+@page
+
+@node Tables in arbitrary syntax, Dynamic blocks, Extensions, Extensions and Hacking
+@section Tables in arbitrary syntax
+@cindex tables, in other modes
+@cindex orgtbl-mode
+
+Since Orgtbl-mode can be used as a minor mode in arbitrary buffers, a
+frequent feature request has been to make it work with native tables in
+specific languages, for example LaTeX. However, this is extremely hard
+to do in a general way, would lead to a customization nightmare, and
+would take away much of the simplicity of the Orgtbl-mode table editor.
+
+This appendix describes a different approach. We keep the Orgtbl-mode
+table in its native format (the @i{source table}), and use a custom
+function to @i{translate} the table to the correct syntax, and to
+@i{install} it in the right location (the @i{target table}). This puts
+the burden of writing conversion functions on the user, but it allows
+for a very flexible system.
+
+@menu
+* Radio tables:: Sending and receiving
+* A LaTeX example:: Step by step, almost a tutorial
+* Translator functions:: Copy and modify
+@end menu
+
+@node Radio tables, A LaTeX example, Tables in arbitrary syntax, Tables in arbitrary syntax
+@subsection Radio tables
+@cindex radio tables
+
+To define the location of the target table, you first need to create two
+lines that are comments in the current mode, but contain magic words for
+Orgtbl-mode to find. Orgtbl-mode will insert the translated table
+between these lines, replacing whatever was there before. For example:
+
+@example
+/* BEGIN RECEIVE ORGTBL table_name */
+/* END RECEIVE ORGTBL table_name */
+@end example
+
+@noindent
+Just above the source table, we put a special line that tells
+Orgtbl-mode how to translate this table and where to install it. For
+example:
+@example
+#+ORGTBL: SEND table_name translation_function arguments....
+@end example
+
+@noindent
+@code{table_name} is the reference name for the table that is also used
+in the receiver lines. @code{translation_function} is the Lisp function
+that does the translation. Furthermore, the line can contain a list of
+arguments (alternating key and value) at the end. The arguments will be
+passed as a property list to the translation function for
+interpretation. A few standard parameters are already recognized and
+acted upon before the translation function is called:
+
+@table @code
+@item :skip N
+Skip the first N lines of the table. Hlines do count!
+@item :skipcols (n1 n2 ...)
+List of columns that should be skipped. If the table has a column with
+calculation marks, that column is automatically discarded as well.
+Please note that the translator function sees the table @emph{after} the
+removal of these columns, the function never knows that there have been
+additional columns.
+@end table
+
+@noindent
+The one problem remaining is how to keep the source table in the buffer
+without disturbing the normal workings of the file, for example during
+compilation of a C file or processing of a LaTeX file. There are a
+number of different solutions:
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+The table could be placed in a block comment if that is supported by the
+language. For example, in C-mode you could wrap the table between
+@samp{/*} and @samp{*/} lines.
+@item
+Sometimes it is possible to put the table after some kind of @i{END}
+statement, for example @samp{\bye} in TeX and @samp{\end@{document@}}
+in LaTeX.
+@item
+You can just comment the table line by line whenever you want to process
+the file, and uncomment it whenever you need to edit the table. This
+only sounds tedious - the command @kbd{M-x orgtbl-toggle-comment} does
+make this comment-toggling very easy, in particular if you bind it to a
+key.
