`	`TableBorderStyle`	`Rounded`	Border style for tables (see below)

Border Styles

The BorderStyle property controls the characters used for table borders. This is useful for terminals that don’t properly render Unicode box-drawing characters.

Style	Description	Example Characters
`Rounded`	Rounded corners (default)	`╭─╮│╰─╯`
`Square`	Square corners	`┌─┐│└─┘`
`Ascii`	ASCII only (maximum compatibility)	`+-+\\|+-+`
`None`	No borders
`Heavy`	Heavy/bold lines	`┏━┓┃┗━┛`
`Double`	Double lines	`╔═╗║╚═╝`
`Minimal`	Minimal with horizontal lines	`─`
`Markdown`	Markdown-compatible format	`\\|---\\|`

Examples

Change Border Style

Fix terminal rendering issues by changing the border style:

// For terminals with Unicode issues (VS Code, some Windows Terminal fonts)
// Use ASCII for maximum compatibility
obj.Dump(tableConfig: new TableConfig { BorderStyle = TableBorderStyle.Ascii });

// Use Square instead of Rounded if only corners are broken
obj.Dump(tableConfig: new TableConfig { BorderStyle = TableBorderStyle.Square });

Set globally to fix all dumps:

// Fix for entire application
DumpConfig.Default.TableConfig.BorderStyle = TableBorderStyle.Ascii;

// All dumps now use ASCII borders
myObject.Dump();

Show Row Separators

Add horizontal lines between rows for better readability:

obj.Dump(tableConfig: new TableConfig { ShowRowSeparators = true });

Show Member Types

Display a column showing the type of each member:

obj.Dump(tableConfig: new TableConfig { ShowMemberTypes = true });

Combined: Row Separators and Member Types

obj.Dump(tableConfig: new TableConfig 
{ 
    ShowRowSeparators = true, 
    ShowMemberTypes = true 
});

Row separators and member types

Hide Table Headers

obj.Dump(tableConfig: new TableConfig { ShowTableHeaders = false });

Hide Array Indices

var arr = new[] { "a", "b", "c" };
arr.Dump(tableConfig: new TableConfig { ShowArrayIndices = false });

Truncate Large Collections

Limit the number of items displayed from large collections:

var largeArray = Enumerable.Range(1, 1000).ToArray();

// Only show first 10 items
largeArray.Dump(tableConfig: new TableConfig { MaxCollectionCount = 10 });
// Output includes: "... truncated 990 items"

Expand Tables

Make tables expand to fill available width:

obj.Dump(tableConfig: new TableConfig { ExpandTables = true });

Prevent Column Wrapping

Keep text on single lines (may cause horizontal scrolling):

obj.Dump(tableConfig: new TableConfig { NoColumnWrapping = true });

Global Table Configuration

// Set globally
DumpConfig.Default.TableConfig.ShowRowSeparators = true;
DumpConfig.Default.TableConfig.ShowMemberTypes = true;
DumpConfig.Default.TableConfig.MaxCollectionCount = 100;

// All dumps now use these settings
myObject.Dump();

Complete Table Configuration

var tableConfig = new TableConfig
{
    ShowArrayIndices = true,
    ShowTableHeaders = true,
    ShowRowSeparators = true,
    ShowMemberTypes = true,
    MaxCollectionCount = 50,
    ExpandTables = false,
    NoColumnWrapping = false,
    BorderStyle = TableBorderStyle.Rounded
};

obj.Dump(tableConfig: tableConfig);

Use Cases

Debugging Large Collections

When debugging large collections, use MaxCollectionCount to avoid overwhelming output:

// Only show first 20 items from a large dataset
database.GetAllUsers()
    .Dump(tableConfig: new TableConfig { MaxCollectionCount = 20 });

Detailed Object Inspection

For detailed inspection, enable all display options:

obj.Dump(tableConfig: new TableConfig 
{ 
    ShowRowSeparators = true,
    ShowMemberTypes = true,
    ShowTableHeaders = true,
    ShowArrayIndices = true
});

Compact Output

For minimal output, disable extra information:

obj.Dump(tableConfig: new TableConfig 
{ 
    ShowTableHeaders = false,
    ShowArrayIndices = false,
    ShowMemberTypes = false
});

Troubleshooting Terminal Display Issues

If table borders appear as garbled characters or question marks, your terminal or font may not support the Unicode box-drawing characters used by the default Rounded border style.

VS Code Terminal

VS Code’s integrated terminal may not render rounded corners correctly with some fonts:

// Option 1: Use ASCII borders (maximum compatibility)
DumpConfig.Default.TableConfig.BorderStyle = TableBorderStyle.Ascii;

// Option 2: Use Square borders (works with most fonts)
DumpConfig.Default.TableConfig.BorderStyle = TableBorderStyle.Square;

Windows Terminal

If corners display incorrectly but other borders are fine:

// Square borders use simpler Unicode characters
DumpConfig.Default.TableConfig.BorderStyle = TableBorderStyle.Square;

CI/CD Logs

For build logs and CI environments where rendering may vary:

DumpConfig.Default.TableConfig.BorderStyle = TableBorderStyle.Ascii;