# Color data frame output in R terminal

# 1 Quick start

    library(dplyr)
    data(starwars)
    sw <- starwars[, c(1:3, 7:8)]
    sw %>% colorDF

    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 5 x 87:
    # (Showing rows 1 - 20 out of 87)
      │name                 │height│mass │birth_year│sex
     1│Luke Skywalker       │   172│   77│        19│male
     2│C-3PO                │   167│   75│       112│none
     3│R2-D2                │    96│   32│        33│none
     4│Darth Vader          │   202│  136│        42│male
     5│Leia Organa          │   150│   49│        19│female
     6│Owen Lars            │   178│  120│        52│male
     7│Beru Whitesun lars   │   165│   75│        47│female
     8│R5-D4                │    97│   32│        NA│none
     9│Biggs Darklighter    │   183│   84│        24│male
    10│Obi-Wan Kenobi       │   182│   77│        57│male
    11│Anakin Skywalker     │   188│   84│        42│male
    12│Wilhuff Tarkin       │   180│   NA│        64│male
    13│Chewbacca            │   228│  112│       200│male
    14│Han Solo             │   180│   80│        29│male
    15│Greedo               │   173│   74│        44│male
    16│Jabba Desilijic Tiure│   175│ 1358│       600│hermaphroditic
    17│Wedge Antilles       │   170│   77│        21│male
    18│Jek Tono Porkins     │   180│  110│        NA│male
    19│Yoda                 │    66│   17│       896│male
    20│Palpatine            │   170│   75│        82│male

    colorDF(sw) %>% summary

    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 5 x 5:
     │Col       │Class│NAs  │unique│Summary
    1│name      │<chr>│    0│    87│All values unique
    2│height    │<int>│    6│    45│ 66 [167 <180> 191] 264
    3│mass      │<dbl>│   28│    38│  15.0 [  55.6 <  79.0>   84.5] 1358.0
    4│birth_year│<dbl>│   44│    36│  8 [ 35 < 52>  72] 896
    5│sex       │<chr>│    4│     4│male: 60, female: 16, none: 6, hermaphroditic: 1

# 2 Colorful data frames

Your average terminal in which you run R is capable of displaying colors, styles and unicode characters. Wouldn’t it be nice to add some color to the data frames you are displaying? For example, that factors are shown in a distinct color (no confusing of strings and factors any more!) or that significant p-values are colored in red?

This was my motivation when writing this tiny package. Of course, changing default method for printing data frames is nothing a package is allowed to do (but read on!). However, this package defines everything you need to get dynamic, colorful output when viewing data frames. There are two things about colorDF which are important:

1. colorDF never modifies the behavior of the data frame like object or its contents (i.e. it does not redefine methods like `[<-`, removes row names etc.1). The only two things that change are (i) the default print method (visualization), and (ii) the “.style” and “.coltp” attributes of the object, and that only if you really change the class of the object, which is often unnecessary.
2. Any data frame like object can be used in colorDF, and you don’t need to modify these objects to use the colorful visualizations.

Yes, you can color any object that can be cast into a data frame with this or related functions! For example, you can apply it to both tibbles and data.table objects:

    ## works with standard data.frames
    colorDF(mtcars)

    ## works with tidyverse tibbles
    mtcars %>% as_tibble %>% colorDF

    ## works with data.table
    colorDF(data.table(mtcars))

The output of these three commands is identical:

