Tables – \renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3} Causes LaTeX Error: \caption Outside Float in Rmarkdown

renewcommandrmarkdowntables

I'm writing my thesis and want to include several tables in Rmarkdown. The first table is long and includes several LaTeX symbols for regression parameters $\beta$ . The rows seemed a bit squished so I extended the space between the rows using \renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3}. Everything works fine until I tried to use \renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3} in a second table. The LaTeX error is \caption outside float so I thought the problem was with the caption. I have finally figured out that the Rmarkdown file knits perfectly once I remove the \renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3} in the second table. I have included an example from Rmarkdown. Does anyone know why using \renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3} twice doesn't work for some reason? Is there another way to add vertical space between the rows? Thanks <3

test.Rmd (entire file)

---
title: "Real life data"
author: "Julie Berg"
date: "`r Sys.Date()`"
header-includes:
   - \usepackage{tikz}
   - \usetikzlibrary{automata, positioning, arrows}
   - \usepackage{graphics}
   - \usepackage{natbib}
output: 
  pdf_document:
    toc: true
    number_sections: true
    extra_dependencies: ["bbm"]
papersize: a5
---

```{r setup, include=FALSE, echo=FALSE, warning=FALSE, message=FALSE}
rm(list=ls())
knitr::opts_chunk$set(echo = FALSE, warning=FALSE, message=FALSE, out.width = "100%")

library(INLA)
library(survival)
library(mstate)
library(tidyverse)
library(patchwork)
library(dplyr)
library(ggplot2)
library(survival)
library(survminer)
```

# first table

\begin{table}
\centering
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3}
\begin{tabular}{ c|cccc }
  & mean & 0.025quant & 0.975quant & mode \\
 \hline
 $\beta_0^{52}$ & 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 \\
 $\beta_0^{25}$ & 2 & 2 & 2 & 2 \\
 $\beta_0^{21}$ & 3 & 3 & 3 & 3 \\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{Age}}$ & 4 & 4 & 4 & 4 \\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{Age}}$ & 5 & 5 & 5 & 5 \\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{Age}}$ & 6 & 6 & 6 & 6 \\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{Gen}}$ & 7 & 7 & 7 & 7 \\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{Gen}}$ & 8 & 8 & 8 & 8 \\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{Gen}}$ & 9 & 9 & 9 & 9 \\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{Mass}}$ & 10 & 10 & 10 & 10\\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{Mass}}$ & 11 & 11 & 11 & 11\\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{Mass}}$ & 12 & 12 & 12 & 12\\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{res}}$ & 13 & 13 & 13 & 13 \\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{res}}$ & 14 & 14 & 14 & 14 \\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{res}}$ & 15 & 15 & 15 & 15\\

 $\alpha_{52}$ & 16 & 16 & 16 & 16 \\
 $\alpha_{25}$ & 17 & 17 & 17 & 17\\
 $\alpha_{21}$ & 18 & 18 & 18 & 18\\
\end{tabular}
\caption{Estimated parameter values using all Weibull baseline models.}
\label{Tab:estimatesWeib}
\end{table}



# second table

\begin{table}
\centering
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3}
\begin{tabular}{ c|cccc }
  & mean & 0.025quant & 0.975quant & mode \\
 \hline
 $\beta_0^{52}$ & 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 \\
 $\beta_0^{25}$ & 2 & 2 & 2 & 2 \\
 $\beta_0^{21}$ & 3 & 3 & 3 & 3 \\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{Age}}$ & 4 & 4 & 4 & 4 \\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{Age}}$ & 5 & 5 & 5 & 5 \\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{Age}}$ & 6 & 6 & 6 & 6 \\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{Gen}}$ & 7 & 7 & 7 & 7 \\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{Gen}}$ & 8 & 8 & 8 & 8 \\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{Gen}}$ & 9 & 9 & 9 & 9 \\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{Mass}}$ & 10 & 10 & 10 & 10\\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{Mass}}$ & 11 & 11 & 11 & 11\\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{Mass}}$ & 12 & 12 & 12 & 12\\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{res}}$ & 13 & 13 & 13 & 13 \\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{res}}$ & 14 & 14 & 14 & 14 \\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{res}}$ & 15 & 15 & 15 & 15\\

 $\alpha_{52}$ & 16 & 16 & 16 & 16 \\
 $\alpha_{25}$ & 17 & 17 & 17 & 17\\
 $\alpha_{21}$ & 18 & 18 & 18 & 18\\
\end{tabular}
\caption{Estimated parameter values using an Exp baseline model.}
\label{Tab:estimatesExp}
\end{table}

