Replace tabulate with prettytable

[opotowsky]

Discussed in #1747

^{Originally posted by opotowsky June 25, 2024}
tabulate is a dead project and prettytable is not. But it's pretty extensively used here and downstream with the runLog module.

NOTE: Because tabulate is a dead project, it is stopping us from moving to Python 3.11.

[john-science]

I have no particular love for tabulate, sure I'm game.

People might get touchy that you change the formatting of their log tables. But, that's not a big change, so I'm okay with it.

[jakehader]

I'm not sure if replacing is necessary if tabulate functions as needed. What is the threshold for updating stale dependencies? I say if there is a clear bug or problem we have with tabulate then sure, but if it's just because the project is "dead" I'm not sure. Maybe there is something to be said about unmaintained projects and potentially vulnerabilities in open source packages with the more recent Linux / JavaScript supply chain attacks / hacks though.

See: xz, polyfill

[opotowsky]

@jakehader tabulate is blocking us from moving to python 3.11, so it's way above the threshold for "must remove". (Given the speedups we hope to see with switching)

Update: sorry, it runs with python 3.11, but it doesnt work over pip 22.2 with setup.py installs, which is blocking us from upgrading.

[jakehader]

Thanks for the context. That wasn't in the discussion so I didn't know about an issue with pip or how it's blocking.

[opotowsky]

Thanks for the context. That wasn't in the discussion so I didn't know about an issue with pip or how it's blocking.

True that! I think I must've offered the context in an offline chat before making the discussion. I'd need to retrace my steps to remember exactly how it's failing for us but it's something really lame

[jakehader]

Sounds good - I'm fine with it if there is an issue with tabulate but if you can find the specific problem it would be good to provide that context in the ticket before updating so we can look back into the change / reason for the change.

I haven't used anything but tabulate before but if pretty-table is similar I'm down. Link - https://github.com/jazzband/prettytable

Article on comparison - https://amrinarosyd.medium.com/prettytable-vs-tabulate-which-should-you-use-e9054755f170#:~:text=PrettyTable%20allows%20you%20to%20customize,sort%20data%20by%20column%20values.&text=Tabulate%20offers%20several%20built%2Din,by%20modifying%20the%20table%20format.

[opotowsky]

will do. Just need time to get back to my python311 work.

[devdanzin]

Would a fork of tabulate that includes bug fixes and supports newer Python versions help you, or is the move to prettytable the best solution? I ask because I and others have been thinking about forking into something like tabulate-ng.

[opotowsky]

We want to move to a project that isn't deprecated and we can rely on updates being pushed to PyPI. Just helps keep things running over the longer term.

[john-science]

Interestingly, I found the tabulate is only one Python file, and it's MIT licensed.

So I pulled the 2,800 line file out of that repo, and pulled it into an ARMI branch. It worked like a charm.

I also found I could reduce it to 1,500 lines, as there are a ton of features we don't want.

So... that might be an option.

[opotowsky]

I'm a fan! either ingest it or fork it. Don't matter to me!