diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9190596..0106845 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -957,17 +957,18 @@ fejkdata.go     Generator, New, options, List
 shipped.go      the embedded data set, and loading a shipped category on the first call reaching it
 shippedindex.go the index of shipped categories, generated from data/
 node.go         the node model and JSON -> node compilation
-table.go        tables: their options, format and cells, and the link to the parent beside them
+table.go        tables: their options, format and cells, the link to the parent beside them, and how a path passes and draws a table
 name.go         names: {x as n} bindings, the scopes they live in, and the reads they answer
 namefence.go    the load fences over names
 pick.go         a render's named picks: the frames of the name scopes rendering, the memo a pick keeps, and the reads kept under it
-env.go          renderEnv: what a render reads names and rows through
+env.go          renderEnv: what a render reads names and rows through, and the frames a read opens and finds
 path.go         the dotted-path walks, and proving a path reaches a node
 render.go       Fake, the recursive renderer (choices, format strings, expansions) and the reads its tokens make
 record.go       records: Record, the JSON/CSV/SQL serializers, and their entry points
 struct.go       structs: FakeStruct, fake tags as one record's columns, and a field's Go type as its column's datatype
 inline.go       inline templates: Template, NewTemplate, FakeTemplate, IsTemplate, and their compile and resolve
-format.go       a format's tokens checked against their fields, and compiled
+format.go       a format's tokens checked against their fields, and compiled into ops
+arm.go          the compiled read: an arm, the path from its head to its leaf, and the op holding it
 reference.go    one reference's resolution: its sigil, its category, its tail
 resolve.go      resolving templates against the assembled tree in steps, each over every template before the next
 graph.go        the node graph: tree walks, containment and render edges, and the cycle and repeat fences
diff --git a/arm.go b/arm.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f861d78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/arm.go
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+package fejkdata
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/larvit/fejkdata/internal/builtinfunc"
+	"github.com/larvit/fejkdata/internal/grammar"
+	"github.com/larvit/fejkdata/internal/invariant"
+)
+
+// arm is one alternative of a {a|b} token or one operand, split into the head,
+// whose node `template.startOf` finds, and the tail of a dotted path into it.
+type arm struct {
+	spelling    string // as written, for messages
+	head        string
+	writtenHead string // head as written, sigil included
+	tail        []string
+	levels      []pickKey // the key of each level the steps pass, from the head they start at to the leaf
+	steps       []pathStep
+	leaves      []node // every node the path may land on, one per variant it passes
+	kind        armKind
+	named       *nameBinding // namedRead: the binding of the name it reads through
+}
+
+// armKind is how expand reads an arm, fixed at compile.
+type armKind uint8
+
+const (
+	freshRead armKind = iota // drawn afresh at every read
+	namedRead                // read through a name, kept in its pick
+)
+
+// splitArm splits one name into head and tail. refs maps a reference to what
+// resolveRefs resolved it to; before that, a reference is whole.
+func splitArm(name string, refs map[string]resolvedRef) arm {
+	if grammar.IsRef(name) {
+		r, resolved := refs[name]
+		if !resolved || len(r.tail) == 0 {
+			head := name
+			if resolved {
+				head = r.head
+			}
+			return arm{spelling: name, head: head, levels: []pickKey{pickKey(head)}}
+		}
+		sigil, rest, _ := grammar.RefShape(name) // resolveRefs proved it, and took r.tail as a suffix of its segments
+		written, _ := grammar.SplitPath(rest)
+		return pathArm(name, r.head, sigil+grammar.JoinSegments(written[:len(written)-len(r.tail)]), r.tail)
+	}
+	segs, err := grammar.SplitPath(name)
+	if err != nil || len(segs) == 1 {
+		return arm{spelling: name, head: name, levels: []pickKey{pickKey(name)}}
+	}
+	return pathArm(name, segs[0], segs[0], segs[1:])
+}
+
+func pathArm(name, head, writtenHead string, segs []string) arm {
+	return arm{spelling: name, head: head, writtenHead: writtenHead, tail: segs, levels: levelKeys(append([]string{head}, segs...), 1)}
+}
+
+// levelKeys is the key of each prefix of path holding at least from segments, shortest first.
