C-c | (org-table-create-or-convert-from-region)

Convert the active region to table. If every line contains at least one TAB character, the function assumes that the material is tab separated. If every line contains a comma, comma-separated values (CSV) are assumed. If not, lines are split at whitespace into fields. You can use a prefix argument to force a specific separator: C-u forces CSV, C-u C-u forces TAB, C-u C-u C-u prompts for a regular expression to match the separator, and a numeric argument N indicates that at least N consecutive spaces, or alternatively a TAB will be the separator.

If there is no active region, this command creates an empty Org table. But it is easier just to start typing, like | N a m e | P h o n e | A g e RET | - TAB.

C-c C-c (org-table-align)

Re-align the table without moving point.

TAB (org-table-next-field)

Re-align the table, move to the next field. Creates a new row if necessary.

M-x org-table-blank-field

Blank the current table field or active region.

S-TAB (org-table-previous-field)

Re-align, move to previous field.

RET (org-table-next-row)

Re-align the table and move down to next row. Creates a new row if necessary. At the beginning or end of a line, RET still inserts a new line, so it can be used to split a table.

M-a (org-table-beginning-of-field)

Move to beginning of the current table field, or on to the previous field.

M-e (org-table-end-of-field)

Move to end of the current table field, or on to the next field.

M-LEFT (org-table-move-column-left)

Move the current column left.

M-RIGHT (org-table-move-column-right)

Move the current column right.

M-S-LEFT (org-table-delete-column)

Kill the current column.

M-S-RIGHT (org-table-insert-column)

Insert a new column at point position. Move the recent column and all cells to the right of this column to the right.

M-UP (org-table-move-row-up)

Move the current row up.

M-DOWN (org-table-move-row-down)

Move the current row down.

M-S-UP (org-table-kill-row)

Kill the current row or horizontal line.

S-UP (org-table-move-cell-up)

Move cell up by swapping with adjacent cell.

S-DOWN (org-table-move-cell-down)

Move cell down by swapping with adjacent cell.

S-LEFT (org-table-move-cell-left)

Move cell left by swapping with adjacent cell.

S-RIGHT (org-table-move-cell-right)

Move cell right by swapping with adjacent cell.

M-S-DOWN (org-table-insert-row)

Insert a new row above the current row. With a prefix argument, the line is created below the current one.

C-c - (org-table-insert-hline)

Insert a horizontal line below current row. With a prefix argument, the line is created above the current line.

C-c RET (org-table-hline-and-move)

Insert a horizontal line below current row, and move point into the row below that line.

C-c ^ (org-table-sort-lines)

Sort the table lines in the region. The position of point indicates the column to be used for sorting, and the range of lines is the range between the nearest horizontal separator lines, or the entire table. If point is before the first column, you are prompted for the sorting column. If there is an active region, the mark specifies the first line and the sorting column, while point should be in the last line to be included into the sorting. The command prompts for the sorting type, alphabetically, numerically, or by time. You can sort in normal or reverse order. You can also supply your own key extraction and comparison functions. When called with a prefix argument, alphabetic sorting is case-sensitive.

C-c C-x M-w (org-table-copy-region)

Copy a rectangular region from a table to a special clipboard. Point and mark determine edge fields of the rectangle. If there is no active region, copy just the current field. The process ignores horizontal separator lines.

C-c C-x C-w (org-table-cut-region)

Copy a rectangular region from a table to a special clipboard, and blank all fields in the rectangle. So this is the "cut" operation.

C-c C-x C-y (org-table-paste-rectangle)

Paste a rectangular region into a table. The upper left corner ends up in the current field. All involved fields are overwritten. If the rectangle does not fit into the present table, the table is enlarged as needed. The process ignores horizontal separator lines.

M-RET (org-table-wrap-region)

Split the current field at point position and move the rest to the line below. If there is an active region, and both point and mark are in the same column, the text in the column is wrapped to minimum width for the given number of lines. A numeric prefix argument may be used to change the number of desired lines. If there is no region, but you specify a prefix argument, the current field is made blank, and the content is appended to the field above.