    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 11 x 32:
    # (Showing rows 1 - 20 out of 32)
                       │mpg  │cyl  │disp │hp   │drat │wt   │qsec │vs   │am   │gear │carb
              Mazda RX4│   21│    6│  160│  110│  3.9│  2.6│   16│    0│    1│    4│    4
          Mazda RX4 Wag│   21│    6│  160│  110│  3.9│  2.9│   17│    0│    1│    4│    4
             Datsun 710│   23│    4│  108│   93│  3.9│  2.3│   19│    1│    1│    4│    1
         Hornet 4 Drive│   21│    6│  258│  110│  3.1│  3.2│   19│    1│    0│    3│    1
      Hornet Sportabout│   19│    8│  360│  175│  3.1│  3.4│   17│    0│    0│    3│    2
                Valiant│   18│    6│  225│  105│  2.8│  3.5│   20│    1│    0│    3│    1
             Duster 360│   14│    8│  360│  245│  3.2│  3.6│   16│    0│    0│    3│    4
              Merc 240D│   24│    4│  147│   62│  3.7│  3.2│   20│    1│    0│    4│    2
               Merc 230│   23│    4│  141│   95│  3.9│  3.1│   23│    1│    0│    4│    2
               Merc 280│   19│    6│  168│  123│  3.9│  3.4│   18│    1│    0│    4│    4
              Merc 280C│   18│    6│  168│  123│  3.9│  3.4│   19│    1│    0│    4│    4
             Merc 450SE│   16│    8│  276│  180│  3.1│  4.1│   17│    0│    0│    3│    3
             Merc 450SL│   17│    8│  276│  180│  3.1│  3.7│   18│    0│    0│    3│    3
            Merc 450SLC│   15│    8│  276│  180│  3.1│  3.8│   18│    0│    0│    3│    3
     Cadillac Fleetwood│   10│    8│  472│  205│  2.9│  5.2│   18│    0│    0│    3│    4
    Lincoln Continental│   10│    8│  460│  215│  3.0│  5.4│   18│    0│    0│    3│    4
      Chrysler Imperial│   15│    8│  440│  230│  3.2│  5.3│   17│    0│    0│    3│    4
               Fiat 128│   32│    4│   79│   66│  4.1│  2.2│   19│    1│    1│    4│    1
            Honda Civic│   30│    4│   76│   52│  4.9│  1.6│   19│    1│    1│    4│    2
         Toyota Corolla│   34│    4│   71│   65│  4.2│  1.8│   20│    1│    1│    4│    1

# 3 Column types

Column types are mostly like classes, but colorDF introduces some additional distinctions, specifically “identifier” (such that character columns which contain identifiers can be shown with a particular, distinct style) and “pval”, to show significant p-values in a different color (and use `format.pval()` for formatting). Column types are stored in the `.coltp` attribute of the colorDF object.

colorDF tries to guess how each column should be displayed. First it checks whether any column types have been assigned explicitely using the `col_type<-` function and stored in the `.coltp` attribute of the object. Next, it looks up whether it can guess the contents of the column by looking at the column name (ID, p-value). Finally, it determines the class of the column (character, integer, numeric, logical, factor).

To assign a particular column type, you need first to turn a data frame colorful and then modify the column type:

    sw <- sw %>% as.colorDF
    col_type(sw, "name") <- "identifier"
    col_type(sw, "gender") <- "factor"
    sw$probability <- runif(nrow(sw), 0, 0.1)
    col_type(sw, "probability") <- "pval"
    sw

    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 6 x 87:
    # (Showing rows 1 - 20 out of 87)
      │name                 │height│mass │birth_year│sex           │probability
     1│       Luke Skywalker│   172│   77│        19│male          │0.0919
     2│                C-3PO│   167│   75│       112│none          │0.0046
     3│                R2-D2│    96│   32│        33│none          │0.0750
     4│          Darth Vader│   202│  136│        42│male          │0.0348
     5│          Leia Organa│   150│   49│        19│female        │0.0932
     6│            Owen Lars│   178│  120│        52│male          │0.0135
     7│   Beru Whitesun lars│   165│   75│        47│female        │0.0836
     8│                R5-D4│    97│   32│        NA│none          │0.0483
     9│    Biggs Darklighter│   183│   84│        24│male          │0.0556
    10│       Obi-Wan Kenobi│   182│   77│        57│male          │0.0126
    11│     Anakin Skywalker│   188│   84│        42│male          │0.0712
    12│       Wilhuff Tarkin│   180│   NA│        64│male          │0.0917
    13│            Chewbacca│   228│  112│       200│male          │0.0990
    14│             Han Solo│   180│   80│        29│male          │0.0541
    15│               Greedo│   173│   74│        44│male          │0.0905
    16│Jabba Desilijic Tiure│   175│ 1358│       600│hermaphroditic│0.0091
    17│       Wedge Antilles│   170│   77│        21│male          │0.0203
    18│     Jek Tono Porkins│   180│  110│        NA│male          │0.0711
    19│                 Yoda│    66│   17│       896│male          │0.0423
    20│            Palpatine│   170│   75│        82│male          │0.0434

Note that changing the column type does not change the class of the column in the data frame! colorDF never touches the data frame contents, the only operations concern the “class”, “.style” and “.coltp” attributes. So while you may set a column type to “character” instead of “factor”, even though it will be looking like a character type on the terminal output, the column class will still be a factor.

