In reply to @manis:matrix.org
Hi. I've seen it's quite silent in here, but maybe somebody has an idea: I'm struggling to get /pgfplots/table/string replace* to work; it only replaces digits in numbers but not words in a string. Is this the expected behaviour?

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfplotstable}

\begin{filecontents}{file.dat}
testABCtest, Header
testABCtest, Body
\end{filecontents}

\begin{document}

\pgfplotstabletypeset[string type,col sep=comma,string replace*={ABC}{abc},]
{file.dat}

\end{document}

Hmm, yeah, interesting. I just tried to throw together a MWE and it worked, too :headscratch:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{pgfplotstable}

\pgfplotstableread[col sep=comma,header=false]{
Lorem,20,kg
Ipsum,42,m
Very long key,200,g
}\mytable

\begin{document}

\pgfplotstabletypeset[
  every head row/.style={output empty row},
  columns/0/.append style={
    string type,
    column type={l},
    postproc cell content/.append style={
      /pgfplots/table/@cell content/.add={}{:\quad}
    },
    /pgfplots/table/string replace*={Very long}{V.l.}
  },
  columns/1/.append style={
    numeric type,
    fixed,
    column type={r}
  },
  columns/2/.append style={
    string type,
    column type={l}
  }
]{\mytable}

\end{document}

cf.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{pgfplotstable}

\pgfplotstableread[col sep=comma,header=false,text indicator="]{
Lorem,20,kg
Ipsum,42,m
"Very long key",200,g
}\mytable

\begin{document}

\pgfplotstabletypeset[
  every head row/.style={output empty row},
  columns/0/.append style={
    string type,
    column type={l},
    postproc cell content/.append style={
      /pgfplots/table/@cell content/.add={}{:\quad}
    },
    /pgfplots/table/string replace*={Very long}{V.l.}
  },
  columns/1/.append style={
    numeric type,
    fixed,
    column type={r}
  },
  columns/2/.append style={
    string type,
    column type={l}
  }
]{\mytable}

\end{document}

In reply to @marei:im.f3l.de
They are. But changed to a group. -> I send you a direct message with an example guess we shouldn't spam that channel too much

Another problem popped up, though. If my \pgfplotstabletypeset is inside a command into which I want to inject additional pgfkeys, do I need to treat them in a special way?

This does not work:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfplotstable}
\pgfplotstableread[col sep=comma,header=false]{
foo,42
}\mytable

\newcommand{\plottable}[2][]{
  \pgfplotstabletypeset[
    every head row/.style={output empty row},
    columns/0/.append style={
      string type,
    },#1
  ]{#2}
}

\begin{document}
\plottable[
  columns/0/.append style={
    /pgfplots/table/string replace*={foo}{bar}
  }
]{\mytable}
\end{document}

Another problem popped up, though. If my \pgfplotstabletypeset is inside a command into which I want to inject additional pgfkeys, do I need to treat them in a special way?

This does not work:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfplotstable}
\pgfplotstableread[col sep=comma,header=false]{
foo,42
}\mytable

\newcommand{\plottable}[2][]{
  \pgfplotstabletypeset[
    every head row/.style={output empty row},
    columns/0/.append style={
      string type
    },#1
  ]{#2}
}

\begin{document}
\plottable[
  columns/0/.append style={
    /pgfplots/table/string replace*={foo}{bar}
  }
]{\mytable}
\end{document}

In reply to @manis:matrix.org
If I want to string replace*={ }{\,}, do I need to expand \, first?

In reply to @manis:matrix.org
Ah, I must not have any newlines in the optional argument to \plottable. But why are they ignored when directly passed to the \pgf... commands but not when they "go through" #1?

and that's also an issue with spaces… as spaces are preserved in that setup. so

In reply to @manis:matrix.org
Ah, I must not have any newlines in the optional argument to \plottable. But why are they ignored when directly passed to the \pgf... commands but not when they "go through" #1?

and that's also an issue with spaces… as spaces are preserved in that setup. so

\plottable[
  columns/0/.append style={
    /pgfplots/table/string replace*={foo}{bar}
  }%
]{\mytable}

would work, or

\plottable[
  columns/0/.append style={
    /pgfplots/table/string replace*={foo}{bar}
  }]{\mytable}