C-c + (org-table-sum)

Sum the numbers in the current column, or in the rectangle defined by the active region. The result is shown in the echo area and can be inserted with C-y.

S-RET (org-table-copy-down)

When current field is empty, copy from first non-empty field above. When not empty, copy current field down to next row and move point along with it.

Depending on the variable org-table-copy-increment, integer and time stamp field values, and fields prefixed or suffixed with a whole number, can be incremented during copy. Also, a 0 prefix argument temporarily disables the increment.

This key is also used by shift-selection and related modes (see Packages that conflict with Org mode).

C-c ` (org-table-edit-field)

Edit the current field in a separate window. This is useful for fields that are not fully visible (see Column Width and Alignment). When called with a C-u prefix, just make the full field visible, so that it can be edited in place. When called with two C-u prefixes, make the editor window follow point through the table and always show the current field. The follow mode exits automatically when point leaves the table, or when you repeat this command with C-u C-u C-c `.

M-x org-table-import

Import a file as a table. The table should be TAB or whitespace separated. Use, for example, to import a spreadsheet table or data from a database, because these programs generally can write TAB-separated text files. This command works by inserting the file into the buffer and then converting the region to a table. Any prefix argument is passed on to the converter, which uses it to determine the separator.

C-c | (org-table-create-or-convert-from-region)

Tables can also be imported by pasting tabular text into the Org buffer, selecting the pasted text with C-x C-x and then using the C-c | command (see Creation and conversion).

M-x org-table-export

Export the table, by default as a TAB-separated file. Use for data exchange with, for example, spreadsheet or database programs. The format used to export the file can be configured in the variable org-table-export-default-format. You may also use properties TABLE_EXPORT_FILE and TABLE_EXPORT_FORMAT to specify the file name and the format for table export in a subtree. Org supports quite general formats for exported tables. The exporter format is the same as the format used by Orgtbl radio tables, see Translator functions, for a detailed description.

M-x org-table-header-line-mode

Turn on the display of the first data row of the table at point in the window header line when this first row is not visible anymore in the buffer. You can activate this minor mode by default by setting the option org-table-header-line-p to t.

M-x org-table-transpose-table-at-point

Transpose the table at point and eliminate hlines.

To compute fields in the table from other fields, formulas must reference other fields or ranges. In Org, fields can be referenced by name, by absolute coordinates, and by relative coordinates. To find out what the coordinates of a field are, press C-c ? in that field, or press C-c } to toggle the display of a grid.

@ROW$COLUMN

#+CONSTANTS: c=299792458. pi=3.14 eps=2.4e-6

remote(NAME,REF)

A formula can be any algebraic expression understood by the Emacs Calc package. Note that Calc has the non-standard convention that / has lower precedence than *, so that a/b*c is interpreted as (a/(b*c)). Before evaluation by calc-eval (see Calling Calc from Your Lisp Programs), variable substitution takes place according to the rules described above.

The range vectors can be directly fed into the Calc vector functions like vmean and vsum.

A formula can contain an optional mode string after a semicolon. This string consists of flags to influence Calc and other modes during execution. By default, Org uses the standard Calc modes (precision 12, angular units degrees, fraction and symbolic modes off). The display format, however, has been changed to (float 8) to keep tables compact. The default settings can be configured using the variable org-calc-default-modes.

p20

Set the internal Calc calculation precision to 20 digits.

n3, s3, e2, f4

Normal, scientific, engineering or fixed format of the result of Calc passed back to Org. Calc formatting is unlimited in precision as long as the Calc calculation precision is greater.

D, R

Degree and radian angle modes of Calc.

F, S

Fraction and symbolic modes of Calc.

u

Units simplification mode of Calc. Calc is also a symbolic calculator and is capable of working with values having a unit, represented with numerals followed by a unit string in Org table cells. This mode instructs Calc to simplify the units in the computed expression before returning the result.

T, t, U

Duration computations in Calc or Lisp, Durations and time values.