You can also hide a column:

    sw <- colorDF(starwars)
    col_type(sw, c("vehicles", "films", "starships")) <- "hidden"
    sw

    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 14 x 87:
    # (Showing rows 1 - 20 out of 87)
      │name                 │height│mass │hair_color   │skin_color      │eye_color│birth_year
     1│Luke Skywalker       │   172│   77│blond        │fair            │blue     │        19
     2│C-3PO                │   167│   75│NA           │gold            │yellow   │       112
     3│R2-D2                │    96│   32│NA           │white, blue     │red      │        33
     4│Darth Vader          │   202│  136│none         │white           │yellow   │        42
     5│Leia Organa          │   150│   49│brown        │light           │brown    │        19
     6│Owen Lars            │   178│  120│brown, grey  │light           │blue     │        52
     7│Beru Whitesun lars   │   165│   75│brown        │light           │blue     │        47
     8│R5-D4                │    97│   32│NA           │white, red      │red      │        NA
     9│Biggs Darklighter    │   183│   84│black        │light           │brown    │        24
    10│Obi-Wan Kenobi       │   182│   77│auburn, white│fair            │blue-gray│        57
    11│Anakin Skywalker     │   188│   84│blond        │fair            │blue     │        42
    12│Wilhuff Tarkin       │   180│   NA│auburn, grey │fair            │blue     │        64
    13│Chewbacca            │   228│  112│brown        │unknown         │blue     │       200
    14│Han Solo             │   180│   80│brown        │fair            │brown    │        29
    15│Greedo               │   173│   74│NA           │green           │black    │        44
    16│Jabba Desilijic Tiure│   175│ 1358│NA           │green-tan, brown│orange   │       600
    17│Wedge Antilles       │   170│   77│brown        │fair            │hazel    │        21
    18│Jek Tono Porkins     │   180│  110│brown        │fair            │blue     │        NA
    19│Yoda                 │    66│   17│white        │green           │brown    │       896
    20│Palpatine            │   170│   75│grey         │pale            │yellow   │        82
      │sex           │gender   │homeworld │species
     1│male          │masculine│Tatooine  │Human
     2│none          │masculine│Tatooine  │Droid
     3│none          │masculine│Naboo     │Droid
     4│male          │masculine│Tatooine  │Human
     5│female        │feminine │Alderaan  │Human
     6│male          │masculine│Tatooine  │Human
     7│female        │feminine │Tatooine  │Human
     8│none          │masculine│Tatooine  │Droid
     9│male          │masculine│Tatooine  │Human
    10│male          │masculine│Stewjon   │Human
    11│male          │masculine│Tatooine  │Human
    12│male          │masculine│Eriadu    │Human
    13│male          │masculine│Kashyyyk  │Wookiee
    14│male          │masculine│Corellia  │Human
    15│male          │masculine│Rodia     │Rodian
    16│hermaphroditic│masculine│Nal Hutta │Hutt
    17│male          │masculine│Corellia  │Human
    18│male          │masculine│Bestine IV│Human
    19│male          │masculine│NA        │Yoda's species
    20│male          │masculine│Naboo     │Human
    # Hidden columns (3): vehicles, films, starships

# 4 Styles and Themes

I am a bit confused when it comes to distinguishing the two. Themes are basically internally predefined styles. Styles are simply lists that hold information how different columns, column and row headers, separators between the columns and highlighted rows are displayed.