+func levelKeys(path []string, from int) []pickKey {
+	levels := make([]pickKey, len(path)-from+1)
+	for i := range levels {
+		levels[i] = pickKey(grammar.JoinSegments(path[:from+i]))
+	}
+	return levels
+}
+
+// key is the key of the leaf a lands on, the one key every way of writing this read shares.
+func (a arm) key() pickKey { return a.levels[len(a.levels)-1] }
+
+func checkSegments(a arm) error {
+	if len(a.tail) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return grammar.CheckSegments(append([]string{a.head}, a.tail...))
+}
+
+// op is one compiled unit of a format string: a literal run, a name read,
+// or a builtin already prepared with its args.
+type op struct {
+	grammar.Token
+	arms []arm // grammar.NameRead: the '|' alternatives, split into head and tail once
+	call builtinfunc.Call
+	// operands are the fields the builtin reads, in the order its operands func
+	// fixed; expand reads them before the call. nil for a builtin that reads none.
+	operands []arm
+}
+
+func (t *template) compileArms(names []string, targets map[*nameBinding]nameTarget) ([]arm, error) {
+	if len(names) == 0 {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	arms := make([]arm, len(names))
+	for i, name := range names {
+		a, err := t.compileArm(name, targets)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		arms[i] = a
+	}
+	return arms, nil
+}
+
+// compileArm compiles one read into a path: from the head it names, or, for a read through a
+// name, from what that name binds.
+func (t *template) compileArm(name string, targets map[*nameBinding]nameTarget) (arm, error) {
+	a := splitArm(name, t.refs.byName)
+	if !t.isName(a.head) {
+		start := t.startOf(a.head)
+		if start == nil {
+			panic(invariant.Broken("{%s} reads a head nothing resolved", a.spelling))
+		}
+		w := compilePath(start, a.tail)
+		a.steps, a.leaves = w.steps, w.leaves
+		return a, nil
+	}
+	b := t.nameScope.lookup(a.head)
+	if grammar.HasSelector(a.tail) {
+		return a, fmt.Errorf("a path through name %q may not select a row; read it directly, {%s.%s}, or bind the row to a name of its own", a.head, b.ref, grammar.JoinSegments(a.tail))
+	}
+	target := targets[b]
+	full := append(target.tail[:len(target.tail):len(target.tail)], a.tail...)
+	if err := checkPathReaches(target.start, full, a.head); err != nil {
+		return a, err
+	}
+	w := compilePath(target.start, full)
+	a.kind, a.named, a.steps, a.leaves = namedRead, b, w.steps, w.leaves
+	a.levels = levelKeys(full, 0)
+	return a, nil
+}
diff --git a/env.go b/env.go
index 067bfc3..3c5b405 100644
--- a/env.go
+++ b/env.go
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 package fejkdata
 
-import "github.com/larvit/fejkdata/internal/invariant"
+import (
+	"github.com/larvit/fejkdata/internal/drawstate"
+	"github.com/larvit/fejkdata/internal/invariant"
+)
 
 // readValue is what one read drew: its text, and whether it landed on a null.
 type readValue struct {
@@ -47,3 +50,56 @@ func (env renderEnv) rowOf(t *table) int {
 	}
 	return env.row.index
 }
+
+// enter starts a read landing on n: the read sees no frame opened before it, and gets a frame for
+// each name scope around n, from memo where there is one, so reads sharing memo read one pick of
+// each name. It returns the mark that closes those frames.
+func (env renderEnv) enter(n node, memo *drawMemo) (renderEnv, int) {
+	env = env.entering()
+	for scope := scopeAround(n); scope != nil; scope = scope.up {
+		if len(scope.order) > 0 {
+			env.frames.push(memo.enteredFrame(scope))
+		}
+	}
+	return env, env.base
+}
+
+// entering is env as a read entering a category sees it: no frame opened before it, and no pick.
+func (env renderEnv) entering() renderEnv {
+	env.base, env.pick = len(env.frames.frames), nil
+	return env
+}
+
+// renderFrame opens a fresh frame of t's scope, where t binds names and no read entering the
+// category opened one, returning the mark that closes it, or -1.
+func (env renderEnv) renderFrame(t *template) int {
+	own := t.ownScope()
+	if own == nil || env.frameOf(own) != nil {
+		return -1
+	}
+	return env.frames.push(newPickFrame(own))
+}
+
+// frameOf is the frame of scope rendering since the read entering the category, nil where none is.
