[Tex/LaTex] Colored tables and cline/hhline

colortblrulestables

How to write \clines (or \hhline) in colored tables so that the color of the cell does not hide the line?

Here are two solutions but neither of them works fine.

\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{article} 
\usepackage{colortbl} 
\usepackage{hhline} 
\usepackage{multirow} 

\begin{document} 

First try with \verb+\cline+

\begin{figure}[hbt]
\centering
\small\sf
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|>{\columncolor[gray]{.8}}c|c|c|c|} \hline
\rowcolor[gray]{.8} &  &  & \multicolumn{3}{c|}{Year} \\ \hline
\rowcolor[gray]{.8} Country & GOR & UA &  2006 &  2007 &  2008 \\ \hline
\cellcolor[gray]{.8} & \cellcolor[gray]{.8} &  Milton Keynes & 92 & 94 & 96 \\\cline{3-6}
\cellcolor[gray]{.8} & \multirow{-2}{*}{\cellcolor[gray]{.8}South East} & Reading & 58 & 58 & 60 \\\cline{2-6}
\multirow{-3}{*}{\cellcolor[gray]{.8}England} & \cellcolor[gray]{.8} South West &  Bournemouth& 71 & 72 & 73 \\ \hline
\cellcolor[gray]{.8} & \cellcolor[gray]{.8} & Cardiff & 132.1 & 134.2 & 136.7 \\\cline{3-6} 
\multirow{-2}{*}{\cellcolor[gray]{.8}Wales} & \multirow{-2}{*}{\cellcolor[gray]{.8}Wales} & Newport & 58.7 & $\perp$ & 59.6 \\ \hline
\end{tabular}  
\caption{The clines are somehow hidden by the cell color}
\end{figure}    

Second try with \verb+\hhline+

\begin{figure}[hbt]
\centering
\small\sf
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|>{\columncolor[gray]{.8}}c|c|c|c|} \hline
\rowcolor[gray]{.8} &  &  & \multicolumn{3}{c|}{Year} \\ \hline
\rowcolor[gray]{.8} Country & GOR & UA &  2006 &  2007 &  2008 \\ \hline
\cellcolor[gray]{.8} & \cellcolor[gray]{.8} &  Milton Keynes & 92 & 94 & 96 \\\hhline{~~----}
\cellcolor[gray]{.8} & \multirow{-2}{*}{\cellcolor[gray]{.8}South East} & Reading & 58 & 58 & 60 \\\hhline{~-----}
\multirow{-3}{*}{\cellcolor[gray]{.8}England} & \cellcolor[gray]{.8} South West &  Bournemouth& 71 & 72 & 73 \\ \hline
\cellcolor[gray]{.8} & \cellcolor[gray]{.8} & Cardiff & 132.1 & 134.2 & 136.7 \\ \hhline{~~----} 
\multirow{-2}{*}{\cellcolor[gray]{.8}Wales} & \multirow{-2}{*}{\cellcolor[gray]{.8}Wales} & Newport & 58.7 & $\perp$ & 59.6 \\ \hline
\end{tabular}  
\caption{Now there is a white line where it shouldn't be}
\end{figure}    

\end{document}

Best Answer

enter image description here

You shouldn't need the \noalign{\vskip and the amounts in the fudge factor probably depend on which pdf viewer you use, but sometimes it helps to keep the rules a little bit away from the coloured panels.

\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{article} 
\usepackage{colortbl} 
\usepackage{hhline} 
\usepackage{multirow} 

\begin{document} 


\begin{figure}[hbt]
\centering
\small\sf
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|>{\columncolor[gray]{.8}}c|c|c|c|} \hhline{|*6{-}|}\noalign{\vskip.2pt}
\rowcolor[gray]{.8} &  &  & \multicolumn{3}{c|}{Year} \\ \hhline{|*6{-}|}\noalign{\vskip.2pt}
\rowcolor[gray]{.8} Country & GOR & UA &  2006 &  2007 &  2008 \\ \hhline{|*6{-}|}\noalign{\vskip.2pt}
\cellcolor[gray]{.8} & \cellcolor[gray]{.8} &  Milton Keynes & 92 & 94 & 96 \\\hhline{|*2{>{\arrayrulecolor[gray]{.8}}-}>{\arrayrulecolor{black}}|*4{-}|}
\cellcolor[gray]{.8} & \multirow{-2}{*}{\cellcolor[gray]{.8}South East} & Reading & 58 & 58 & 60 \\\hhline{|*1{>{\arrayrulecolor[gray]{.8}}-}*5{>{\arrayrulecolor{black}}-}|}
\multirow{-3}{*}{\cellcolor[gray]{.8}England} & \cellcolor[gray]{.8} South West &  Bournemouth& 71 & 72 & 73 \\ \hline
\cellcolor[gray]{.8} & \cellcolor[gray]{.8} & Cardiff & 132.1 & 134.2 & 136.7 \\ \hhline{|*2{>{\arrayrulecolor[gray]{.8}}-}*4{>{\arrayrulecolor{black}}-}|}
\multirow{-2}{*}{\cellcolor[gray]{.8}Wales} & \multirow{-2}{*}{\cellcolor[gray]{.8}Wales} & Newport & 58.7 & $\perp$ & 59.6 \\ \hhline{|*6{-}|}
\end{tabular}  
\caption{Now there is a white line where it shouldn't be}
\end{figure}    