E

If and how to consider empty fields. Without E empty fields in range references are suppressed so that the Calc vector or Lisp list contains only the non-empty fields. With E the empty fields are kept. For empty fields in ranges or empty field references the value nan (not a number) is used in Calc formulas and the empty string is used for Lisp formulas. Add N to use 0 instead for both formula types. For the value of a field the mode N has higher precedence than E.

N

Interpret all fields as numbers, use 0 for non-numbers. See the next section to see how this is essential for computations with Lisp formulas. In Calc formulas it is used only occasionally because there number strings are already interpreted as numbers without N.

L

Literal, for Lisp formulas only. See the next section.

Unless you use large integer numbers or high-precision calculation and display for floating point numbers you may alternatively provide a printf format specifier to reformat the Calc result after it has been passed back to Org instead of letting Calc already do the

formatting⁹. A few examples:

Calc also contains a complete set of logical operations (see Logical Operations). For example

if($1 < 20, teen, string(""))

"teen" if age $1 is less than 20, else the Org table result field is set to empty with the empty string.

if("$1" =​ "nan" || "$2" =​= "nan", string(""), $1 + $2); E f-1=

Sum of the first two columns. When at least one of the input fields is empty the Org table result field is set to empty. E is required to not convert empty fields to 0. f-1 is an optional Calc format string similar to %.1f but leaves empty results empty.

if(typeof(vmean($1..$7)) =​ 12, string(""), vmean($1..$7)); E=

Mean value of a range unless there is any empty field. Every field in the range that is empty is replaced by nan which lets vmean result in nan. Then typeof = 12= detects the nan from vmean and the Org table result field is set to empty. Use this when the sample set is expected to never have missing values.

if("$1..$7" =​ "[]", string(""), vmean($1..$7))=

Mean value of a range with empty fields skipped. Every field in the range that is empty is skipped. When all fields in the range are empty the mean value is not defined and the Org table result field is set to empty. Use this when the sample set can have a variable size.

vmean($1..$7); EN

To complete the example before: Mean value of a range with empty fields counting as samples with value 0. Use this only when incomplete sample sets should be padded with 0 to the full size.

You can add your own Calc functions defined in Emacs Lisp with defmath and use them in formula syntax for Calc.

It is also possible to write a formula in Emacs Lisp. This can be useful for string manipulation and control structures, if Calc's functionality is not enough.

A formula is evaluated as a Lisp form when it starts with a single-quote followed by an opening parenthesis. Cell table references are interpolated into the Lisp form before execution. The evaluation should return either a string or a number. Evaluation modes and a printf format used to render the returned values can be specified after a semicolon.

By default, references are interpolated as literal Lisp strings: the field content is replaced in the Lisp form stripped of leading and trailing white space and surrounded in double-quotes. For example:

'(concat $1 $2)

concatenates the content of columns 1 and column 2.

When the N flag is used, all referenced elements are parsed as numbers and interpolated as Lisp numbers, without quotes. Fields that cannot be parsed as numbers are interpolated as zeros. For example:

'(+ $1 $2);N

adds columns 1 and 2, equivalent to Calc's $1+$2. Ranges are inserted as space-separated fields, so they can be embedded in list or vector syntax. For example:

'(apply '+ '($1..$4));N

computes the sum of columns 1 to 4, like Calc's vsum($1..$4).

When the L flag is used, all fields are interpolated literally: the cell content is replaced in the Lisp form stripped of leading and trailing white space and without quotes. If a reference is intended to be interpreted as a string by the Lisp form, the reference operator itself should be enclosed in double-quotes, like "$3". The L flag is useful when strings and numbers are used in the same Lisp form. For example:

'(substring "$1" $2 $3);L

extracts the part of the string in column 1 between the character positions specified in the integers in column 2 and 3 and it is easier to read than the equivalent:

'(substring $1 (string-to-number $2) (string-to-number $3))

When the formula itself contains ; symbol, Org mode may incorrectly interpret everything past ; as format specifier:

'(concat $1 ";")

You can put an extra tailing ; to indicate that all the earlier instances of ; belong to the formula itself:

'(concat $1 ";");