+func (env renderEnv) frameOf(scope *nameScope) *pickFrame {
+	for i := len(env.frames.frames) - 1; i >= env.base; i-- {
+		if f := env.frames.frames[i]; f.scope == scope {
+			return f
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// drawRowOf draws the row a render of t reads: inside the pick's rows where t renders as part of one.
+func (env renderEnv) drawRowOf(s *drawstate.State, t *table) int {
+	if env.pick != nil {
+		return t.rows.DrawIn(s, &env.pick.pins)
+	}
+	return t.rows.Draw(s)
+}
+
+// keeps reports whether a read of env's name addresses the level a starts at.
+func (env renderEnv) keeps(a arm) bool {
+	_, kept := env.pick.named.addressed[env.pickAt.under(a.levels[0])]
+	return kept
+}
diff --git a/format.go b/format.go
index 88a7454..f0b4946 100644
--- a/format.go
+++ b/format.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/larvit/fejkdata/internal/builtinfunc"
 	"github.com/larvit/fejkdata/internal/grammar"
-	"github.com/larvit/fejkdata/internal/invariant"
 )
 
 // checkFunc validates a call at compile time: a known builtin, its args, and, for calc, the
@@ -196,85 +195,6 @@ func checkNoRepeatedArm(body string, names []string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// arm is one alternative of a {a|b} token or one operand, split into the head,
-// whose node `template.startOf` finds, and the tail of a dotted path into it.
-type arm struct {
-	spelling    string // as written, for messages
-	head        string
-	writtenHead string // head as written, sigil included
-	tail        []string
-	levels      []pickKey // the key of each level the steps pass, from the head they start at to the leaf
-	steps       []pathStep
-	leaves      []node // every node the path may land on, one per variant it passes
-	kind        armKind
-	named       *nameBinding // namedRead: the binding of the name it reads through
-}
-
-// armKind is how expand reads an arm, fixed at compile.
-type armKind uint8
-
-const (
-	freshRead armKind = iota // drawn afresh at every read
-	namedRead                // read through a name, kept in its pick
-)
-
-// splitArm splits one name into head and tail. refs maps a reference to what
-// resolveRefs resolved it to; before that, a reference is whole.
-func splitArm(name string, refs map[string]resolvedRef) arm {
-	if grammar.IsRef(name) {
-		r, resolved := refs[name]
-		if !resolved || len(r.tail) == 0 {
-			head := name
-			if resolved {
-				head = r.head
-			}
-			return arm{spelling: name, head: head, levels: []pickKey{pickKey(head)}}
-		}
-		sigil, rest, _ := grammar.RefShape(name) // resolveRefs proved it, and took r.tail as a suffix of its segments
-		written, _ := grammar.SplitPath(rest)
-		return pathArm(name, r.head, sigil+grammar.JoinSegments(written[:len(written)-len(r.tail)]), r.tail)
-	}
-	segs, err := grammar.SplitPath(name)
-	if err != nil || len(segs) == 1 {
-		return arm{spelling: name, head: name, levels: []pickKey{pickKey(name)}}
-	}
-	return pathArm(name, segs[0], segs[0], segs[1:])
-}
-
-func pathArm(name, head, writtenHead string, segs []string) arm {
-	return arm{spelling: name, head: head, writtenHead: writtenHead, tail: segs, levels: levelKeys(append([]string{head}, segs...), 1)}
-}
-
-// levelKeys is the key of each prefix of path holding at least from segments, shortest first.
-func levelKeys(path []string, from int) []pickKey {
-	levels := make([]pickKey, len(path)-from+1)
-	for i := range levels {
-		levels[i] = pickKey(grammar.JoinSegments(path[:from+i]))
-	}
-	return levels
-}
-
-// key is the key of the leaf a lands on, the one key every way of writing this read shares.
-func (a arm) key() pickKey { return a.levels[len(a.levels)-1] }
-
-func checkSegments(a arm) error {
-	if len(a.tail) == 0 {
-		return nil
-	}
-	return grammar.CheckSegments(append([]string{a.head}, a.tail...))
-}
-
-// op is one compiled unit of a format string: a literal run, a name read,
-// or a builtin already prepared with its args.
-type op struct {
-	grammar.Token
-	arms []arm // grammar.NameRead: the '|' alternatives, split into head and tail once
-	call builtinfunc.Call
-	// operands are the fields the builtin reads, in the order its operands func
-	// fixed; expand reads them before the call. nil for a builtin that reads none.
