PDFToMD/phases/5-markdown-rendering-assets/step1.md

Step 1: table-renderer-fallbacks

Read First

• /AGENTS.md
• /PLAN.md
• /PROGRESS.md
• /docs/HARNESS.md
• /docs/IMPLEMENTATION_PLAN.md
• /docs/CONVERSION_POLICY.md
• /phases/5-markdown-rendering-assets/step0.md

Task

Implement table rendering policy for Markdown tables, limited HTML tables, and image fallback links.

Use structured table objects and avoid ad hoc string parsing for complex cases where possible.

Sprint Contract

• Done means: simple tables render as Markdown, complex tables can render as limited HTML or fallback references, and table captions/footnotes are preserved.
• Hard thresholds: tests cover merged-cell-like structures, footnotes, captions, and table fallback decisions; invalid table output is detected by quality gates.
• Files owned: src/pdftomd/renderer.py, table models/tests, PROGRESS.md, phase index.
• Dependencies: Step 0 renderer and Phase 0 quality gates.

Acceptance Criteria

python scripts\validate_workspace.py
.\venv\python.exe -m pytest tests

Verification

1. Run the acceptance commands.
2. Confirm fallback images are linked but not generated unless a table asset exists.
3. Update PROGRESS.md and this phase index.

Do Not

• Do not fake table content that was not extracted.
• Do not discard captions or footnotes.
• Do not implement full HTML sanitizer scope beyond limited table output.