If you want to compute time values use the T, t, or U flag, either in Calc formulas or Elisp formulas:

|  Task 1 |   Task 2 |    Total |
|---------+----------+----------|
|    2:12 |     1:47 | 03:59:00 |
|    2:12 |     1:47 |    03:59 |
| 3:02:20 | -2:07:00 |     0.92 |
#+TBLFM: @2$3=$1+$2;T::@3$3=$1+$2;U::@4$3=$1+$2;t

Input duration values must be of the form HH:MM[:SS], where seconds are optional. With the T flag, computed durations are displayed as HH:MM:SS (see the first formula above). With the U flag, seconds are omitted so that the result is only HH:MM (see second formula above). Zero-padding of the hours field depends upon the value of the variable org-table-duration-hour-zero-padding.

With the t flag, computed durations are displayed according to the value of the option org-table-duration-custom-format, which defaults to hours and displays the result as a fraction of hours (see the third formula in the example above).

Negative duration values can be manipulated as well, and integers are considered as seconds in addition and subtraction.

To assign a formula to a particular field, type it directly into the field, preceded by :=, for example vsum(@II..III). When you press TAB or RET or C-c C-c with point still in the field, the formula is stored as the formula for this field, evaluated, and the current field is replaced with the result.

Formulas are stored in a special TBLFM keyword located directly below the table. If you type the equation in the fourth field of the third data line in the table, the formula looks like @3$4=$1+$2. When inserting/deleting/swapping column and rows with the appropriate commands, absolute references (but not relative ones) in stored formulas are modified in order to still reference the same field. To avoid this from happening, in particular in range references, anchor ranges at the table borders (using @<, @>, $<, $>), or at hlines using the @I notation. Automatic adaptation of field references does not happen if you edit the table structure with normal editing commands—you must fix the formulas yourself.

Instead of typing an equation into the field, you may also use the following command

C-u C-c = (org-table-eval-formula)

Install a new formula for the current field. The command prompts for a formula with default taken from the TBLFM keyword, applies it to the current field, and stores it.

The left-hand side of a formula can also be a special expression in order to assign the formula to a number of different fields. There is no keyboard shortcut to enter such range formulas. To add them, use the formula editor (see Editing and debugging formulas) or edit the TBLFM keyword directly.

$2=

Column formula, valid for the entire column. This is so common that Org treats these formulas in a special way, see Column formulas.

@3=

Row formula, applies to all fields in the specified row. @>= means the last row.

@1$2..@4$3=

Range formula, applies to all fields in the given rectangular range. This can also be used to assign a formula to some but not all fields in a row.

$NAME=

Named field, see Advanced features.

When you assign a formula to a simple column reference like $3=, the same formula is used in all fields of that column, with the following very convenient exceptions: (i) If the table contains horizontal separator hlines with rows above and below, everything before the first such hline is considered part of the table header and is not modified by column formulas. Therefore a header is mandatory when you use column formulas and want to add hlines to group rows, like for example to separate a total row at the bottom from the summand rows above. (ii) Fields that already get a value from a field/range formula are left alone by column formulas. These conditions make column formulas very easy to use.

To assign a formula to a column, type it directly into any field in the column, preceded by an equal sign, like =$1+$2. When you press TAB or RET or C-c C-c with point still in the field, the formula is stored as the formula for the current column, evaluated and the current field replaced with the result. If the field contains only =, the previously stored formula for this column is used. For each column, Org only remembers the most recently used formula. In the TBLFM keyword, column formulas look like $4=$1+$2. The left-hand side of a column formula can not be the name of column, it must be the numeric column reference or $>.

Instead of typing an equation into the field, you may also use the following command:

C-c = (org-table-eval-formula)

Install a new formula for the current column and replace current field with the result of the formula. The command prompts for a formula, with default taken from the TBLFM keyword, applies it to the current field and stores it. With a numeric prefix argument, e.g., C-5 C-c =, the command applies it to that many consecutive fields in the current column.

Org has three predefined Emacs Lisp functions for lookups in tables.