Themes can be set using the `options(colorDF_theme="<theme name>")` command or by directly specifying the option in a call to `colorDF`:

    colorDF(sw, theme="bw")

    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 14 x 87:
    # (Showing rows 1 - 20 out of 87)
      │name                 │height│mass │hair_color   │skin_color      │eye_color│birth_year
     1│Luke Skywalker       │   172│   77│blond        │fair            │blue     │        19
     2│C-3PO                │   167│   75│NA           │gold            │yellow   │       112
     3│R2-D2                │    96│   32│NA           │white, blue     │red      │        33
     4│Darth Vader          │   202│  136│none         │white           │yellow   │        42
     5│Leia Organa          │   150│   49│brown        │light           │brown    │        19
     6│Owen Lars            │   178│  120│brown, grey  │light           │blue     │        52
     7│Beru Whitesun lars   │   165│   75│brown        │light           │blue     │        47
     8│R5-D4                │    97│   32│NA           │white, red      │red      │        NA
     9│Biggs Darklighter    │   183│   84│black        │light           │brown    │        24
    10│Obi-Wan Kenobi       │   182│   77│auburn, white│fair            │blue-gray│        57
    11│Anakin Skywalker     │   188│   84│blond        │fair            │blue     │        42
    12│Wilhuff Tarkin       │   180│   NA│auburn, grey │fair            │blue     │        64
    13│Chewbacca            │   228│  112│brown        │unknown         │blue     │       200
    14│Han Solo             │   180│   80│brown        │fair            │brown    │        29
    15│Greedo               │   173│   74│NA           │green           │black    │        44
    16│Jabba Desilijic Tiure│   175│ 1358│NA           │green-tan, brown│orange   │       600
    17│Wedge Antilles       │   170│   77│brown        │fair            │hazel    │        21
    18│Jek Tono Porkins     │   180│  110│brown        │fair            │blue     │        NA
    19│Yoda                 │    66│   17│white        │green           │brown    │       896
    20│Palpatine            │   170│   75│grey         │pale            │yellow   │        82
      │sex           │gender   │homeworld │species
     1│male          │masculine│Tatooine  │Human
     2│none          │masculine│Tatooine  │Droid
     3│none          │masculine│Naboo     │Droid
     4│male          │masculine│Tatooine  │Human
     5│female        │feminine │Alderaan  │Human
     6│male          │masculine│Tatooine  │Human
     7│female        │feminine │Tatooine  │Human
     8│none          │masculine│Tatooine  │Droid
     9│male          │masculine│Tatooine  │Human
    10│male          │masculine│Stewjon   │Human
    11│male          │masculine│Tatooine  │Human
    12│male          │masculine│Eriadu    │Human
    13│male          │masculine│Kashyyyk  │Wookiee
    14│male          │masculine│Corellia  │Human
    15│male          │masculine│Rodia     │Rodian
    16│hermaphroditic│masculine│Nal Hutta │Hutt
    17│male          │masculine│Corellia  │Human
    18│male          │masculine│Bestine IV│Human
    19│male          │masculine│NA        │Yoda's species
    20│male          │masculine│Naboo     │Human
    # Hidden columns (3): vehicles, films, starships

Here is an overview of the themes. Some of them are intended for dark background and will not look great on a light background, which is why we use `force_bg=TRUE` to force black on white background for these themes:

    colorDF_themes_show(force_bg=TRUE)

    Theme light - Suitable for black on white terminals:
    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 7 x 3:
     │ID   │String   │Factor│Number│Integer│Logical│Pvalue
    1│  ID1│foo      │foo   │  12.1│     12│TRUE   │0.001
    2│  ID2│baz      │baz   │  -3.1│    -13│FALSE  │0.314
    3│  ID3│highlight│boo   │   2.7│     42│NA     │NA

    Theme minimal - Almost no style:
    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 7 x 3:
      ID    String    Factor Number            Integer Logical Pvalue
    1 ID1   foo       foo    12.1              12      TRUE    0.001
    2 ID2   baz       baz    -3.14159265358979 -13     FALSE   0.314159
    3 ID3   highlight boo    2.71828182845905  42      NA      NA