-	operands []arm
-}
-
 // formatOps is a compiled format: its ops, and the size of its literal text.
 type formatOps struct {
 	ops  []op
@@ -306,46 +226,3 @@ func compileFormat(t *template, targets map[*nameBinding]nameTarget) (formatOps,
 	}
 	return c, nil
 }
-
-func (t *template) compileArms(names []string, targets map[*nameBinding]nameTarget) ([]arm, error) {
-	if len(names) == 0 {
-		return nil, nil
-	}
-	arms := make([]arm, len(names))
-	for i, name := range names {
-		a, err := t.compileArm(name, targets)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-		arms[i] = a
-	}
-	return arms, nil
-}
-
-// compileArm compiles one read into a path: from the head it names, or, for a read through a
-// name, from what that name binds.
-func (t *template) compileArm(name string, targets map[*nameBinding]nameTarget) (arm, error) {
-	a := splitArm(name, t.refs.byName)
-	if !t.isName(a.head) {
-		start := t.startOf(a.head)
-		if start == nil {
-			panic(invariant.Broken("{%s} reads a head nothing resolved", a.spelling))
-		}
-		w := compilePath(start, a.tail)
-		a.steps, a.leaves = w.steps, w.leaves
-		return a, nil
-	}
-	b := t.nameScope.lookup(a.head)
-	if grammar.HasSelector(a.tail) {
-		return a, fmt.Errorf("a path through name %q may not select a row; read it directly, {%s.%s}, or bind the row to a name of its own", a.head, b.ref, grammar.JoinSegments(a.tail))
-	}
-	target := targets[b]
-	full := append(target.tail[:len(target.tail):len(target.tail)], a.tail...)
-	if err := checkPathReaches(target.start, full, a.head); err != nil {
-		return a, err
-	}
-	w := compilePath(target.start, full)
-	a.kind, a.named, a.steps, a.leaves = namedRead, b, w.steps, w.leaves
-	a.levels = levelKeys(full, 0)
-	return a, nil
-}
diff --git a/path.go b/path.go
index 1659d2d..1c86b54 100644
--- a/path.go
+++ b/path.go
@@ -42,52 +42,6 @@ func stepInto(n node, seg string) (node, error) {
 	return nil, fmt.Errorf("no field %q", seg)
 }
 
-// tableRoute is how a path passes one table: the row it reads, by selector or
-// drawn, what it goes on into, and whether that is a linked table.
-type tableRoute struct {
-	sel      string
-	draw     bool
-	next     node
-	rest     []string
-	descends bool
-	up       bool
-}
-
-// route is how tail passes t. descended means the previous route stepped into t
-// from a row of an ancestor table, so t reads a row even where tail is empty; a
-// table reached otherwise, with no selector and an empty tail, is left to a render's
-// own draw.
-func (t *table) route(tail []string, descended bool) (tableRoute, error) {
-	sel, tail, err := t.selector(tail)
-	if err != nil {
-		return tableRoute{}, err
-	}
-	if len(tail) > 0 && tail[0] == ".." {
-		if err := t.rows.ProveStepUp(tail[1:]); err != nil {
-			return tableRoute{}, err
-		}
-		return tableRoute{sel: sel, draw: sel == "", next: t.rows.Parent().Owner(), rest: tail[2:], descends: true, up: true}, nil
-	}
-	column, child, err := t.step(tail)
-	if err != nil {
-		return tableRoute{}, err
-	}
-	// A selector further down pins this table by ancestry, so the walk draws only
-	// where none follows; drawing first could draw a row the selector is not inside.
-	r := tableRoute{sel: sel, draw: sel == "" && (descended || len(tail) > 0) && !grammar.HasSelector(tail)}
-	switch {
-	case len(tail) == 0 && sel == "" && !descended:
-		r.next = t
-	case len(tail) == 0:
-		r.next = t.rowNode
-	case child != nil:
-		r.next, r.rest, r.descends = child, tail[1:], true
-	default:
-		r.next, r.rest = column, tail[1:]
-	}
-	return r, nil
-}
-
 // pathStep is one step of a compiled path, taken at the node the steps before it
 // reached, a choice there drawn first; at indexes the tail where it is taken, and
 // only a table's step sits past the tail's end. A step holds no node, so a
@@ -183,38 +137,6 @@ func takeStep(at *pathPos, whole []string, level string, steps []pathStep, pins
 	return steps, nil
 }
 
-// routeSteps appends the steps r takes past t, the first at at, pinning in pins the row
-// it selects.