(org-lookup-first VAL S-LIST R-LIST &optional PREDICATE)

Searches for the first element S in list S-LIST for which

(PREDICATE VAL S)

is non-nil; returns the value from the corresponding position in list R-LIST. The default PREDICATE is equal. Note that the parameters VAL and S are passed to PREDICATE in the same order as the corresponding parameters are in the call to org-lookup-first, where VAL precedes S-LIST. If R-LIST is nil, the matching element S of S-LIST is returned.

(org-lookup-last VAL S-LIST R-LIST &optional PREDICATE)

Similar to org-lookup-first above, but searches for the last element for which PREDICATE is non-nil.

(org-lookup-all VAL S-LIST R-LIST &optional PREDICATE)

Similar to org-lookup-first, but searches for all elements for which PREDICATE is non-nil, and returns all corresponding values. This function can not be used by itself in a formula, because it returns a list of values. However, powerful lookups can be built when this function is combined with other Emacs Lisp functions.

If the ranges used in these functions contain empty fields, the E mode for the formula should usually be specified: otherwise empty fields are not included in S-LIST and/or R-LIST which can, for example, result in an incorrect mapping from an element of S-LIST to the corresponding element of R-LIST.

These three functions can be used to implement associative arrays, count matching cells, rank results, group data, etc. For practical examples see this tutorial on Worg.

You can edit individual formulas in the minibuffer or directly in the field. Org can also prepare a special buffer with all active formulas of a table. When offering a formula for editing, Org converts references to the standard format (like B3 or D&) if possible. If you prefer to only work with the internal format (like @3$2 or $4), configure the variable org-table-use-standard-references.

C-c = or C-u C-c = (org-table-eval-formula)

Edit the formula associated with the current column/field in the minibuffer. See Column formulas, and Field and range formulas.

C-u C-u C-c = (org-table-eval-formula)

Re-insert the active formula (either a field formula, or a column formula) into the current field, so that you can edit it directly in the field. The advantage over editing in the minibuffer is that you can use the command C-c ?.

C-c ? (org-table-field-info)

While editing a formula in a table field, highlight the field(s) referenced by the reference at point position in the formula.

C-c } (org-table-toggle-coordinate-overlays)

Toggle the display of row and column numbers for a table, using overlays. These are updated each time the table is aligned; you can force it with C-c C-c.

C-c { (org-table-toggle-formula-debugger)

Toggle the formula debugger on and off. See below.

C-c ' (org-table-edit-formulas)

Edit all formulas for the current table in a special buffer, where the formulas are displayed one per line. If the current field has an active formula, point in the formula editor marks it. While inside the special buffer, Org automatically highlights any field or range reference at point position. You may edit, remove and add formulas, and use the following commands:

C-c C-c or C-x C-s (org-table-fedit-finish)

Exit the formula editor and store the modified formulas. With C-u prefix, also apply the new formulas to the entire table.

C-c C-q (org-table-fedit-abort)

Exit the formula editor without installing changes.

C-c C-r (org-table-fedit-toggle-ref-type)

Toggle all references in the formula editor between standard (like B3) and internal (like @3$2).

TAB (org-table-fedit-lisp-indent)

Pretty-print or indent Lisp formula at point. When in a line containing a Lisp formula, format the formula according to Emacs Lisp rules. Another TAB collapses the formula back again. In the open formula, TAB re-indents just like in Emacs Lisp mode.

M-TAB (lisp-complete-symbol)

Complete Lisp symbols, just like in Emacs Lisp mode.

S-UP, S-DOWN, S-LEFT, S-RIGHT

Shift the reference at point. For example, if the reference is B3 and you press S-RIGHT, it becomes C3. This also works for relative references and for hline references.

M-S-UP (org-table-fedit-line-up)

Move the test line for column formulas up in the Org buffer.

M-S-DOWN (org-table-fedit-line-down)

Move the test line for column formulas down in the Org buffer.

M-UP (org-table-fedit-scroll-up)

Scroll up the window displaying the table.

M-DOWN (org-table-fedit-scroll-down)

Scroll down the window displaying the table.

C-c }

Turn the coordinate grid in the table on and off.

