Preserve SubscriptionText TSV column positions

doc/PLUGINS.md

@@ -669,10 +669,13 @@ no network, which makes it the plugin to test a Recipe's later half with.
 | `titles` | sequence | One item per title, no link |
 | `urls` | sequence | One item per URL, no title |
 | `feeds` | sequence | Mappings of `title`, `url`, `description`, `author`, `comments` |
-| `files` | sequence | TSV paths; columns are title, url, description, author, comments |
+| `files` | sequence | UTF-8 TSV paths; positional columns are title, url, description, author, comments |
 
-The TSV separator is a tab, the file is read as UTF-8, and `~` is expanded. Any
-combination of the four keys may be given.
+The TSV separator is a tab and `~` is expanded. Empty columns supply no value
+for that field without shifting later columns; blank or all-empty rows produce
+no item. Only the first five columns are used. Line endings are removed before
+splitting, but other field whitespace is preserved. Any combination of the four
+keys may be given.
 
 #### SubscriptionTumblr — **Supported (external)**
 

doc/VERSIONS

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ v26.09 (Release Date: TBD)
   dependency from load failures, and preflight-validate Recipe plugins.
 - Preserve nil-link pipeline items and remove SubscriptionText placeholder
   title and link values.
+- Preserve SubscriptionText TSV column positions and ignore empty input rows.
 
 v26.08 (2026-08-22)
 -------------------

plugins/subscription/text.rb

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 # License::     The GPL version 3, or LGPL version 3 (Dual License).
 # Contact::     idnanashi@gmail.com
 # Created::     May  6, 2013
-# Updated::     Aug 15, 2026
+# Updated::     Sep  8, 2026
 # Copyright::   Copyright (c) 2012-2026 Automatic Ruby Developers.
 
 module Automatic::Plugin
@@ -41,13 +41,22 @@ def feeds
       Array(@config['feeds']).map { |feed| Automatic::FeedMaker.generate_feed(feed) }
     end
 
-    # Tab separated, read as UTF-8, and `~` expanded.
+    # Tab separated, read as UTF-8, and `~` expanded. Empty columns stay in
+    # position and an all-empty row produces no item.
     def files
       Array(@config['files']).flat_map do |path|
-        File.foreach(File.expand_path(path), encoding: 'UTF-8').map do |line|
-          Automatic::FeedMaker.generate_feed(COLUMNS.zip(line.strip.split("\t")).to_h)
+        File.foreach(File.expand_path(path), encoding: 'UTF-8').filter_map do |line|
+          fields = tsv_fields(line)
+          Automatic::FeedMaker.generate_feed(fields) unless fields.nil?
         end
       end
     end
+
+    def tsv_fields(line)
+      values = line.chomp.split("\t", -1).first(COLUMNS.length)
+      fields = COLUMNS.zip(values).to_h
+      fields.delete_if { |_field, value| value.nil? || value.empty? }
+      fields unless fields.empty?
+    end
   end
 end

spec/plugins/subscription/text_spec.rb

@@ -5,14 +5,24 @@
 # License::     The GPL version 3, or LGPL version 3 (Dual License).
 # Contact::     idnanashi@gmail.com
 # Created::     May  6, 2013
-# Updated::     Sep  7, 2026
+# Updated::     Sep  8, 2026
 # Copyright::   Copyright (c) 2012-2026 Automatic Ruby Developers.
 
 require File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__) + '../../../spec_helper')
 
 require 'subscription/text'
 
 describe Automatic::Plugin::SubscriptionText do
+  def items_from_tsv(contents)
+    Dir.mktmpdir('automatic-subscription-text') do |dir|
+      path = File.join(dir, 'input.tsv')
+      File.write(path, contents, encoding: 'UTF-8')
+      Automatic::Plugin::SubscriptionText.new(
+        { 'files' => [path] }
+      ).run.flat_map(&:items)
+    end
+  end
+
   context "with empty titles" do
     subject {
       Automatic::Plugin::SubscriptionText.new(
@@ -112,4 +122,82 @@
 
     its(:run) { should have(1).feed }
   end
+
+  it "builds a title-only item from a one-column TSV row" do
+    items = items_from_tsv("Title only\n")
+
+    items.should have(1).item
+    items.first.title.should == "Title only"
+    items.first.link.should be_nil
+  end
+
+  it "preserves a leading empty title column in a URL-only TSV row" do
+    items = items_from_tsv("\thttps://example.com/\r\n")
+
+    items.should have(1).item
+    items.first.title.should be_nil
+    items.first.link.should == "https://example.com/"
+  end
+
+  it "does not shift comments across an empty author column" do
+    items = items_from_tsv(
+      "Title\thttps://example.com/\tDescription\t\tComment\n"
+    )
+    item = items.first
+
+    items.should have(1).item
+    item.title.should == "Title"
+    item.link.should == "https://example.com/"
+    item.description.should == "Description"
+    item.author.should == ""
+    item.comments.should == "Comment"
+  end
+
+  it "accepts trailing empty TSV fields without changing earlier columns" do
+    items = items_from_tsv(
+      "Title\thttps://example.com/\tDescription\t\t\n"
+    )
+    item = items.first
+
+    items.should have(1).item
+    item.title.should == "Title"
+    item.link.should == "https://example.com/"
+    item.description.should == "Description"
+    item.author.should == ""
+    item.comments.should == ""
+  end
+
+  it "ignores blank and all-empty TSV rows" do
+    items = items_from_tsv(
+      "\n\t\t\t\t\nKept\thttps://example.com/\n"
+    )
+
+    items.should have(1).item
+    items.first.title.should == "Kept"
+    items.first.link.should == "https://example.com/"
+  end
+
+  it "ignores TSV columns after comments" do
+    items = items_from_tsv(
+      "Title\thttps://example.com/\tDescription\tAuthor\tComment\tExtra\tMore\n"
+    )
+    item = items.first
+
+    items.should have(1).item
+    item.title.should == "Title"
+    item.link.should == "https://example.com/"
+    item.description.should == "Description"
+    item.author.should == "Author"
+    item.comments.should == "Comment"
+  end
+
+  it "preserves field whitespace other than the line ending" do
+    items = items_from_tsv(
+      "  Title  \thttps://example.com/\t  Description  \n"
+    )
+    item = items.first
+
+    item.title.should == "  Title  "
+    item.description.should == "  Description  "
+  end
 end

test/integration/test_text2feed.yml

@@ -22,8 +22,6 @@ plugins:
           description: 'aaa'
           comments: 'bbb'
           author: 'ccc'
-      files:
-        - 'spec/fixtures/sampleFeeds.tsv'
       files:
         - 'spec/fixtures/sampleFeeds.tsv'
         - 'spec/fixtures/sampleFeeds2.tsv'