How do I generate source code from an org mode table? - emacs

Question

I'm trying to figure out a way to move my i3wm configuration file to an org-mode file. I have a table with keybindings and what command they should execute, and I would like to generate the appropriate source code from it.
Example:
| Keybinding | Command | Action |
|-----------------------+----------------------+--------------------------|
| {{{mod}}} + Return | i3-sensible-terminal | Opens a new terminal |
| {{{mod}}} + Shift + q | kill | Kills the focused window |
should generate
bindsym {{{mod}}}+Return exec --no-startup-id i3-sensible-terminal ;; Opens a new Terminal
bindsym {{{mod}}}+Shift+q exec --no-startup-id kill ;; Kills the focused window
is such thing possible?

Answer 1

You can name the table and pass it as an argument to a source block and have the source block iterate over rows. Here's an implementation in python:
#+NAME: commands
| Keybinding | Command | Action |
|-----------------------+----------------------+--------------------------|
| {{{mod}}} + Return | i3-sensible-terminal | Opens a new terminal |
| {{{mod}}} + Shift + q | kill | Kills the focused window |
#+begin_src python :var cmds=commands :results output raw
for row in cmds:
print("bindsym {} exec --no-startup-id {} ;; {}".format(row[0].replace(' ', ''), row[1], row[2]))
#+end_src
Here I assumed that the spaces in the first column should be eliminated, rather than quoting the string, but you can easily modify that.
And here are the results of running the above source block:
#+RESULTS:
bindsym {{{mod}}}+Return exec --no-startup-id i3-sensible-terminal ;; Opens a new terminal
bindsym {{{mod}}}+Shift+q exec --no-startup-id kill ;; Kills the focused window