Making a table field blank does not remove the formula associated with the field, because that is stored in a different line—the TBLFM keyword line. During the next recalculation, the field will be filled again. To remove a formula from a field, you have to give an empty reply when prompted for the formula, or to edit the TBLFM keyword.

You may edit the TBLFM keyword directly and re-apply the changed equations with C-c C-c in that line or with the normal recalculation commands in the table.

| x | y |
|---+---|
| 1 |   |
| 2 |   |
#+TBLFM: $2=$1*1
#+TBLFM: $2=$1*2

| x | y |
|---+---|
| 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 4 |
#+TBLFM: $2=$1*1
#+TBLFM: $2=$1*2

| x | y |
|---+---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 |
#+TBLFM: $2=$1*1
#+TBLFM: $2=$1*2

Recalculation of a table is normally not automatic, but needs to be triggered by a command. To make recalculation at least semi-automatic, see Advanced features.

In order to recalculate a line of a table or the entire table, use the following commands:

C-c * (org-table-recalculate)

Recalculate the current row by first applying the stored column formulas from left to right, and all field/range formulas in the current row.

C-u C-c * or C-u C-c C-c

Recompute the entire table, line by line. Any lines before the first hline are left alone, assuming that these are part of the table header.

C-u C-u C-c * or C-u C-u C-c C-c (org-table-iterate)

Iterate the table by recomputing it until no further changes occur. This may be necessary if some computed fields use the value of other fields that are computed later in the calculation sequence.

M-x org-table-recalculate-buffer-tables

Recompute all tables in the current buffer.

M-x org-table-iterate-buffer-tables

Iterate all tables in the current buffer, in order to converge table-to-table dependencies.

If you want the recalculation of fields to happen automatically, or if you want to be able to assign /names/(note: Such names must start with an alphabetic character and use only alphanumeric/underscore characters.) to fields and columns, you need to reserve the first column of the table for special marking characters.

C-# (org-table-rotate-recalc-marks)

Rotate the calculation mark in first column through the states #, *, !, $. When there is an active region, change all marks in the region.

Here is an example of a table that collects exam results of students and makes use of these features:

|---+---------+--------+--------+--------+-------+------|
|   | Student | Prob 1 | Prob 2 | Prob 3 | Total | Note |
|---+---------+--------+--------+--------+-------+------|
| ! |         |     P1 |     P2 |     P3 |   Tot |      |
| # | Maximum |     10 |     15 |     25 |    50 | 10.0 |
| ^ |         |     m1 |     m2 |     m3 |    mt |      |
|---+---------+--------+--------+--------+-------+------|
| # | Peter   |     10 |      8 |     23 |    41 |  8.2 |
| # | Sam     |      2 |      4 |      3 |     9 |  1.8 |
|---+---------+--------+--------+--------+-------+------|
|   | Average |        |        |        |  25.0 |      |
| ^ |         |        |        |        |    at |      |
| $ | max=50  |        |        |        |       |      |
|---+---------+--------+--------+--------+-------+------|
#+TBLFM: $6=vsum($P1..$P3)::$7=10*$Tot/$max;%.1f::$at=vmean(@-II..@-I);%.1f

Please note that for these special tables, recalculating the table with C-u C-c * only affects rows that are marked # or *, and fields that have a formula assigned to the field itself. The column formulas are not applied in rows with empty first field.

The marking characters have the following meaning:

!

The fields in this line define names for the columns, so that you may refer to a column as $Tot instead of $6.

^

This row defines names for the fields above the row. With such a definition, any formula in the table may use $m1 to refer to the value 10. Also, if you assign a formula to a names field, it is stored as $name = ....

_

Similar to ^, but defines names for the fields in the row below.

$

Fields in this row can define parameters for formulas. For example, if a field in a $ row contains max=50, then formulas in this table can refer to the value 50 using $max. Parameters work exactly like constants, only that they can be defined on a per-table basis.

#

Fields in this row are automatically recalculated when pressing TAB or RET or S-TAB in this row. Also, this row is selected for a global recalculation with C-u C-c *. Unmarked lines are left alone by this command.

