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Structured cell values open in dedicated viewers: JSON, PHP serialized data, and binary blobs. A per-column Display As format controls how a column renders and which viewer opens. The row details inspector shows every field of the selected row with the same editors.

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Display As formats

Right-click a column header and pick Display As. The submenu lists the formats that fit the column type, with a checkmark on the active one. MongoDB binary columns are the one exception: they never offer UUID, because the driver already decodes them under its own Legacy UUID Encoding setting. Formats are display only: they never change the stored value. Overrides persist per column, scoped to the connection and table. A column with a format set copies in that format when you copy a single cell; copying a block of cells or a whole row always copies the stored value. TablePro also auto-detects two cases: BINARY(16) columns with id-like names and CHAR(32)/CHAR(36) columns named uuid or guid render as UUIDs, and integer columns named *_at, *_time, *_timestamp, created, updated, modified, or timestamp render as dates when sample values fall in a plausible range. A manual Display As choice always wins over detection, including Raw Value: picking it pins the column to its stored value instead of handing the column back to detection.

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JSON viewer

  • JSON-typed column: click the chevron in the cell. Double-click or Enter edits the value inline instead.
  • Text column holding JSON: set Display As > JSON, then double-click or Enter.
The viewer opens as a popover anchored to the cell, with two modes:
  • Text: syntax-highlighted JSON, pretty-printed. Editable when the cell is editable.
  • Tree: collapsible tree with a search field. Read-only navigation. See Filtering a tree.
JSON editor popover

JSON editor popover with Text and Tree modes

Both modes keep your original key order and exact number values, including integers larger than JavaScript can represent. Pretty-printing caps at 500 KB; larger values show as stored. Tree mode parses documents up to 100 KB, and above that shows a “JSON Too Large” placeholder so you read the value in Text mode. A document that parses but runs past 5,000 nodes loads only the first 5,000 and marks the cut with a … row; filtering then says so, because the rows past the cut were never searched.

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Filtering a tree

The search field above the tree filters keys and values as you type. Both the JSON tree and the PHP serialized tree work the same way.
  • Matching ignores case and accents, so cafe finds café. It does not ignore full-width and half-width differences: ABC does not find ＡＢＣ.
  • A row matches on its whole value, not the shortened form shown in the row, so a match deep inside a long string still finds it.
  • Matches nested under collapsed parents open on their own, so you see the match rather than the parent hiding it.
  • A key that matches keeps its full contents and stays expandable, so you can search for a key and then read what is under it.
  • Rows you open or close while filtering stay that way for as long as the field has text. Clearing the field restores the layout you had before you started, which is why Expand All during a filter applies to the filtered view rather than to the whole document.
  • A filter that matches nothing says so. If the document was cut off at 5,000 nodes, it says that too instead of claiming the value does not contain what you typed.
The mode you switch to becomes the default for the next open. The same preference lives in Settings > Data > JSON Viewer > Default view (Cmd+,). Click the pop-out button in the toolbar to detach the viewer into its own resizable window. The window supports fullscreen.

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Editing

Opening a value and seeing it pretty-printed is not an edit. The row is marked changed only when you alter the content, so browsing JSONB row by row stays clean. Save commits a compact value, with key order and numbers preserved, through the standard change tracking flow. If the text is not valid JSON, the viewer asks before saving.

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PHP serialized viewer

Set Display As > PHP Serialized on a text column, then double-click or Enter. The viewer is read-only: PHP serialized values round-trip through PHP itself, so TablePro does not write them back.
  • Tree: collapsible tree with search, filtered the same way as the JSON tree. See Filtering a tree. Nodes show type badges (str, int, arr, obj, ser, ref). Protected object members show a protected badge; private members show private (ClassName). Custom-serialized classes (the C: token) appear as a single opaque leaf; references (r:/R:) show as → #N and are not followed.
  • Raw: the original serialized string with text selection.
Values above 5 MB are not parsed; the tree shows a placeholder and Raw mode still works. Trees cap at 5,000 nodes and 256 nesting levels, with a truncation marker beyond that. The toolbar pop-out button opens the value in its own window.

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Blob and hex

Blob cells render in the grid as compact hex (0x48656C..., first 64 bytes). Click the chevron or double-click to open the hex popover:
  • A classic hex dump (offset, byte columns, ASCII), capped at 10 KB.
  • On editable tables, an editable hex field below it. It accepts spaced or continuous hex, with or without a 0x prefix. Invalid hex disables Save; values over 10 KB open read-only.

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Row details inspector

View > Toggle Inspector (Cmd+Option+I) opens the right sidebar. Select a row and every field appears with an editor matched to its content:
  • JSON columns, and text values that parse as JSON, get the JSON editor. No Display As step needed.
  • PHP serialized values are auto-detected the same way and get the read-only tree.
  • Blob columns get the hex editor; enum, set, and boolean columns get pickers.
Row details inspector

Row details inspector with per-field editors

JSON and PHP fields have buttons to expand inside the sidebar or pop out to a window. Hover over an editable field for a menu that sets NULL, the column default, an empty value, or a SQL function. With no row selected, the inspector shows table info instead. For whole-row JSON across a result set, switch the results pane to its JSON view mode with the segmented control in the status bar. Table tabs show Data / Structure / JSON; query tabs show Data / JSON.