The generated .tex file

% Options for packages loaded elsewhere
\PassOptionsToPackage{unicode}{hyperref}
\PassOptionsToPackage{hyphens}{url}
%
\documentclass[
  a5paper,
]{article}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{ifxetex,ifluatex}
\ifnum 0\ifxetex 1\fi\ifluatex 1\fi=0 % if pdftex
  \usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
  \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
  \usepackage{textcomp} % provide euro and other symbols
  \usepackage{amssymb}
\else % if luatex or xetex
  \usepackage{unicode-math}
  \defaultfontfeatures{Scale=MatchLowercase}
  \defaultfontfeatures[\rmfamily]{Ligatures=TeX,Scale=1}
\fi
% Use upquote if available, for straight quotes in verbatim environments
\IfFileExists{upquote.sty}{\usepackage{upquote}}{}
\IfFileExists{microtype.sty}{% use microtype if available
  \usepackage[]{microtype}
  \UseMicrotypeSet[protrusion]{basicmath} % disable protrusion for tt fonts
}{}
\makeatletter
\@ifundefined{KOMAClassName}{% if non-KOMA class
  \IfFileExists{parskip.sty}{%
    \usepackage{parskip}
  }{% else
    \setlength{\parindent}{0pt}
    \setlength{\parskip}{6pt plus 2pt minus 1pt}}
}{% if KOMA class
  \KOMAoptions{parskip=half}}
\makeatother
\usepackage{xcolor}
\IfFileExists{xurl.sty}{\usepackage{xurl}}{} % add URL line breaks if available
\IfFileExists{bookmark.sty}{\usepackage{bookmark}}{\usepackage{hyperref}}
\hypersetup{
  pdftitle={Real life data},
  pdfauthor={Julie Berg},
  hidelinks,
  pdfcreator={LaTeX via pandoc}}
\urlstyle{same} % disable monospaced font for URLs
\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\makeatletter
\def\maxwidth{\ifdim\Gin@nat@width>\linewidth\linewidth\else\Gin@nat@width\fi}
\def\maxheight{\ifdim\Gin@nat@height>\textheight\textheight\else\Gin@nat@height\fi}
\makeatother
% Scale images if necessary, so that they will not overflow the page
% margins by default, and it is still possible to overwrite the defaults
% using explicit options in \includegraphics[width, height, ...]{}
\setkeys{Gin}{width=\maxwidth,height=\maxheight,keepaspectratio}
% Set default figure placement to htbp
\makeatletter
\def\fps@figure{htbp}
\makeatother
\setlength{\emergencystretch}{3em} % prevent overfull lines
\providecommand{\tightlist}{%
  \setlength{\itemsep}{0pt}\setlength{\parskip}{0pt}}
\setcounter{secnumdepth}{5}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{automata, positioning, arrows}
\usepackage{graphics}
\usepackage{natbib}
\usepackage{bbm}
\ifluatex
  \usepackage{selnolig}  % disable illegal ligatures
\fi

\title{Real life data}
\author{Julie Berg}
\date{2022-01-26}

\begin{document}
\maketitle

{
\setcounter{tocdepth}{2}
\tableofcontents
}
\hypertarget{first-table}{%
\section{first table}\label{first-table}}

\begin{table}
\centering
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3}
\begin{tabular}{ c|cccc }
  & mean & 0.025quant & 0.975quant & mode \\
 \hline
 $\beta_0^{52}$ & 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 \\
 $\beta_0^{25}$ & 2 & 2 & 2 & 2 \\
 $\beta_0^{21}$ & 3 & 3 & 3 & 3 \\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{Age}}$ & 4 & 4 & 4 & 4 \\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{Age}}$ & 5 & 5 & 5 & 5 \\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{Age}}$ & 6 & 6 & 6 & 6 \\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{Gen}}$ & 7 & 7 & 7 & 7 \\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{Gen}}$ & 8 & 8 & 8 & 8 \\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{Gen}}$ & 9 & 9 & 9 & 9 \\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{Mass}}$ & 10 & 10 & 10 & 10\\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{Mass}}$ & 11 & 11 & 11 & 11\\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{Mass}}$ & 12 & 12 & 12 & 12\\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{res}}$ & 13 & 13 & 13 & 13 \\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{res}}$ & 14 & 14 & 14 & 14 \\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{res}}$ & 15 & 15 & 15 & 15\\

 $\alpha_{52}$ & 16 & 16 & 16 & 16 \\
 $\alpha_{25}$ & 17 & 17 & 17 & 17\\
 $\alpha_{21}$ & 18 & 18 & 18 & 18\\
\end{tabular}
\caption{Estimated parameter values using all Weibull baseline models.}
\label{Tab:estimatesWeib}
\end{table}

