tentags 0.1.5

A declarative template language and Intermediate Representation (IR) for automated HTML and Excel table/document generation.

TenTags 🏷️

TenTags is a declarative template language and Intermediate Representation (IR) for automated HTML and Excel table and document generation.

💡 Why TenTags? (A Language for Programs & AI, Not Manual Editing)

While general markup formats are designed for humans to manually write text, TenTags is designed specifically as a Template DSL for programs, server engines, and AI agents.

Whether you are building backend report pipelines, ERP/CRM accounting modules, invoice generators, or LLM-driven document agents, generating clean TenTags strings via loops and f-strings is orders of magnitude simpler and safer than emitting verbose HTML strings with inline style="" or hundreds of lines of openpyxl API calls:

# Programmatically generate high-fidelity reports with dynamic loops and f-strings:
formula = f'''
5,4,1,"#ccc","solid",0,40, data(
    <bg=#1e293b><color=white><b><cm>{report_title}, , , </cm></b></color></bg>;
    {generated_rows_from_db}
)'''

⚙️ Intermediate Representation (IR) Compiler Architecture

At its core, TenTags decouples markup tokenization from rendering by compiling formulas into a unified TableModel (AST/IR). Because TableModel serves as a clean Intermediate Representation, you can compile exact multi-cell grid merges (<cm>, <rm>), typography (<fs>, <b>, <i>), alignments, and pattern fills (<bg>, <color>) across multiple backends:

Text Formula
     ↓
   Lexer
     ↓
  Tokens
     ↓
  Parser
     ↓
 TableModel (Intermediate Representation / IR)
   ↙    ↘
HTML    Excel (.xlsx)   [Future: PDF, DOCX, Canvas, Flutter...]

• 🎯 Target Audience: Backend developers (FastAPI, Django, Flask), ERP/CRM financial engines, automated invoice/receipt generators, and AI/LLM agents.
• 🤖 AI & LLM Native: LLMs generate exact, compact TenTags formulas reliably without CSS layout bugs or Excel API hallucinations.
• 🔀 Declarative Grid Merges: Effortlessly merge cells rightward across columns (<cm>) and downward across rows (<rm>).
• 🎨 Rich Typography & Styling: Inline control over font size (<fs>), bold (<b>), italic (<i>), alignment (<left>, <center>, <right>), text color (<color=>), and cell fills (<bg=>).
• 📊 Dual Backend Rendering: Directly compile your IR to high-fidelity HTML (render_html) or native Excel (.xlsx) (render_xlsx) with true merged cells (ws.merge_cells).
• ⚡ Zero Core Dependencies: Pure Python runtime (xml.etree.ElementTree) for DSL tokenization and HTML rendering. Optional Excel export via openpyxl.

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⚡ Quick Code → Result

Write this concise, expressive TenTags formula:

import tentags

formula = '''3,2,1,"#cbd5e1","solid",0,40, data(
    <fs=16><bg=#1e293b><color=white><b><cm><center>Quarter Report, ,</center></cm></b></color></bg></fs>;
    <b>Sales</b>, <right>"$120,000"</right>;
    <b>Marketing</b>, <right>"$80,000"</right>
)'''

# 1. Render directly to high-fidelity HTML string
html_table = tentags.render(formula)

# 2. Or export directly to native Excel (.xlsx)
model = tentags.parse(formula)
tentags.render_xlsx(model, "Quarter_Report.xlsx")

↓ Faithful Visual Output across both HTML & Excel (.xlsx):

Quarter Report (Merged across 2 columns (<cm>), 16px Bold White text, Dark Slate #1e293b fill)	—
Sales (Bold)	$120,000 (Right aligned)
Marketing (Bold)	$80,000 (Right aligned)

---

🏷️ The 10 Tags in data(...)

