Org blocks, lists and tables

Inside a section, Org recognises elements by how their first line starts. Greater elements can contain other elements; lesser elements contain only text and objects, or nothing parsed at all. Anything that matches nothing else is a paragraph. Keywords such as #+begin_src are case-insensitive.

Blocks

A block runs from #+begin_NAME to #+end_NAME.

Block	After begin	Content	Kind
`center`	–	Elements, centred on export.	greater
`quote`	–	Elements, as a block quotation.	greater
any other name (special block)	parameters	Elements; exporters turn it into, for example, a `div` with that class or a LaTeX environment.	greater
`comment`	–	Text left out of export.	lesser
`example`	switches	Text shown as is, in a fixed-width font.	lesser
`export`	a back-end name, required (`html`, `latex`…)	Raw text for that exporter only.	lesser
`src`	language, switches, header arguments	Source code, which Org Babel can run.	lesser
`verse`	–	Text with line breaks and indentation kept, objects parsed.	lesser

In lesser blocks, a line starting with * or #+ must be escaped with a leading comma (,* not a heading); Org removes it.

Switch	Meaning (example and src blocks)
`-n` [`start`]	Number the lines, from 1 or `start`.
`+n` [`step`]	Number lines continuing from the previous block.
`-r`	Remove the reference labels from the code.
`-l "format"`	The label format, default `(ref:%s)`.
`-i`	Keep the block’s indentation.
`-k`	Keep labels in the code.

Source block header arguments start with a colon: :results, :exports (code, results, both, none), :session, :var, :dir, :tangle, :noweb, :cache, :eval and many more, defined by Babel and each language.

#+name: square
#+begin_src python :var x=4 :results value
return x * x
#+end_src

#+RESULTS: square
: 16

Dynamic blocks

#+begin: NAME PARAMETERS … #+end:. Org fills the content by calling a function named after NAME, such as clocktable or columnview. Dynamic blocks cannot nest.

Plain lists

Part	Syntax
Bullet	`-`, `+`, or `` if indented (an unindented `` is a heading); or a counter `1.`, `1)`, `a.`, `a)` (letters only with `org-list-allow-alphabetical`).
Counter set	`[@5]` after the bullet starts numbering at 5.
Checkbox	`[ ]` open, `[X]` done, `[-]` partly done (some children done).
Tag	`TERM :: description` makes a description list.

The first item decides the list’s type: a counter makes it ordered, a tag makes it a description list, otherwise it is unordered. Items continue on lines indented more than the bullet; a list ends at a line indented less, or two blank lines.

- [X] Book flights
- [-] Packing [1/2]
  1. [X] Passport
  2. [ ] Adapter
- Lisbon :: three nights

Tables

Org tables: lines starting with |. A row is cells between bars; a line starting |- is a rule. Columns are aligned by Org as you type.
#+TBLFM: lines after a table hold spreadsheet formulas: column formulas ($3=$1*$2), field formulas (@2$4=vsum(@2$1..@2$3)), ranges, and Calc or Emacs Lisp ('(…)) expressions, with format flags after a ;.
A first column of !, ^, _, #, *, $ or / marks rows for names, recalculation and export exclusion.
A cell <10> or <l>, <c>, <r> in a row of its own sets a column’s width or alignment.
table.el tables: lines starting with +-, kept as text and handled by Emacs’ table.el; they allow spanning cells.

| Item  | Qty | Price | Total |
|-------+-----+-------+-------|
| Boxes |  10 |   3.5 |    35 |
#+TBLFM: $4=$2*$3

Footnote definitions

[fn:LABEL] contents at the start of an unindented line, where LABEL is a number or a word. The definition runs to the next footnote definition, the next heading, two blank lines or the end of the file. Footnotes are usually gathered under a heading named Footnotes.

Affiliated keywords

Lines directly above an element (no blank line) that attach information to it:

Keyword	Meaning
`#+CAPTION:`	A caption; `#+CAPTION[short]: long` gives a short form for lists of figures. Several lines are joined.
`#+NAME:`	A name, used to link to the element or to refer to a table or block from code.
`#+HEADER:`	Extra header arguments for the source block below.
`#+RESULTS:`	Marks the element as the result of a named block or call; may carry a hash.
`#+PLOT:`	Gnuplot options for plotting a table.
`#+ATTR_BACKEND:`	Attributes for one exporter: `#+ATTR_HTML: :width 300`, `#+ATTR_LATEX: :float t`.
`#+DATA:`	An older synonym kept for compatibility (with `LABEL`, `SRCNAME`, `TBLNAME`, `RESNAME`, `SOURCE`, `HEADERS`, all read as `NAME`, `HEADER` or `RESULTS`).

Other elements

Element	Syntax	Meaning
Keyword	`#+KEY: VALUE`	An in-buffer setting.
Babel call	`#+call: NAME[HEADER](ARGS)[HEADER]`	Runs a named source block.
Comment	`#` then a space, or `#` alone	A line left out of export.
Fixed-width area	`:` then a space, or `:` alone	Lines shown as is, like an example block; used for results.
Horizontal rule	Five or more `-`	A rule.
Diary sexp	`%%(…)` in the first column	An Emacs diary expression, for agenda entries such as anniversaries.
LaTeX environment	`\begin{NAME}` … `\end{NAME}`	LaTeX passed to LaTeX export and rendered by others.
Clock	`CLOCK: …`	Time spent: see clock lines.
Paragraph	Anything else	Text with objects, ended by a blank line or another element.

.ORG File Format – Blocks, lists and tables