\hypertarget{second-table}{%
\section{second table}\label{second-table}}

\textbackslash begin\{table\} \centering

\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3}
\begin{tabular}{ c|cccc }
  & mean & 0.025quant & 0.975quant & mode \\
 \hline
 $\beta_0^{52}$ & 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 \\
 $\beta_0^{25}$ & 2 & 2 & 2 & 2 \\
 $\beta_0^{21}$ & 3 & 3 & 3 & 3 \\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{Age}}$ & 4 & 4 & 4 & 4 \\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{Age}}$ & 5 & 5 & 5 & 5 \\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{Age}}$ & 6 & 6 & 6 & 6 \\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{Gen}}$ & 7 & 7 & 7 & 7 \\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{Gen}}$ & 8 & 8 & 8 & 8 \\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{Gen}}$ & 9 & 9 & 9 & 9 \\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{Mass}}$ & 10 & 10 & 10 & 10\\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{Mass}}$ & 11 & 11 & 11 & 11\\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{Mass}}$ & 12 & 12 & 12 & 12\\

 $\beta^{52}_{\text{res}}$ & 13 & 13 & 13 & 13 \\
 $\beta^{25}_{\text{res}}$ & 14 & 14 & 14 & 14 \\
 $\beta^{21}_{\text{res}}$ & 15 & 15 & 15 & 15\\

 $\alpha_{52}$ & 16 & 16 & 16 & 16 \\
 $\alpha_{25}$ & 17 & 17 & 17 & 17\\
 $\alpha_{21}$ & 18 & 18 & 18 & 18\\
\end{tabular}
\caption{Estimated parameter values using an Exp baseline model.}
\label{Tab:estimatesExp}

\textbackslash end\{table\}

\end{document}

Best Answer

The answer came from a friend who doesn't have a stackexchange user, so I will answer for him:

"Put \renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3} outside the very first table environment, and it should stretch out both tables without an error message. Then you don't need a second \renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3} for the second table"

This worked perfectly! I assume all following tables will be stretched, but in my case it doesn't matter as it is the last chapter with tables.

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] ! LaTeX Error: Unknown float option `d’

there isn't any float option d. however, until the version of latex on tex live 2015, unknown options were simply ignored.

effective with tex live 2015, options are checked and unknown ones are flagged as errors.

[Tex/LaTex] Error caption outside float when trying to caption a table

Principially you have two possibilities to add captions to a table (same works for figures too with figure instead table):

You can use a non floating table (that means you do not use environment table, which makes the table floating) as shown in the first example of the following MWE, nearly the same you used in your code. Then you need to use command \captionof{table}{} to get a table caption for your table outside a float (you see the relevance to the error message you got?).
You can use a floating table with environment table. That means LaTeX is allowed to place the table inside the document at a place at its own. Usually that means the table is placed at the top of the page (as done in my MWE) or at the top of the next page ... Then you need to use command \caption{} to get a table caption ...

Please see the following MWE

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{caption} % <================================================
\usepackage{booktabs} % <================================= better tables
\usepackage{blindtext} % <======================= to generate dummy text 


\begin{document}

\begin{minipage}[c]{\linewidth}
\centering % <====================================== to center the table
\begin{tabular}{c| c c c} 
Campus & Main & Jubilee & Kings Meadow \\ [0.5ex] 
\hline
Main         & 0 & 21.8 & 24.6 \\
Jubilee      & 21.8 & 0 & 9.3 \\
Kings Meadow & 24.6 & 9.3 & 0 \\
\end{tabular}
\captionof{table}{Table Description} % <================== from package `caption`
\label{tab:campus} % <============================== to be referenacable
\end{minipage}

\blindtext

\begin{table}%[ht] % <====================================== let table float!
\centering
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} 
\toprule % <====================================== from package booktabs
Campus       & Main & Jubilee & Kings Meadow \\ [0.5ex] 
\midrule % <====================================== from package booktabs
Main         & 0    & 21.8    & 24.6 \\
Jubilee      & 21.8 & 0       & 9.3 \\
Kings Meadow & 24.6 & 9.3     & 0 \\
\bottomrule % <=================================== from package booktabs
\end{tabular}
\caption{Table Description a}
\label{tab:campusa}
\end{table}

Now we can reference table~\ref{tab:campus} and table~\ref{tab:campusa}.

\end{document}

and its result:

As you can see table two is floating at the top of the page, has a caption and is referencable as you can see in the last sentence. You can also see that I used package booktabs for better horizontal lines and I deleted the vertical line (try to do not use them!) in the second table.

If you do not want the table to float at the top of the same page you can try to use option [ht] for table environment:

 \begin{table}[ht] % <====================================== let table float!

If you remove the % before [ht] in the MWE above you get the changed result:

BTW: Have you considered to write the numberes aligned to the dezimal point? Numbers in tables looks better then IMHO. See package dcolumn or siunitx ...