TenTags derives its name from the 10 core structural and styling tags supported inside the data(...) argument block:

#	Tag / Syntax	Type	Description	Example
1	<fs=...>	Typography	Sets custom font size (font-size in HTML, size in Excel openpyxl).	data(<fs=16>Heading</fs>, Text)
2	<b>...</b>	Typography	Renders cell text in Bold font weight (font-weight: bold).	data(<b>Total</b>, 100)
3	<i>...</i>	Typography	Renders cell text in Italic font style (font-style: italic).	data(<i>Pending</i>, Done)
4	<left>	Alignment	Aligns cell content to the left (text-align: left).	data(<left>Left aligned text)
5	<center>	Alignment	Aligns cell content to the center (text-align: center).	data(<center>Centered text)
6	<right>	Alignment	Aligns cell content to the right (text-align: right).	data(<right>Right aligned $5,000)
7	<color=...>	Text Color	Sets custom HEX or CSS text color (color: ... / font color).	data(<color=#ef4444>Error</color>, OK)
8	<bg=...>	Background Fill	Sets cell background fill color (background-color: ... / PatternFill).	data(<bg=#f8fafc>Summary</bg>, $500)
9	<cm>...</cm>	Column Merge	Merges the cell rightward with adjacent columns (colspan).	data(<cm>Merged Title, ,</cm>; A, B)
10	<rm>...</rm>	Row Merge	Merges the cell downward with rows below it (rowspan).	data(<rm>Date</rm>, Job; , Engineer)

Note on Tag Transfer & Empty Elements: Notice how empty elements (such as , , or , ;) are used when adjacent cells are absorbed by a <cm> horizontal merge or <rm> vertical merge. TenTags automatically transfers and preserves all active tags across cell boundaries without requiring explicit None placeholders.

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📦 Installation

Install from PyPI via pip:

pip install tentags

If you plan to export directly to Excel (.xlsx), install the optional excel dependency:

pip install tentags[excel]
# or directly: pip install openpyxl

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🎨 Advanced Example: Beautiful Styled Table & Merges

Here is how a single, clean TenTags expression generates an enterprise-grade financial dashboard table featuring merged headers (<cm>), custom font sizing (<fs>), cell background colors (<bg=>), text alignment (<left>, <right>), and custom typography (<b>, <i>, <color=>) across both HTML and Excel (.xlsx):

import tentags

# Define an advanced 4x4 styled financial performance grid using clean empty elements (, ,) inside merges
formula = '''4,4,1,"#cbd5e1","solid",0,45, data(
    <fs=18><bg=#1e293b><color=white><b><cm>Q3 Financial Performance Dashboard, , , , </cm></b></color></bg></fs>;
    <bg=#f1f5f9><b><left>Department</left></b></bg>, <bg=#f1f5f9><b><center>Revenue</center></b></bg>, <bg=#f1f5f9><b><center>Expenses</center></b></bg>, <bg=#f1f5f9><b><center>Net Profit</center></b></bg>;
    <left>Engineering</left>, <right>"$240,000"</right>, <right>"$180,000"</right>, <bg=#dcfce7><color=#166534><b><right>"+$60,000"</right></b></color></bg>;
    <left>Sales & Marketing</left>, <right>"$310,000"</right>, <right>"$210,000"</right>, <bg=#dcfce7><color=#166534><b><right>"+$100,000"</right></b></color></bg>
)'''

# 1. Export directly to native Excel spreadsheet with exact fonts, fills, & merge_cells
model = tentags.parse(formula)
tentags.render_xlsx(model, "Q3_Financial_Dashboard.xlsx")

# 2. Render to responsive HTML string with inline CSS
html_table = tentags.render_html(model)
print(html_table)

📋 Visual Structure & Styling Result:

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📊 Excel Matrix Example: Row Merges (<rm>), Column Merges (<cm>) & Colors

To see how TenTags shines as a native Excel spreadsheet generator, here is a 5x5 Enterprise Allocation Matrix utilizing combined row merges (<rm>), multi-column merges (<cm>), clean empty elements ( , , ), and classic Microsoft Excel color palettes (#1F4E78, #DDEBF7, #E2EFDA, #FFF2CC):