-func routeSteps(steps []pathStep, pins *pinSet, t *table, r tableRoute, at int) ([]pathStep, error) {
-	if r.sel != "" {
-		row, err := pins.Select(t.rows, r.sel)
-		if err != nil {
-			return steps, err
-		}
-		steps = append(steps, pathStep{kind: stepSelect, at: at, name: r.sel, row: row})
-		at++
-	}
-	if r.draw {
-		steps = append(steps, pathStep{kind: stepDraw, at: at})
-	}
-	switch next := r.next.(type) {
-	case *table:
-		switch {
-		case r.up:
-			steps = append(steps, pathStep{kind: stepParent, at: at})
-		case next != t:
-			steps = append(steps, pathStep{kind: stepChild, at: at, name: next.rows.Segment()})
-		}
-	case *tableRow:
-		steps = append(steps, pathStep{kind: stepRow, at: at})
-	case *tableColumn:
-		steps = append(steps, pathStep{kind: stepColumn, at: at, name: next.name()})
-	default:
-		panic(invariant.Broken("%s: a route onto %T", t.rows.Segment(), r.next))
-	}
-	return steps, nil
-}
-
 // walkEvery walks every variant and keeps the first one's steps: every variant carries
 // the rest of the path, so each compiles to the same steps past the choice.
 func (w *pathCheck) walkEvery(c *choice, tail []string) (node, error) {
@@ -291,28 +213,6 @@ func drawSteps(s *drawstate.State, n node, steps []pathStep, pins *pinSet, memo
 	return n, pins
 }
 
-func (t *table) drawStep(s *drawstate.State, st pathStep, pins *pinSet) node {
-	switch st.kind {
-	case stepSelect:
-		if err := pins.PinRow(t.rows, st.row); err != nil {
-			panic(invariant.Broken("%s[%s]: %v", t.rows.Segment(), st.name, err))
-		}
-		return t
-	case stepDraw:
-		t.rows.DrawIn(s, pins)
-		return t
-	case stepRow:
-		return t.rowNode
-	case stepColumn:
-		return t.formatTemplate.fields[st.name]
-	case stepChild:
-		return t.rows.Descendant(st.name).Owner()
-	case stepParent:
-		return t.rows.Parent().Owner()
-	}
-	panic(invariant.Broken("drawStep has no case for step kind %d", st.kind))
-}
-
 func drawVariant(s *drawstate.State, c *choice, memo *drawMemo, levels []pickKey, at int) node {
 	if memo == nil {
 		return drawThroughChoices(s, c)
@@ -320,32 +220,6 @@ func drawVariant(s *drawstate.State, c *choice, memo *drawMemo, levels []pickKey
 	return memo.variantOf(s, c, levels[at])
 }
 
-func (t *table) selector(tail []string) (sel string, rest []string, err error) {
-	if len(tail) == 0 || !grammar.IsSelector(tail[0]) {
-		return "", tail, nil
-	}
-	sel, rest = grammar.SelectorOf(tail[0]), tail[1:]
-	if len(rest) > 0 && grammar.IsSelector(rest[0]) {
-		return "", nil, fmt.Errorf("%s[%s] is selected twice; one selector names its row", t.rows.Segment(), sel)
-	}
-	return sel, rest, nil
-}
-
-// step is what a tail's first segment names in t: a column, or a table linked to it.
-func (t *table) step(tail []string) (column node, child *table, err error) {
-	if len(tail) == 0 {
-		return nil, nil, nil
-	}
-	if column, ok := t.formatTemplate.fields[tail[0]]; ok {
-		return column, nil, nil
-	}
-	d := t.rows.Descendant(tail[0])
-	if d == nil {
-		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("no column or linked table %q in %s", tail[0], t.rows.Segment())
-	}
-	return nil, d.Owner(), nil
-}
-
 // carriedByAll is the choice rule a path that must reach a node on every call obeys:
 // the rest of the tail must be one every variant carries.
 func carriedByAll(c *choice, rest []string) error {
diff --git a/pick.go b/pick.go
index 0673e00..46eab40 100644
--- a/pick.go
+++ b/pick.go
@@ -85,25 +85,6 @@ func (st *frameStack) push(f *pickFrame) int {
 
 func (st *frameStack) pop(mark int) { st.frames = st.frames[:mark] }
 
-// enter starts a read landing on n: the read sees no frame opened before it, and gets a frame for
-// each name scope around n, from memo where there is one, so reads sharing memo read one pick of
-// each name. It returns the mark that closes those frames.