    Theme universal - Suitable for all terminals:
    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 7 x 3:
     │ID   │String   │Factor│Number│Integer│Logical│Pvalue
    1│  ID1│foo      │foo   │  12.1│     12│TRUE   │0.001
    2│  ID2│baz      │baz   │  -3.1│    -13│FALSE  │0.314
    3│  ID3│highlight│boo   │   2.7│     42│NA     │NA

    Theme tibble - Very much like a tibble:
    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 7 x 3:
      ID    String    Factor Number Integer Logical Pvalue
      <chr> <chr>     <chr>  <dbl>  <dbl>   <lgl>   <dbl>
    1 ID1   foo       foo    12.10   12     TRUE    0.001
    2 ID2   baz       baz    -3.14  -13     FALSE   0.314
    3 ID3   highlight boo     2.72   42     NA         NA

    Theme dark - Suitable for white on black terminals:
    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 7 x 3:
     │ID   │String   │Factor│Number│Integer│Logical│Pvalue
    1│  ID1│foo      │foo   │  12.1│     12│TRUE   │0.001
    2│  ID2│baz      │baz   │  -3.1│    -13│FALSE  │0.314
    3│  ID3│highlight│boo   │   2.7│     42│NA     │NA

    Theme bw - Black and white only. Suitable for black on white terminals:
    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 7 x 3:
     │ID   │String   │Factor│Number│Integer│Logical│Pvalue
    1│  ID1│foo      │foo   │  12.1│     12│TRUE   │0.001
    2│  ID2│baz      │baz   │  -3.1│    -13│FALSE  │0.314
    3│  ID3│highlight│boo   │   2.7│     42│NA     │NA

    Theme wb - Black and white only. Suitable for white on black terminals:
    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 7 x 3:
     │ID   │String   │Factor│Number│Integer│Logical│Pvalue
    1│  ID1│foo      │foo   │  12.1│     12│TRUE   │0.001
    2│  ID2│baz      │baz   │  -3.1│    -13│FALSE  │0.314
    3│  ID3│highlight│boo   │   2.7│     42│NA     │NA

    Default theme: light
    Change it with `options(colorDF_theme="<theme name>")`

You can add your own themes using `add_colorDF_theme()` (see the example section on the help page).

# 5 Column styles

Styles of a colorDF object can be directly manipulated using `df_style`:

    mtcars.c <- colorDF(mtcars)
    df_style(mtcars.c, "sep") <- "; "

If interested, read the help file for `df_style()`.

# 6 Utilities

## 6.1 Summaries

colorDF comes with a couple of utility functions. Firstly, it defines a summary method for colorful data frames which can also be used for any other data frame like object and which I find much more useful than the regular summary:

    starwars %>% as.colorDF %>% summary

    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 5 x 14:
      │Col       │Class│NAs  │unique│Summary
     1│name      │<chr>│    0│    87│All values unique
     2│height    │<int>│    6│    45│ 66 [167 <180> 191] 264
     3│mass      │<dbl>│   28│    38│  15.0 [  55.6 <  79.0>   84.5] 1358.0
     4│hair_color│<chr>│    5│    12│none: 37, brown: 18, black: 13, white: 4, blond: 3, auburn: 1, …
     5│skin_color│<chr>│    0│    31│fair: 17, light: 11, dark: 6, green: 6, grey: 6, pale: 5, brown…
     6│eye_color │<chr>│    0│    15│brown: 21, blue: 19, yellow: 11, black: 10, orange: 8, red: 5, …
     7│birth_year│<dbl>│   44│    36│  8 [ 35 < 52>  72] 896
     8│sex       │<chr>│    4│     4│male: 60, female: 16, none: 6, hermaphroditic: 1
     9│gender    │<chr>│    4│     2│masculine: 66, feminine: 17
    10│homeworld │<chr>│   10│    48│Naboo: 11, Tatooine: 10, Alderaan: 3, Coruscant: 3, Kamino: 3, …
    11│species   │<chr>│    4│    37│Human: 35, Droid: 6, Gungan: 3, Kaminoan: 2, Mirialan: 2, Twi'l…
    12│films     │<lst>│    0│    24│Attack of the Clones: 40, Revenge of the Sith: 34, The Phantom …
    13│vehicles  │<lst>│    0│    11│Imperial Speeder Bike: 2, Snowspeeder: 2, Tribubble bongo: 2, A…
    14│starships │<lst>│    0│    17│Millennium Falcon: 4, X-wing: 4, Imperial shuttle: 3, Naboo fig…

