(eplain.info)Tables

---

Next: Margins Prev: Justification Up: User definitions

---

Enter node , (file) or (file)node

4.14 Tables
===========

Eplain provides a single command, '\makecolumns', to make generating one
particular kind of table easier. More ambitious LaTeX styles and macro
packages tackle more difficult applications. The 'autorows' feature of
the Memoir package provides similar functionality to this.

   Many tables are homogenous, i.e., all the entries are semantically
the same. The arrangement into columns is to save space on the page, not
to encode different meanings. In this kind of the table, it is useful to
have the column breaks chosen automatically, so that you can add or
delete entries without worrying about the column breaks.

   '\makecolumns' takes two arguments: the number of entries in the
table, and the number of columns to break them into. As you can see from
the example below, the first argument is delimited by a slash, and the
second by a colon and a space (or end-of-line). The entries for the
table then follow, one per line (not including the line with the
'\makecolumns' command itself).

   '\parindent' defines the space to the left of the table. '\hsize'
defines the width of the table. So you can adjust the position of the
table on the page by assignments to these parameters, probably inside a
group.

   You can also control the penalty at a page break before the
'\makecolumns' by setting the parameter '\abovecolumnspenalty'. Usually,
the table is preceded by some explanatory text. You wouldn't want a page
break to occur after the text and before the table, so Eplain sets it to
'10000'. But if the table produced by '\makecolumns' is standing on its
own, '\abovecolumnspenalty' should be decreased.

   If you happen to give '\makecolumns' a smaller number of entries than
you really have, some text beyond the (intended) end of the table will
be incorporated into the table, probably producing an error message, or
at least some strange looking entries. And if you give '\makecolumns' a
larger number of entries than you really have, some of the entries will
be typeset as straight text, probably also looking somewhat out of
place.

   Here is an example:

     % Arrange 6 entries into 2 columns:
     \makecolumns 6/2: % This line doesn't have an entry.
     one
     two
     three
     four
     five
     six
     Text after the table.

This produces 'one', 'two', and 'three' in the first column, and 'four',
'five', and 'six' in the second.