-func (env renderEnv) enter(n node, memo *drawMemo) (renderEnv, int) {
-	env = env.entering()
-	for scope := scopeAround(n); scope != nil; scope = scope.up {
-		if len(scope.order) > 0 {
-			env.frames.push(memo.enteredFrame(scope))
-		}
-	}
-	return env, env.base
-}
-
-// entering is env as a read entering a category sees it: no frame opened before it, and no pick.
-func (env renderEnv) entering() renderEnv {
-	env.base, env.pick = len(env.frames.frames), nil
-	return env
-}
-
 // scopeAround is the innermost name scope a render of n reads names in, short of the frames n
 // renders itself, one per iteration of a repeat.
 func scopeAround(n node) *nameScope {
@@ -134,26 +115,6 @@ func (m *drawMemo) enteredFrame(scope *nameScope) *pickFrame {
 	return f
 }
 
-// renderFrame opens a fresh frame of t's scope, where t binds names and no read entering the
-// category opened one, returning the mark that closes it, or -1.
-func (env renderEnv) renderFrame(t *template) int {
-	own := t.ownScope()
-	if own == nil || env.frameOf(own) != nil {
-		return -1
-	}
-	return env.frames.push(newPickFrame(own))
-}
-
-// frameOf is the frame of scope rendering since the read entering the category, nil where none is.
-func (env renderEnv) frameOf(scope *nameScope) *pickFrame {
-	for i := len(env.frames.frames) - 1; i >= env.base; i-- {
-		if f := env.frames.frames[i]; f.scope == scope {
-			return f
-		}
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
 // readName reads the arm a from the pick of its name, held in the frame of the name's scope.
 // When the pick renders another category, enter takes that category's frames from the pick's
 // memo, and renderFrame finds them and opens no new one.
@@ -179,20 +140,6 @@ func readName(s *drawstate.State, env renderEnv, a arm) readValue {
 	return r
 }
 
-// drawRowOf draws the row a render of t reads: inside the pick's rows where t renders as part of one.
-func (env renderEnv) drawRowOf(s *drawstate.State, t *table) int {
-	if env.pick != nil {
-		return t.rows.DrawIn(s, &env.pick.pins)
-	}
-	return t.rows.Draw(s)
-}
-
-// keeps reports whether a read of env's name addresses the level a starts at.
-func (env renderEnv) keeps(a arm) bool {
-	_, kept := env.pick.named.addressed[env.pickAt.under(a.levels[0])]
-	return kept
-}
-
 // readUnder reads a, an arm of t, once per pick: t renders in env.pick at env.pickAt, and a read of
 // the name addresses the level a starts at. It keys the value by a's key under env.pickAt.
 func readUnder(s *drawstate.State, t *template, env renderEnv, a arm) readValue {
diff --git a/table.go b/table.go
index f6c5004..97648b5 100644
--- a/table.go
+++ b/table.go
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/larvit/fejkdata/internal/drawstate"
 	"github.com/larvit/fejkdata/internal/grammar"
+	"github.com/larvit/fejkdata/internal/invariant"
 	"github.com/larvit/fejkdata/internal/rows"
 )
 
@@ -233,3 +235,129 @@ func (t *table) linkParent(siblings map[string]node) error {
 		return nil
 	})
 }
+
+// tableRoute is how a path passes one table: the row it reads, by selector or
+// drawn, what it goes on into, and whether that is a linked table.
+type tableRoute struct {
+	sel      string
+	draw     bool
+	next     node
+	rest     []string
+	descends bool
+	up       bool
+}
+
+// route is how tail passes t. descended means the previous route stepped into t
+// from a row of an ancestor table, so t reads a row even where tail is empty; a
+// table reached otherwise, with no selector and an empty tail, is left to a render's
+// own draw.