There is a directly visible (exported) version of the colorful summary called `summary_colorDF`:

    starwars %>% summary_colorDF

As you can see, the summary is much more informative than the default `summary.data.frame` function. Not only this, but the object does not need to be a data frame – any list can do!

    mtcars_cyl <- split(mtcars$mpg, mtcars$cyl)
    sapply(mtcars_cyl, length)

     4  6  8
    11  7 14

The list `mtcars_cyl` is the miles per gallon column split by number of cylinders. We can use `summary_colorDF` to create a (semi)graphical summary of this list:

    summary_colorDF(mtcars_cyl, numformat="g", width=90)

    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 5 x 3:
     │Col  │Class│NAs  │unique│Summary
    1│4    │<dbl>│    0│     9│                            ╾──┤       +          ├────────╼
    2│6    │<dbl>│    0│     6│                   ╾─┤ +   ├╼
    3│8    │<dbl>│    0│    12│╾─────────┤ +  ├──────╼

In fact, this is so useful (especially if an interactive graphic device is not practical, e.g. when running R over ssh/screen) that I implemented a terminal boxplotting function:

    term_boxplot(Sepal.Length ~ Species, data=iris, width=90)

    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 5 x 4:
     │Col       │Class│NAs  │unique│Summary
    1│setosa    │<dbl>│    0│    15│╾──────┤  +  ├────────╼
    2│versicolor│<dbl>│    0│    21│         ╾─────────┤    +    ├──────────╼
    3│virginica │<dbl>│    0│    21│         ╾──────────────────┤   +     ├──────────────╼
    4│Range     │<chr>│    0│     1│Only one value: Range: 4.3 - 7.9

## 6.2 Highlighting

The `highlight()` function allows to mark selected rows from the table:

    foo <- starwars %>% select(name, species, homeworld) %>%
      highlight(.$homeworld == "Tatooine")

    # Tibble (class tbl_df) 3 x 87:
    # (Showing rows 1 - 20 out of 87)
      │name                 │species       │homeworld
     1│Luke Skywalker       │Human         │Tatooine
     2│C-3PO                │Droid         │Tatooine
     3│R2-D2                │Droid         │Naboo
     4│Darth Vader          │Human         │Tatooine
     5│Leia Organa          │Human         │Alderaan
     6│Owen Lars            │Human         │Tatooine
     7│Beru Whitesun lars   │Human         │Tatooine
     8│R5-D4                │Droid         │Tatooine
     9│Biggs Darklighter    │Human         │Tatooine
    10│Obi-Wan Kenobi       │Human         │Stewjon
    11│Anakin Skywalker     │Human         │Tatooine
    12│Wilhuff Tarkin       │Human         │Eriadu
    13│Chewbacca            │Wookiee       │Kashyyyk
    14│Han Solo             │Human         │Corellia
    15│Greedo               │Rodian        │Rodia
    16│Jabba Desilijic Tiure│Hutt          │Nal Hutta
    17│Wedge Antilles       │Human         │Corellia
    18│Jek Tono Porkins     │Human         │Bestine IV
    19│Yoda                 │Yoda's species│NA
    20│Palpatine            │Human         │Naboo

(Unfortunately, the HTML representation of the ANSI terminal doesn’t show that one correctly).