\end{document}

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] tabular* with rubber spacing and \cline

That's caused by \extracolsep{\fill} which produces the space that \cline doesn't fill. You could verify that by removing @{\extracolsep{\fill}}.

Besides removing that rubber length, you could repair it by

inserting another one such as

\begin{tabular*}{15.5cm}{@{\extracolsep{\fill}}| M | r | r |@{\extracolsep{0pt}}r | r |}

or by using a width-fitting tabular environment which adjust the columns width instead of the column separation: tabularx. This would be my choice.

Further I strongly recommend to omit all these vertical lines which obstruct the reading. Good tables don't need to be grids! Have a look at the booktabs package and its documentation. I would use perhaps a top line, a seperation line below the header and a bottom line, but no vertical line at all. Compare tables in good books, you're able to typeset fine tables too.

[Tex/LaTex] tabular – \cline not working

Your table, after suitable completion, will compile with some warnings about over/under full boxes which I solved with the following modifications:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[textwidth=17cm]{geometry}% just for the example
\usepackage{multirow}

\begin{document}

\noindent\begin{tabular}{ | p{2cm} | p{4cm} | p{4cm} | p{4cm} | }
\hline
Název & \multicolumn{3}{ l|}{vypsatZapojeniResiteluDoProjektu}\\
\hline
Popis & \multicolumn{3}{ l|}{Vedouci pracovnik}  \vline \\
\hline
Priorita & 1 = vysoka & \textbf{Frekvence} & nekolikrat denne \\
\hline
\parbox[t]{2cm}{Vstupni\\ podminky} & \multicolumn{3}{p{12cm}|}{sdgsdgsg.}\\
\hline
\parbox[t]{2cm}{Vystupni\\ podminky} & \multicolumn{3}{p{12cm}|}{sdgsdgsga.}\\
\hline
Uzivatele & \multicolumn{3}{p{12cm}|}{sdgsdgsdg.}\\
\hline
\multirow{3}{2cm}{Zakladni\\ posloupnost} & \multicolumn{3}{p{12cm}|}{sgdsgsdg.}\\
\cline{2-4}
& \multicolumn{3}{p{12cm}|}{sdgsdgg.}\\
\cline{2-4}
& \multicolumn{3}{p{12cm}}{sgsdggdsg.} \vline \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

\end{document}

And here's the result:

enter image description here

I would like to suggest you, however, some changes to your table, using the features provided by the booktabs package:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[textwidth=16cm]{geometry}% just for the example
\usepackage{multirow}
\usepackage{booktabs}

\begin{document}

\noindent\begin{tabular}{@{}p{2cm}p{4cm}@{}p{4cm}@{}p{4cm}@{}}
\toprule
Název & \multicolumn{3}{ l }{vypsatZapojeniResiteluDoProjektu} \\
\midrule
Popis & \multicolumn{3}{ l }{Vedouci pracovnik}  \\
\midrule
Priorita & 1 = vysoka & \textbf{Frekvence} & nekolikrat denne \\
\midrule
\parbox[t]{2cm}{Vstupni\\ podminky} & \multicolumn{3}{p{12cm}}{sdgsdgsg.} \\
\midrule
\parbox[t]{2cm}{Vystupni\\  podminky} & \multicolumn{3}{p{12cm}}{sdgsdgsga.} \\
\midrule
Uzivatele & \multicolumn{3}{p{12cm}}{sdgsdgsdg.} \\
\midrule
\multirow{4}{2cm}{Zakladni\\ posloupnost} & \multicolumn{3}{p{12cm}}{sgdsgsdg.} \\
\cmidrule{2-4}
& \multicolumn{3}{p{12cm}}{sdgsdgg.} \\
\cmidrule{2-4}
& \multicolumn{3}{p{12cm}}{sgsdggdsg.} \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}

\end{document}

Now the table has the following aspect:

enter image description here

As you can see, the spacing between the horizontal lines and the cell contents has improved; also, the absence of vertical rules improves the readability (vertical rules are superfluous). Depending on the actual content of the cells, it would even be possible to remove more lines; refer to the package documentation to see additional features provided by booktabs.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] tabular* with rubber spacing and \cline

[Tex/LaTex] tabular – \cline not working

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