I don't really get the question so I hope this is what you wanted. If you include a full document (such that we copy paste and see the problem on our systems) things are much more easier.
Here, you can change the default setting within a scope but your block style had a node distance which was resetting every time it is issued. I've made it 2mm such that we can see the difference easier.
\documentclass[tikz]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows,shapes.geometric,positioning}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[decision/.style={diamond, draw, text width=4.5em, text badly centered, node distance=3.5cm, inner sep=0pt},
block/.style ={rectangle, draw, text width=6em, text centered, rounded corners, minimum height=4em, minimum height=2em},
cloud/.style ={draw, ellipse, minimum height=2em},
line/.style ={draw,-latex'},
node distance = 1cm,
auto]
\node [block] (1st) {1st};
\node [block, right= of 1st] (2nd1) {2nd1};
\begin{scope}[node distance=2mm and 10mm]%Here we change it for everything inside this scope
\node [block, above= of 2nd1] (2nd2) {2nd2};
\node [block, below= of 2nd1] (2nd3) {2nd3};
\node [block, right= of 2nd1] (3rd1) {3rd1};
\node [block, above= of 3rd1] (3rd2) {3rd2};
\node [block, above= of 3rd2] (3rd3) {3rd3};
\end{scope}
\node [block, below= of 3rd1] (3rd4) {3rd4};
\node [block, below= of 3rd4] (3rd5) {3rd5};
\path [line] (1st) -- (2nd1);
\path [line] (2nd1) -- (2nd2);
\path [line] (2nd1) -- (2nd3);
\path [line] (2nd2) -- (3rd3);
\path [line] (2nd1) -- (3rd1);
\path [line] (1st) -- (2nd1);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}
Package ltxtable allows the combination of longtable with tabularx column type X. The latter is useful for the last column with the description text. The first columns can be set via column type l.
The indentation in the description part can be achieved via \hangindent and \hangafter (assuming there is only one paragraph).
Since the package ltxtable requires a separate file for the table, package filecontents is used, which allows the environment filecontents inside the document body. Also the file is overwritten each time and is therefore uptodate.
The larger line spacing between rows is achieved by redefining \arraystretch.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{array}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{ltxtable}
\usepackage{filecontents}
\begin{document}
\setcounter{table}{6}
\begin{filecontents}{\jobname-table-parameters}
\renewcommand*{\arraystretch}{1.2}
\begin{longtable}{lll>{\hangindent=1em\hangafter=1 }X}
\caption{Some parameters}\\
\toprule
\# & Name & Type & Description \\
\midrule
\endfirsthead
\caption[]{(continued)}\\
\toprule
\# & Name & Type & Description \\
\midrule
\endhead
\bottomrule
\endfoot
f1 & duration & Integer
& Duration of the connection\\
f2 & protocol\_type & Nominal
& Protocol type of the connection: TCP, UDP, ICMP\\
f3 & service & Nominal
& http, ftp, smtp, telnet, \dots\ and others\\
f4 & flag & Nominal
& Connection status: SF, S0, S1, S2, S3, OTH, REJ, RSTO, RSTOS0, SH,
RSTRH, SHR\\
f5 & src\_bytes & Integer
& Bytes sent in one connection\\
f6 & dst\_bytes & Integer
& Bytes received in one connection\\
f7 & land & Binary
& If source and destination IP addresses and port numbers
are equal, this variable is~1, else~0\\
\end{longtable}
\end{filecontents}
\LTXtable{\linewidth}{\jobname-table-parameters}
\end{document}
Best Answer
You can add
\renewcommand*{\arraystretch}{1.4}immediately before\begin{longtable}, and this will affect just that one table. Of course, 1.4 is a proportion. Get as much space as you want :)Also, you could use the
booktabspackage. Take a look at this post:Space between rows in a table
Note: Possible duplicate of How to set the space between rows in a table