+func (t *table) route(tail []string, descended bool) (tableRoute, error) {
+	sel, tail, err := t.selector(tail)
+	if err != nil {
+		return tableRoute{}, err
+	}
+	if len(tail) > 0 && tail[0] == ".." {
+		if err := t.rows.ProveStepUp(tail[1:]); err != nil {
+			return tableRoute{}, err
+		}
+		return tableRoute{sel: sel, draw: sel == "", next: t.rows.Parent().Owner(), rest: tail[2:], descends: true, up: true}, nil
+	}
+	column, child, err := t.step(tail)
+	if err != nil {
+		return tableRoute{}, err
+	}
+	// A selector further down pins this table by ancestry, so the walk draws only
+	// where none follows; drawing first could draw a row the selector is not inside.
+	r := tableRoute{sel: sel, draw: sel == "" && (descended || len(tail) > 0) && !grammar.HasSelector(tail)}
+	switch {
+	case len(tail) == 0 && sel == "" && !descended:
+		r.next = t
+	case len(tail) == 0:
+		r.next = t.rowNode
+	case child != nil:
+		r.next, r.rest, r.descends = child, tail[1:], true
+	default:
+		r.next, r.rest = column, tail[1:]
+	}
+	return r, nil
+}
+
+// routeSteps appends the steps r takes past t, the first at at, pinning in pins the row
+// it selects.
+func routeSteps(steps []pathStep, pins *pinSet, t *table, r tableRoute, at int) ([]pathStep, error) {
+	if r.sel != "" {
+		row, err := pins.Select(t.rows, r.sel)
+		if err != nil {
+			return steps, err
+		}
+		steps = append(steps, pathStep{kind: stepSelect, at: at, name: r.sel, row: row})
+		at++
+	}
+	if r.draw {
+		steps = append(steps, pathStep{kind: stepDraw, at: at})
+	}
+	switch next := r.next.(type) {
+	case *table:
+		switch {
+		case r.up:
+			steps = append(steps, pathStep{kind: stepParent, at: at})
+		case next != t:
+			steps = append(steps, pathStep{kind: stepChild, at: at, name: next.rows.Segment()})
+		}
+	case *tableRow:
+		steps = append(steps, pathStep{kind: stepRow, at: at})
+	case *tableColumn:
+		steps = append(steps, pathStep{kind: stepColumn, at: at, name: next.name()})
+	default:
+		panic(invariant.Broken("%s: a route onto %T", t.rows.Segment(), r.next))
+	}
+	return steps, nil
+}
+
+func (t *table) drawStep(s *drawstate.State, st pathStep, pins *pinSet) node {
+	switch st.kind {
+	case stepSelect:
+		if err := pins.PinRow(t.rows, st.row); err != nil {
+			panic(invariant.Broken("%s[%s]: %v", t.rows.Segment(), st.name, err))
+		}
+		return t
+	case stepDraw:
+		t.rows.DrawIn(s, pins)
+		return t
+	case stepRow:
+		return t.rowNode
+	case stepColumn:
+		return t.formatTemplate.fields[st.name]
+	case stepChild:
+		return t.rows.Descendant(st.name).Owner()
+	case stepParent:
+		return t.rows.Parent().Owner()
+	}
+	panic(invariant.Broken("drawStep has no case for step kind %d", st.kind))
+}
+
+func (t *table) selector(tail []string) (sel string, rest []string, err error) {
+	if len(tail) == 0 || !grammar.IsSelector(tail[0]) {
+		return "", tail, nil
+	}
+	sel, rest = grammar.SelectorOf(tail[0]), tail[1:]
+	if len(rest) > 0 && grammar.IsSelector(rest[0]) {
+		return "", nil, fmt.Errorf("%s[%s] is selected twice; one selector names its row", t.rows.Segment(), sel)
+	}
+	return sel, rest, nil
+}
+
+// step is what a tail's first segment names in t: a column, or a table linked to it.
+func (t *table) step(tail []string) (column node, child *table, err error) {
+	if len(tail) == 0 {
+		return nil, nil, nil
+	}
+	if column, ok := t.formatTemplate.fields[tail[0]]; ok {
+		return column, nil, nil
+	}
+	d := t.rows.Descendant(tail[0])
+	if d == nil {
+		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("no column or linked table %q in %s", tail[0], t.rows.Segment())
+	}
+	return nil, d.Owner(), nil
+}