## 6.3 Data frame search

The `df_search()` function looks through a data frame for occurence of a pattern in all columns (or a subset, if the parameter `cols` is used) and where the pattern matches, it colors the contents of the cell in red:

    starwars %>% df_search("blue")

    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 14 x 87:
    # (Showing rows 1 - 20 out of 87)
      │name                 │height│mass │hair_color   │skin_color      │eye_color│birth_year
     1│Luke Skywalker       │172   │77   │blond        │fair            │blue     │19
     2│C-3PO                │167   │75   │NA           │gold            │yellow   │112
     3│R2-D2                │96    │32   │NA           │white, blue     │red      │33
     4│Darth Vader          │202   │136  │none         │white           │yellow   │41.9
     5│Leia Organa          │150   │49   │brown        │light           │brown    │19
     6│Owen Lars            │178   │120  │brown, grey  │light           │blue     │52
     7│Beru Whitesun lars   │165   │75   │brown        │light           │blue     │47
     8│R5-D4                │97    │32   │NA           │white, red      │red      │NA
     9│Biggs Darklighter    │183   │84   │black        │light           │brown    │24
    10│Obi-Wan Kenobi       │182   │77   │auburn, white│fair            │blue-gray│57
    11│Anakin Skywalker     │188   │84   │blond        │fair            │blue     │41.9
    12│Wilhuff Tarkin       │180   │NA   │auburn, grey │fair            │blue     │64
    13│Chewbacca            │228   │112  │brown        │unknown         │blue     │200
    14│Han Solo             │180   │80   │brown        │fair            │brown    │29
    15│Greedo               │173   │74   │NA           │green           │black    │44
    16│Jabba Desilijic Tiure│175   │1358 │NA           │green-tan, brown│orange   │600
    17│Wedge Antilles       │170   │77   │brown        │fair            │hazel    │21
    18│Jek Tono Porkins     │180   │110  │brown        │fair            │blue     │NA
    19│Yoda                 │66    │17   │white        │green           │brown    │896
    20│Palpatine            │170   │75   │grey         │pale            │yellow   │82
      │sex           │gender   │homeworld │species       │films       │vehicles    │starships
     1│male          │masculine│Tatooine  │Human         │<list: 5 el>│<list: 2 el>│<list: 2 el>
     2│none          │masculine│Tatooine  │Droid         │<list: 6 el>│<list: 0 el>│<list: 0 el>
     3│none          │masculine│Naboo     │Droid         │<list: 7 el>│<list: 0 el>│<list: 0 el>
     4│male          │masculine│Tatooine  │Human         │<list: 4 el>│<list: 0 el>│<list: 1 el>
     5│female        │feminine │Alderaan  │Human         │<list: 5 el>│<list: 1 el>│<list: 0 el>
     6│male          │masculine│Tatooine  │Human         │<list: 3 el>│<list: 0 el>│<list: 0 el>
     7│female        │feminine │Tatooine  │Human         │<list: 3 el>│<list: 0 el>│<list: 0 el>
     8│none          │masculine│Tatooine  │Droid         │<list: 1 el>│<list: 0 el>│<list: 0 el>
     9│male          │masculine│Tatooine  │Human         │<list: 1 el>│<list: 0 el>│<list: 1 el>
    10│male          │masculine│Stewjon   │Human         │<list: 6 el>│<list: 1 el>│<list: 5 el>
    11│male          │masculine│Tatooine  │Human         │<list: 3 el>│<list: 2 el>│<list: 3 el>
    12│male          │masculine│Eriadu    │Human         │<list: 2 el>│<list: 0 el>│<list: 0 el>
    13│male          │masculine│Kashyyyk  │Wookiee       │<list: 5 el>│<list: 1 el>│<list: 2 el>
    14│male          │masculine│Corellia  │Human         │<list: 4 el>│<list: 0 el>│<list: 2 el>
    15│male          │masculine│Rodia     │Rodian        │<list: 1 el>│<list: 0 el>│<list: 0 el>
    16│hermaphroditic│masculine│Nal Hutta │Hutt          │<list: 3 el>│<list: 0 el>│<list: 0 el>
    17│male          │masculine│Corellia  │Human         │<list: 3 el>│<list: 1 el>│<list: 1 el>
    18│male          │masculine│Bestine IV│Human         │<list: 1 el>│<list: 0 el>│<list: 1 el>
    19│male          │masculine│NA        │Yoda's species│<list: 5 el>│<list: 0 el>│<list: 0 el>
    20│male          │masculine│Naboo     │Human         │<list: 5 el>│<list: 0 el>│<list: 0 el>

