How to Turn CLI Output into Beautiful Tables with Python’s PrettyTable

Introduction

When building a Linux‑based command‑line tool in Python to manage resources such as Alibaba Cloud ECS, plain text output can become hard to read. Using PrettyTable allows you to display data in a clean, tabular format with good Chinese character support.

Installation

pip install prettytable

Basic Example

#!/usr/bin/python
# coding:utf-8
import sys
from prettytable import PrettyTable
reload(sys)
sys.setdefaultencoding('utf8')

table = PrettyTable(['编号', '云编号', '名称', 'IP地址'])
table.add_row(['1', 'server01', '服务器01', '172.16.0.1'])
table.add_row(['2', 'server02', '服务器02', '172.16.0.2'])
# ... add more rows ...
print(table)

The command prints a bordered table with the specified headers and rows.

Adding Data

Row‑wise using add_row (as in the basic example). The list length must match the header length.

Column‑wise using add_column:

#!/usr/bin/python
# coding:utf-8
import sys
from prettytable import PrettyTable
reload(sys)
sys.setdefaultencoding('utf8')

table = PrettyTable()
table.add_column('项目', ['编号','云编号','名称','IP地址'])
table.add_column('值', ['1','server01','服务器01','172.16.0.1'])
print(table)

From CSV with from_csv:

#!/usr/bin/python
# coding:utf-8
import sys
from prettytable import PrettyTable, from_csv
reload(sys)
sys.setdefaultencoding('utf8')

fp = open('res.csv', 'r')
table = from_csv(fp)
print(table)
fp.close()

From a DB cursor with from_db_cursor (e.g., SQLite):

#!/usr/bin/python
# coding:utf-8
import sys, sqlite3
from prettytable import PrettyTable, from_db_cursor
reload(sys)
sys.setdefaultencoding('utf8')

conn = sqlite3.connect('/tmp/aliyun.db')
cur = conn.cursor()
cur.execute('SELECT * FROM res')
table = from_db_cursor(cur)
print(table)

From HTML with from_html:

#!/usr/bin/python
# coding:utf-8
import sys
from prettytable import PrettyTable, from_html
reload(sys)
sys.setdefaultencoding('utf8')

html_string = '''<table>
<tr><th>编号</th><th>云编号</th><th>名称</th><th>IP地址</th></tr>
<tr><td>1</td><td>server01</td><td>服务器01</td><td>172.16.0.1</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td>server02</td><td>服务器02</td><td>172.16.0.2</td></tr>
</table>'''

table = from_html(html_string)
print(table[0])

Output Formats

Standard print(table) prints a bordered ASCII table. To get HTML output use print(table.get_html_string()).

Selective Output

Print specific columns: print(table.get_string(fields=['编号','IP地址'])) Print a range of rows: print(table.get_string(start=0, end=2)) (end is exclusive).

Slice the table like a list: new_table = table[0:2]; print(new_table) Sort rows:

print(table.get_string(sortby='编号', reversesort=True))

Styling

PrettyTable provides built‑in styles such as MSWORD_FRIENDLY, PLAIN_COLUMNS, DEFAULT, and RANDOM. Set a style with table.set_style(style).

Custom styling options include alignment ( l, r, c), border visibility, and characters for borders, junctions, horizontal and vertical lines:

table.align[1] = 'l'
table.border = True
table.junction_char = '$'
table.horizontal_char = '+'
table.vertical_char = '%'
print(table)

Conclusion

PrettyTable offers a flexible way to present command‑line data as readable tables, with many input sources, output formats, selective printing, sorting, and styling capabilities. For more details see the official repository: https://github.com/jazzband/prettytable .