Making Tables with Macros
Ray F. Cowan
22 February 1985
Tables have traditionally been difficult to make using TEX – especially ruled tables. The file TABLES.TEX contains macros designed to prepare both ruled and unruled tables with considerably less effort. Note that TABLES.TEX can be used with any macro set; it does not depend on prior loading of PHYZZX or any other macro set, for example. One of the main advantages of this macro set is that you no longer need to design a preamble for the table; the macros will scan your table entries and construct a suitable preamble for you. To access the macros, say `\input TABLES' in your TEX file, somewhere before you first use them. The macros available are listed in Table [*] and Table [*].


Table: Description of simple table macros
\begin{table}\begintable {\sl Macro name} \vert {\sl Description} \cr \hbox{\tt\... ...t\hbox{\char'174}}, but puts in a thick vertical rule.} \endtable \end{table}



Table: Description of extended table macros
\begin{table}\begintable \hbox{\tt\char'134thicksize}={\em dimen} \vert \para{T... ...ff the diagnostic messages concerning rows and columns.} \endtable \end{table}


The general idea is that you start your table with the command \begintable, type your entries in one row at a time, then finish with the command \endtable. To specify a row, enter the individual entries into your TEX file, separating each column entry with a |, an &, or a \|. A | will separate the adjoining columns with a thin vertical rule, an & will leave out the vertical rule, and a \| will separate the columns with a thick vertical rule. To end one row and start another, use either a \cr, a \crnorule, or a \crthick. A \cr separates the rows with a thin horizontal rule; a \crnorule leaves out the horizontal rule, while \crthick inserts a thick horizontal rule. Then end the last row with an \endtable.

Each row of the table must contain the same number of columns, otherwise unpredictable things will happen. Again the last row must not end with \cr..., but must end with an \endtable. If you put a \cr and an \endtable both on the last row, you won't like what happens.

Each entry will be centered in it's column (unless you use \omit, a TEX primitive, or \multispan. See notes below). The table will be centered in a \hbox of width \hsize, unless you have turned table centering off (see the commands \centeredtables and \noncenteredtables).

Each time a new table is encountered, a message similar to `[Nrows=xx, Ncols=yy]' is printed on your terminal, where xx is the number of rows and yy the number of columns discovered in your table. If you think they are incorrect, you may have left out some |'s or &'s or \cr's. This diagnostic feature can be disabled by saying \tableinfofalse (and restarted by saying \tableinfotrue).

truein An example

A simple 3-row, 2-column table with a header spanning two columns could be specified as (see notes 3 and 4 below on the use of \multispan): 

       \begintable
       \multispan{2}\tstrut\hfil The Top Line\hfil\crthick
       Entry 1 | Entry 2 \cr
       Entry 3 | Entry 4 \endtable
These commands produce Table [*].

Table: A sample table
\begin{table}\begintable \multispan{2}\tstrut\hfill The Top Line\hfill\crthick Entry 1 \vert Entry 2 \cr Entry 3 \vert Entry 4 \endtable \end{table}


truein An example of non-centered tables

Two or more tables can be placed side-by-side by using the \noncenteredtables command. Consider the two tables here (Table [*]):


Table: Two non-centered tables aligned side-by-side
\begin{table}\noncenteredtables \tableline{ \begintable Item ABC \vert Item D... ...r Data 333 \vert Data 444 \cr Data 555 \vert Data 666 \endtable } \end{table}


These were produced by saying 

       \noncenteredtables
       \line{
       \begintable
       Item ABC | Item DEF \cr
       Item GHI | Item JKL \endtable
       \hfil
       \begintable
       Data 111 | Data 222 \cr
       Data 333 | Data 444 \cr
       Data 555 | Data 666 \endtable
       }
Notice that tables of unequal height are aligned at the bottom.

truein Usage notes:

1.
Vertical spacing is done with a strut, called \tstrut, which is initially defined as 3.1ex high and 1.2ex deep. If you don't like the way it looks, you can redefine \tstrut to your own liking: 
       \def\tstrut{\vrule height hh depth dd width 0pt}
where you specify your desired height hh and depth dd.
2.
You can control the thickness of the thin and thick rules through the use of \thicksize and \thinsize. You can turn off the rules entirely by saying 
       \thinsize=0pt
       \thicksize=0pt
for example
3.
If you use a \multispan or an \omit in the first column of a row, you will lose the effect of the \tstrut within that row and must specify it yourself. See the example above.
4.
Use of \multispan and \omit will cause the default centering of the entry to be lost; if you want it centered, put an \hfil on each side of the entry, as in the example above.
5.
To override the default centering action, include an \hfill on the left or right as desired; the \hfill will override the default \hfil.

truein Local modifications for use with LATEX:

truein This macro package was originally written for use with plain TEX. Bob Taylor has made changes for it to be used as a style option in LATEX. The plain TEX command \line has been replaced with \tableline, with \tableline being defined as 

       \def\tableline{\hbox to \hsize}

The \documentstyle command in your LATEX file should look something like: 

       \documentstyle[tables]{article}