+@end itemize
+
+@node A LaTeX example, Translator functions, Radio tables, Tables in arbitrary syntax
+@subsection A LaTeX example
+@cindex LaTeX, and orgtbl-mode
+
+The best way to wrap the source table in LaTeX is to use the
+@code{comment} environment provided by @file{comment.sty}. It has to be
+activated by placing @code{\usepackage@{comment@}} into the document
+header. Orgtbl-mode can insert a radio table skeleton@footnote{By
+default this works only for LaTeX, HTML, and TeXInfo. Configure the
+variable @code{orgtbl-radio-tables} to install templates for other
+modes.} with the command @kbd{M-x orgtbl-insert-radio-table}. You will
+be prompted for a table name, lets say we use @samp{salesfigures}. You
+will then get the following template:
+
+@example
+% BEGIN RECEIVE ORGTBL salesfigures
+% END RECEIVE ORGTBL salesfigures
+\begin@{comment@}
+#+ORGTBL: SEND salesfigures orgtbl-to-latex
+| | |
+\end@{comment@}
+@end example
+
+@noindent
+The @code{#+ORGTBL: SEND} line tells orgtbl-mode to use the function
+@code{orgtbl-to-latex} to convert the table into LaTeX and to put it
+into the receiver location with name @code{salesfigures}. You may now
+fill in the table, feel free to use the spreadsheet features@footnote{If
+the @samp{#+TBLFM} line contains an odd number of dollar characters,
+this may cause problems with font-lock in latex-mode. As shown in the
+example you can fix this by adding an extra line inside the
+@code{comment} environment that is used to balance the dollar
+expressions. If you are using AUCTeX with the font-latex library, a
+much better solution is to add the @code{comment} environment to the
+variable @code{LaTeX-verbatim-environments}.}:
+
+@example
+% BEGIN RECEIVE ORGTBL salesfigures
+% END RECEIVE ORGTBL salesfigures
+\begin@{comment@}
+#+ORGTBL: SEND salesfigures orgtbl-to-latex
+| Month | Days | Nr sold | per day |
+|-------+------+---------+---------|
+| Jan | 23 | 55 | 2.4 |
+| Feb | 21 | 16 | 0.8 |
+| March | 22 | 278 | 12.6 |
+#+TBLFM: $4=$3/$2;%.1f
+% $ (optional extra dollar to keep font-lock happy, see footnote)
+\end@{comment@}
+@end example
+
+@noindent
+When you are done, press @kbd{C-c C-c} in the table to get the converted
+table inserted between the two marker lines.
+
+Now lets assume you want to make the table header by hand, because you
+want to control how columns are aligned etc. In this case we make sure
+that the table translator does skip the first 2 lines of the source
+table, and tell the command to work as a @i{splice}, i.e. to not produce
+header and footer commands of the target table:
+
+@example
+\begin@{tabular@}@{lrrr@}
+Month & \multicolumn@{1@}@{c@}@{Days@} & Nr.\ sold & per day\\
+% BEGIN RECEIVE ORGTBL salesfigures
+% END RECEIVE ORGTBL salesfigures
+\end@{tabular@}
+%
+\begin@{comment@}
+#+ORGTBL: SEND salesfigures orgtbl-to-latex :splice t :skip 2
+| Month | Days | Nr sold | per day |
+|-------+------+---------+---------|
+| Jan | 23 | 55 | 2.4 |
+| Feb | 21 | 16 | 0.8 |
+| March | 22 | 278 | 12.6 |
+#+TBLFM: $4=$3/$2;%.1f
+\end@{comment@}
+@end example
+
+The LaTeX translator function @code{orgtbl-to-latex} is already part of
+Orgtbl-mode. It uses a @code{tabular} environment to typeset the table
+and marks horizontal lines with @code{\hline}. Furthermore, it
+interprets the following parameters:
+
+@table @code
+@item :splice nil/t
+When set to t, return only table body lines, don't wrap them into a
+tabular environment. Default is nil.
+
+@item :fmt fmt
+A format to be used to wrap each field, should contain @code{%s} for the
+original field value. For example, to wrap each field value in dollars,
+you could use @code{:fmt "$%s$"}. This may also be a property list with
+column numbers and formats. for example @code{:fmt (2 "$%s$" 4 "%s\\%%")}.