# 7 Setting up colorDF as the default data frame print method

You can use colorDF as the default method for displaying data frames and similar objects. For this, you need to use the `colorDF:::print.colorDF` function:

    ## for regular data frames
    print.data.frame <- colorDF:::print_colorDF

    ## for tidyverse tibbles
    print.tbl        <- colorDF:::print_colorDF

    ## for data.tables
    print.data.table <- colorDF:::print_colorDF

This will not replace or modify the original functions from data.table or tibble packages, but merely mask these. And from now on, every data frame like object will be shown in color, but otherwise, its behavior will not change.

Should you want to go back to the original print functions, just remove these new functions:

    rm(print.data.frame, print.tbl, print.data.table)

This is a bit more complicated in case of S4 objects. One such object type is a DataFrame defined in the S4Vectors package. It is commonly used in many Bioconductor packages such as DESeq2. Unfortunately, the `show` method defined for DataFrames is not convenient, for example it always displays a ridiculous number of significant digits, cluttering the output. `print_colorDF` can print these classes, as it can work on anything that can be cast into a data frame using an `as.data.frame` method.

To take over the output of DataFrames and all other objects inheriting from it (such as DESeqResults), we need to use the S4 convention of defining the methods:

    setMethod("show", "DataFrame", function(object) colorDF::print_colorDF(object))

Since methods can be only defined for existing classes, if you want to put it in your `.Rprofile`, you need to first load (but not necessarily attach) the S4Vectors package:

    loadNamespace("S4Vectors")
    setMethod("show", "DataFrame", function(object) colorDF::print_colorDF(object))

# 8 Global options

There is a number of options which override whatever has been defined in a particular theme / style. You can view them with `colorDF_options()`:

    colorDF_options()

    # Data frame like object (class data.frame) 4 x 6:
     │Option              │Description                       │Default           │Current
    1│colorDF_n           │Number of rows to show            │20                │Not set
    2│colorDF_noitalic    │Suppress italics (read on loading)│FALSE             │Not set
    3│colorDF_tibble_style│Behave like tibble                │FALSE             │Not set
    4│colorDF_sep         │Column separator                  │" "               │Not set
    5│colorDF_theme       │colorDF theme to use              │light             │light
    6│width               │Width of the terminal             │getOption("width")│100

To change these options, use `options()` just like with any other global option. For example,

    options(colorDF_tibble_style=TRUE)
    options(colorDF_sep= " ")
    options(colorDF_n=5)
    colorDF(starwars)

    # Color data frame (class colorDF) 14 x 87:
    # (Showing rows 1 - 5 out of 87)
      name           height mass  hair_color skin_color  eye_color birth_year sex    gender
      <chr>          <int>  <dbl> <chr>      <chr>       <chr>     <dbl>      <chr>  <chr>
    1 Luke Skywalker    172    77 blond      fair        blue              19 male   masculine
    2 C-3PO             167    75 NA         gold        yellow           112 none   masculine
    3 R2-D2              96    32 NA         white, blue red               33 none   masculine
    4 Darth Vader       202   136 none       white       yellow            42 male   masculine
    5 Leia Organa       150    49 brown      light       brown             19 female feminine
    # 5 more columns: homeworld (<chr>), species (<chr>), films (<lst>), vehicles (<lst>), starships (<lst>)

# 9 Rmarkdown

The package is intended to be used in terminal. However, as you see above, it is possible to get the colored tables also in an rmarkdown document. For this, include the following chunk at the beginning of your document:

    ```{r echo=FALSE}
    options(crayon.enabled = TRUE)
    knitr::knit_hooks$set(output = function(x, options){
      paste0(
        '<pre class="r-output"><code>',
        fansi::sgr_to_html(x = htmltools::htmlEscape(x), warn = FALSE),
        '</code></pre>'
      )
    })
    ```

1. Strictly speaking, that is not true, as there is a `[.colorDF` method which serves only as a wrapper around the respective `[` of the underlying data frame, tibble or data table. The only reason is exist is that otherwise the style and column type attributes will be lost.↩︎