---
id: ptable
version: "0.9.2"
license: BSD (3 clause)
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: abandoned
---

# PTable — A simple Python library for easily displaying tabular data in a visually appealing ASCII table format

License: permissive · Maintenance: abandoned · Downloads: 431.1K/mo

## What it is and what it does

PTable is a lightweight library for rendering tabular data as formatted ASCII tables suitable for terminal or text output. It was originally forked from PrettyTable and provides methods to populate tables row-by-row, column-by-column, or by importing from CSV files or database cursors. The library handles alignment, field selection, and row range filtering to control output appearance.

The package has no runtime dependencies and works standalone, but it is effectively unmaintained—the last release was 2015-05-28 and no updates have been published since. While the repository remains unarchived on GitHub, the lack of recent commits or releases means it may have compatibility gaps with modern Python versions and will not receive bug fixes or feature updates.

Use it for:

- Display query results from database cursors as formatted ASCII tables in scripts or CLI tools.
- Convert CSV data into readable terminal-friendly table output for data inspection or reporting.
- Format structured data (lists of rows or columns) into aligned ASCII tables for logging or console display.
- Build simple data presentation layers in command-line utilities where HTML or graphical output is not available.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

PTable formats tabular data into visually appealing ASCII tables, supporting row-by-row or column-by-column data entry, CSV import, and database cursor integration.

No, unless you are maintaining legacy code already using it. The package is abandoned (last release 2015-05-28), has high install friction, and offers no maintenance pathway for compatibility issues. For new projects, consider actively maintained alternatives.

## Install

pip install ptable
uv add ptable
poetry add ptable

## Installing PTable

Before you install: Installation friction is high due to source-only distribution. Maintenance is abandoned—last release was 2015-05-28 with no updates since, though the repository remains unarchived.

License in practice: BSD (3 clause) is permissive, allowing commercial and private use with minimal restrictions, making it safe from a licensing perspective for most projects.

Quickstart:

pip install ptable
from ptable import PTable
x = PTable()
x.field_names = ["City", "Population"]
x.add_row(["Sydney", 4336374])
print(x)

No runtime dependencies, but package has not been updated since 2015 and may have compatibility issues with modern Python versions.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works reliably on Python 3.8+ despite being last released in 2015
- Whether high install friction (source-only distribution) reflects ongoing build or packaging issues
- Current state of the GitHub repository and whether it accepts maintenance contributions
- Exact API compatibility between PTable and its original PrettyTable fork

## Package facts

- License: BSD (3 clause) (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: high
- Maintenance: abandoned
- Downloads: 431.1K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

ascii table formatting, tabular data display, pretty print tables, text table generator, csv to ascii table, database table output, terminal table formatting, ascii-tables, unmaintained, legacy

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/ptable) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/ptable/)