Plain text formatting of data item tables

A method comprising:

• obtaining a hierarchical template including table information associated with a table, the table information formatted in accordance with a non-proprietary markup language format;
• parsing the table information associated with the table to determine one or more markup language elements associated with the table;
• determining a plain text graphical table structured layout associated with the table, based on the one or more markup language elements;
• and
• generating a plain text graphical table structured view of the table indicating one or more data items indicated by the table information.

A computer program product being tangibly embodied on a computer-readable medium and being configured to cause a data processing apparatus to:

• obtain a hierarchical template including table information associated with a table, the table information formatted in accordance with a non-proprietary markup language format;
• parse the table information associated with the table to determine one or more markup language elements associated with the table;
• determine a plain text graphical table structured layout associated with the table, based on the one or more markup language elements;
• and
• generate a plain text graphical table structured view of the table indicating one or more data items indicated by the table information.