+
+@item :efmt efmt
+Use this format to print numbers with exponentials. The format should
+have @code{%s} twice for inserting mantissa and exponent, for example
+@code{"%s\\times10^@{%s@}"}. The default is @code{"%s\\,(%s)"}. This
+may also be a property list with column numbers and formats, for example
+@code{:efmt (2 "$%s\\times10^@{%s@}$" 4 "$%s\\cdot10^@{%s@}$")}. After
+@code{efmt} has been applied to a value, @code{fmt} will also be
+applied.
+@end table
+
+@node Translator functions, , A LaTeX example, Tables in arbitrary syntax
+@subsection Translator functions
+@cindex HTML, and orgtbl-mode
+@cindex translator function
+
+Orgtbl-mode has several translator functions built-in:
+@code{orgtbl-to-latex}, @code{orgtbl-to-html}, and
+@code{orgtbl-to-texinfo}. Except for @code{orgtbl-to-html}@footnote{The
+HTML translator uses the same code that produces tables during HTML
+export.}, these all use a generic translator, @code{orgtbl-to-generic}.
+For example, @code{orgtbl-to-latex} itself is a very short function that
+computes the column definitions for the @code{tabular} environment,
+defines a few field and line separators and then hands over to the
+generic translator. Here is the entire code:
+
+@lisp
+@group
+(defun orgtbl-to-latex (table params)
+ "Convert the orgtbl-mode TABLE to LaTeX."
+ (let* ((alignment (mapconcat (lambda (x) (if x "r" "l"))
+ org-table-last-alignment ""))
+ (params2
+ (list
+ :tstart (concat "\\begin@{tabular@}@{" alignment "@}")
+ :tend "\\end@{tabular@}"
+ :lstart "" :lend " \\\\" :sep " & "
+ :efmt "%s\\,(%s)" :hline "\\hline")))
+ (orgtbl-to-generic table (org-combine-plists params2 params))))
+@end group
+@end lisp
+
+As you can see, the properties passed into the function (variable
+@var{PARAMS}) are combined with the ones newly defined in the function
+(variable @var{PARAMS2}). The ones passed into the function (i.e. the
+ones set by the @samp{ORGTBL SEND} line) take precedence. So if you
+would like to use the LaTeX translator, but wanted the line endings to
+be @samp{\\[2mm]} instead of the default @samp{\\}, you could just
+overrule the default with
+
+@example
+#+ORGTBL: SEND test orgtbl-to-latex :lend " \\\\[2mm]"
+@end example
+
+For a new language, you can either write your own converter function in
+analogy with the LaTeX translator, or you can use the generic function
+directly. For example, if you have a language where a table is started
+with @samp{!BTBL!}, ended with @samp{!ETBL!}, and where table lines are
+started with @samp{!BL!}, ended with @samp{!EL!} and where the field
+separator is a TAB, you could call the generic translator like this (on
+a single line!):
+
+@example
+#+ORGTBL: SEND test orgtbl-to-generic :tstart "!BTBL!" :tend "!ETBL!"
+ :lstart "!BL! " :lend " !EL!" :sep "\t"
+@end example
+
+@noindent
+Please check the documentation string of the function
+@code{orgtbl-to-generic} for a full list of parameters understood by
+that function and remember that you can pass each of them into
+@code{orgtbl-to-latex}, @code{orgtbl-to-texinfo}, and any other function
+using the generic function.
+
+Of course you can also write a completely new function doing complicated
+things the generic translator cannot do. A translator function takes
+two arguments. The first argument is the table, a list of lines, each
+line either the symbol @code{hline} or a list of fields. The second
+argument is the property list containing all parameters specified in the
+@samp{#+ORGTBL: SEND} line. The function must return a single string
+containing the formatted table. If you write a generally useful
+translator, please post it on @code{emacs-orgmode@@gnu.org} so that
+others can benefit from your work.
+
+@node Dynamic blocks, Special agenda views, Tables in arbitrary syntax, Extensions and Hacking