import tentags

# Define an Excel matrix with vertical row merges (<rm>) and horizontal column merges (<cm>)
excel_formula = '''5,5,1,"#B0C4DE","solid",0,35, data(
    <fs=16><bg=#1F4E78><color=white><b><cm>2026 Enterprise Budget & Allocation Matrix, , , , </cm></b></color></bg></fs>;
    <bg=#DDEBF7><b><rm><center>Category</center></rm></b></bg>, <bg=#DDEBF7><b><cm><center>Q1 & Q2 Allocation, </center></cm></b></bg>, <bg=#DDEBF7><b><cm><center>Q3 & Q4 Allocation, </center></cm></b></bg>;
    <bg=#DDEBF7><b><rm> </rm></b></bg>, <bg=#F2F2F2><b><center>Hardware</center></b></bg>, <bg=#F2F2F2><b><center>Software</center></b></bg>, <bg=#F2F2F2><b><center>Hardware</center></b></bg>, <bg=#F2F2F2><b><center>Software</center></b></bg>;
    <bg=#FFF2CC><b><left>R&D Division</left></b></bg>, <right>"$150,000"</right>, <right>"$85,000"</right>, <right>"$120,000"</right>, <right>"$95,000"</right>;
    <bg=#E2EFDA><color=#375623><b><left>Total Budget</left></b></color></bg>, <bg=#E2EFDA><color=#375623><b><cm><right>"$235,000", </right></cm></b></color></bg>, <bg=#E2EFDA><color=#375623><b><cm><right>"+$215,000", </right></cm></b></color></bg>
)'''

# Export to a native Excel spreadsheet (.xlsx) with true merged regions & fills
model = tentags.parse(excel_formula)
tentags.render_xlsx(model, "Enterprise_Budget_Matrix.xlsx")

🗓️ Visual Spreadsheet Grid Structure (A1:E5):

#	Tag / Syntax	Type	Description	Example
1	<fs=...>	Typography	Sets custom font size (font-size in HTML, size in Excel openpyxl).	data(<fs=16>Heading</fs>, Text)
2	<b>...</b>	Typography	Renders cell text in Bold font weight (font-weight: bold).	data(<b>Total</b>, 100)
3	<i>...</i>	Typography	Renders cell text in Italic font style (font-style: italic).	data(<i>Pending</i>, Done)
4	<left>	Alignment	Aligns cell content to the left (text-align: left).	data(<left>Left aligned text)
5	<center>	Alignment	Aligns cell content to the center (text-align: center).	data(<center>Centered text)
6	<right>	Alignment	Aligns cell content to the right (text-align: right).	data(<right>Right aligned $5,000)
7	<color=...>	Text Color	Sets custom HEX or CSS text color (color: ... / font color).	data(<color=#ef4444>Error</color>, OK)
8	<bg=...>	Background Fill	Sets cell background fill color (background-color: ... / PatternFill).	data(<bg=#f8fafc>Summary</bg>, $500)
9	<cm>...</cm>	Column Merge	Merges the cell rightward with adjacent columns (colspan).	data(<cm>Merged Title</cm>, None; A, B)
10	<rm>...</rm>	Row Merge	Merges the cell downward with rows below it (rowspan).	data(<rm>Date</rm>, Job; <cm>, Engineer)

Note on Tag Transfer: When merging (<cm>, <rm>) or expanding ranges across styled cells (<fs>, <b>, <i>, <color>, <bg>, <left>, <center>, <right>), TenTags automatically transfers and preserves all formatting across cell boundaries in both HTML and Excel outputs.

Dynamic Data Expressions: In addition to the 10 markup tags above, TenTags data(...) supports dynamic line numbering (#), variable context substitution (VarName), CSV URL/file import (csv(...)), and cell range expansion (A1:B3).

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🛠️ API Reference

tentags.render(formula: str, context: dict = None) -> str

Parses the input DSL formula string and returns a complete <table>...</table> HTML string.

• formula: String in format 'rows, cols, border_width, "border_color", "border_style", margin, row_height, data(...)'.
• context: Optional dictionary of variable names and their replacement values ({'VarName': 'Value'}).

tentags.parse(formula: str, context: dict = None) -> TableModel

Parses the formula into a structured TableModel instance containing 2D cell grids (CellDesc), BorderFlags, and styles without generating HTML.

tentags.render_html(model: TableModel) -> str

Renders a previously parsed TableModel instance into an HTML string.

tentags.render_xlsx(model: TableModel, output_filename: str) -> None

Exports a TableModel directly to an Excel .xlsx file using openpyxl. Applies openpyxl.styles.Font (bold, italic, color), openpyxl.styles.PatternFill (background color), and openpyxl.styles.Border according to the table formula.

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🧪 Running Tests

To run the standalone test suite and generate sample visual outputs (test_output.html, test_output.xlsx, test_style_output.xlsx):

python test_library.py

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📄 License

Licensed under the MIT License. Copyright (c) 2026 Zhandos Mambetali.