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TableContainer

TableContainer is an R package that provides a lightweight and flexible container for managing tabular data with associated row and column annotations. It is inspired by Bioconductor's SummarizedExperiment but does not rely on Bioconductor dependencies, making it easier to integrate into various workflows.

Features

  • Matrix-like Data Storage: Store data in a matrix or data frame format.
  • Row and Column Annotations: Add metadata to rows and columns using data frames.
  • Flexible Metadata: Attach arbitrary metadata to the container.
  • Automatic Annotation Updates: Automatically update annotations when subsetting the table.

Installation

To install the development version of TableContainer:

remote::install_github("Jiefei-Wang/TableContainer")

To install the stable version from CRAN:

install.packages("TableContainer")

Usage

Creating a TableContainer

You can create a TableContainer object using the TableContainer() constructor:

library(TableContainer)

# Example data
tbl <- matrix(1:12, nrow = 3, ncol = 4)
row_dt <- data.frame(row1 = 1:3, row2 = letters[1:3])
col_dt <- data.frame(col1 = 1:4, col2 = letters[1:4])
metadata <- list(meta1 = "meta1", meta2 = "meta2")

# Create a TableContainer
container <- TableContainer(
  table = tbl,
  rowData = row_dt,
  colData = col_dt,
  metaData = metadata
)

Example output:

> container
# TableContainer: 3 rows x 4 cols  ( matrix )
     [,1]  [,2]  [,3]  [,4]
[1,]  1     4     7     10
[2,]  2     5     8     11
[3,]  3     6     9     12
---
rowData: [2 vars] row1, row2
colData: [2 vars] col1, col2
metadata: [2 elements] meta1, meta2

Subsetting

Subset the TableContainer object while maintaining consistency in annotations:

# Subset rows and columns
subset_container <- container[1:2, 2:4]

Example output:

> subset_container
# TableContainer: 2 rows x 3 cols  ( matrix )
     [,1]  [,2]  [,3]
[1,]  4     7     10
[2,]  5     8     11
---
rowData: [2 vars] row1, row2
colData: [2 vars] col1, col2
metadata: [2 elements] meta1, meta2

Accessing and Modifying Data

You can access and modify the table, row annotations, column annotations, and metadata using accessor methods:

# Access data
tblData(container)
rowData(container)
colData(container)
metaData(container)

# Modify data
tblData(container) <- matrix(13:24, nrow = 3, ncol = 4)
rowData(container) <- data.frame(newRow = 1:3)
colData(container) <- data.frame(newCol = 1:4)
metaData(container) <- list(newMeta = "updated metadata")

Documentation

For detailed documentation, see the vignette of the package:

vignette("TableContainer")

License

This package is licensed under the MIT License.

Author

Developed by Jiefei Wang (szwjf08@gmail.com).

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Version

Install

install.packages('TableContainer')

Monthly Downloads

147

Version

1.0.0

License

MIT + file LICENSE

Maintainer

Jiefei Wang

Last Published

June 19th, 2025

Functions in TableContainer (1.0.0)

.printTable

Show method for TableContainer and its components
as.matrix,TableContainer-method

Data Conversion
pretty_number

Common functions for formatting table cells
dim,TableContainer-method

Container Methods
TableContainer

The constructor function for TableContainer
TableContainer-class

The TableContainer Class
format_tbl

Format a table for display. The maximum number of columns displayed is limited by the terminal width.