DataTable headers don't wrap text

[aperepel]

Hey, I'm trying to display a table with longer column headers and they just get cut off. Is there a way to make header text wrap to multiple lines?

I can get regular cells to wrap just fine by setting column width and using Text objects with newlines:

from textual.app import App
from textual.widgets import DataTable
from rich.text import Text

class MyApp(App):
    def compose(self):
        yield DataTable()

    def on_mount(self):
        table = self.query_one(DataTable)

        # Try header with newlines and see if height helps
        header = Text("Very Long\nHeader Text\nThat Wraps")
        table.add_column(header, width=20)

        # Cell content wraps fine when you set row height
        wrapped_cell = Text("This wraps\nto multiple\nlines")
        table.add_row(wrapped_cell, height=3)  # height allows multi-line display

        # Another example
        cell2 = Text("More text\nthat spans\nseveral lines")
        table.add_row(cell2, height=3)

MyApp().run()

In the screenshot above, one can clearly see regular cells wrapping without issues, but the header always has a fixed height and truncates the text.

I tried passing a Text object with newlines to add_column() too but the header still shows as a single line and gets truncated.

Is there a way to make headers wrap like regular cells do?

[github-actions]

We found the following entries in the FAQ which you may find helpful:

• How can I select and copy text in a Textual app?
• How do I center a widget in a screen?
• Why doesn't Textual look good on macOS?

Feel free to close this issue if you found an answer in the FAQ. Otherwise, please give us a little time to review.

This project is developed and maintained by Will McGugan. Consider sponsoring Will's work on this project (and others).

This is an automated reply, generated by FAQtory

[TomJGooding]

You can change the DataTable.header_height:

from textual.app import App, ComposeResult
from textual.widgets import DataTable


class ExampleApp(App):
    def compose(self) -> ComposeResult:
        yield DataTable(header_height=2)

    def on_mount(self) -> None:
        table = self.query_one(DataTable)

        header = "Very Long Header Text That Wraps"
        table.add_column(header, width=16)

        table.add_row(0)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    app = ExampleApp()
    app.run()

[TomJGooding]

Another tip: if you've specified a column width, when adding a row you can auto-detect the height:

        table.add_row(
            "This is an example of a very long data string",
            # Use None to auto-detect the optimal height.
            height=None,
        )

[aperepel]

Thank you, this was non-obvious, but vey helpful!

[github-actions]

I hope I solved your issue!

Consider sponsoring my work to continue to maintain and develop Textual.

• Will McGugan