*

Selects this line for global recalculation with C-u C-c *, but not for automatic recalculation. Use this when automatic recalculation slows down editing too much.

/

Do not export this line. Useful for lines that contain the narrowing <N> markers or column group markers.

Finally, just to whet your appetite for what can be done with the fantastic Calc package, here is a table that computes the Taylor series of degree n at location x for a couple of functions.

|---+-------------+---+-----+--------------------------------------|
|   | Func        | n | x   | Result                               |
|---+-------------+---+-----+--------------------------------------|
| # | exp(x)      | 1 | x   | 1 + x                                |
| # | exp(x)      | 2 | x   | 1 + x + x^2 / 2                      |
| # | exp(x)      | 3 | x   | 1 + x + x^2 / 2 + x^3 / 6            |
| # | x^2+sqrt(x) | 2 | x=0 | x*(0.5 / 0) + x^2 (2 - 0.25 / 0) / 2 |
| # | x^2+sqrt(x) | 2 | x=1 | 2 + 2.5 x - 2.5 + 0.875 (x - 1)^2    |
| * | tan(x)      | 3 | x   | 0.0175 x + 1.77e-6 x^3               |
|---+-------------+---+-----+--------------------------------------|
#+TBLFM: $5=taylor($2,$4,$3);n3

Org Plot can produce 2D and 3D graphs of information stored in Org tables using Gnuplot and Gnuplot mode. To see this in action, ensure that you have both Gnuplot and Gnuplot mode installed on your system, then call C-c \quot g or M-x org-plot/gnuplot on the following table.

#+PLOT: title:"Citas" ind:1 deps:(3) type:2d with:histograms set:"yrange [0:]"
| Sede      | Max cites | H-index |
|-----------+-----------+---------|
| Chile     |    257.72 |   21.39 |
| Leeds     |    165.77 |   19.68 |
| Sao Paolo |     71.00 |   11.50 |
| Stockholm |    134.19 |   14.33 |
| Morelia   |    257.56 |   17.67 |

Org Plot supports a range of plot types, and provides the ability to add more. For example, a radar plot can be generated like so:

#+PLOT: title:"An evaluation of plaintext document formats" transpose:yes type:radar min:0 max:4
| Format            | Fine-grained-control | Initial Effort | Syntax simplicity | Editor Support | Integrations | Ease-of-referencing | Versatility |
|-------------------+----------------------+----------------+-------------------+----------------+--------------+---------------------+-------------|
| Word              |                    2 |              4 |                 4 |              2 |            3 |                   2 |           2 |
| LaTeX             |                    4 |              1 |                 1 |              3 |            2 |                   4 |           3 |
| Org Mode          |                    4 |              2 |               3.5 |              1 |            4 |                   4 |           4 |
| Markdown          |                    1 |              3 |                 3 |              4 |            3 |                   3 |           1 |
| Markdown + Pandoc |                  2.5 |            2.5 |               2.5 |              3 |            3 |                   3 |           2 |

Notice that Org Plot is smart enough to apply the table's headers as labels. Further control over the labels, type, content, and appearance of plots can be exercised through the PLOT keyword preceding a table. See below for a complete list of Org Plot options. For more information and examples see the Org Plot tutorial.

While point is on a column, typing C-c " a or M-x orgtbl-ascii-plot create a new column containing an ASCII-art bars plot. The plot is implemented through a regular column formula. When the source column changes, the bar plot may be updated by refreshing the table, for example typing C-u C-c *.

| Sede          | Max cites |              |
|---------------+-----------+--------------|
| Chile         |    257.72 | WWWWWWWWWWWW |
| Leeds         |    165.77 | WWWWWWWh     |
| Sao Paolo     |     71.00 | WWW;         |
| Stockholm     |    134.19 | WWWWWW:      |
| Morelia       |    257.56 | WWWWWWWWWWWH |
| Rochefourchat |      0.00 |              |
#+TBLFM: $3='(orgtbl-ascii-draw $2 0.0 257.72 12)

The formula is an Elisp call.