[Tex/LaTex] Issue with \loop to create contents of tabular row

conditionalsloopsmacrostables

I want to create a table where items in columns are alphabetic A,B,C,......,M, and I would like insert them with a loop, here an example

\documentclass{article}

\newcounter{countA}

\def\myline{}
\loop\ifnum\thecountA<12
  \stepcounter{countA}
  \expandafter\def\expandafter\myline\expandafter{%
    \myline
    \Alph{countA} &  
  }%
\repeat

\begin{document}

\centering 

\begin{tabular}{|*{13}{c|}}
\hline
A & B & C & D & E & F & G & H & I & G & K & L & M \\  
\hline
\end{tabular}

\bigskip

\begin{tabular}{|*{13}{c|}}
\hline
\myline M\\  
\hline
\end{tabular}

\end{document}

The result is a tabular where all cells contain the same letter L, how can I fix myline macro to obtain same as the first table, or if there another method to create such loop in tabular

Best Answer

The problem is that \myline is not expanded. Using \edef instead of \def and removing al the expandafters solves this.

\documentclass{article}

\newcounter{countA}

\def\myline{}
\loop\ifnum\thecountA<12
  \stepcounter{countA}
  \edef\myline{%
    \myline
    \Alph{countA} &  
  }%
\repeat

\begin{document}

\centering 

\begin{tabular}{|*{13}{c|}}
\hline
A & B & C & D & E & F & G & H & I & G & K & L & M \\  
\hline
\end{tabular}

\bigskip

\begin{tabular}{|*{13}{c|}}
\hline
\myline M\\  
\hline
\end{tabular}

\end{document}

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Numerical conditional within tikz keys

I am definitely unfamiliar with both beamer and tikz (do not quite get what the \only are supposed to do) but perhaps this could go in the direction you want:

\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{chains}
\newcounter{count}

% helper macro:
\long\def\GobToSemiColon #1;{}

\newcommand\myPicture{
\begin{tikzpicture}
  \begin{scope}[start chain = going below]
  \ifnum\value{count}<1 \expandafter\GobToSemiColon\fi
  \ifnum\value{count}>3 \expandafter\GobToSemiColon\fi
  \node[draw, rectangle, on chain] {display only when counter is between
    1 and 3};

  \ifnum\value{count}>-1 \expandafter\GobToSemiColon\fi
  \node[draw, rectangle, on chain] {display only when counter is
    negative}; 

  \ifnum\value{count}<100 \expandafter\GobToSemiColon\fi
  \ifnum\value{count}>200 \expandafter\GobToSemiColon\fi  
  \node[draw, rectangle, on chain] {display only if counter is between
    100 and 200};

  \ifnum\value{count}<3 \expandafter\GobToSemiColon\fi
  \ifnum\value{count}>20 \expandafter\GobToSemiColon\fi
  \node[draw, circle, on chain] {only when counter is in the range 3 to 20};
  \end{scope}
\end{tikzpicture}
}

\begin{document}
\begin{frame}
\only{\setcounter{count}{-3}\myPicture}
\only{\setcounter{count}{105}\myPicture}
\only{\setcounter{count}{39}\myPicture}
\only{\setcounter{count}{2}\myPicture}
\only{\setcounter{count}{5}\myPicture}
\end{frame}
\end{document}

beamer

[Tex/LaTex] tables without tabular

Don't engage in so much visual formatting. Instead, define some pertinent table parameters -- such as centering the column contents, the heights of the rows, etc -- beforehand, and then create a lean and reasonably easy to read table.

In the example below, I've created a dummy definition of your \VTGN macro to make the code compilable. You'll notice a complete absence of \vspace{3mm} and \cl directives in the code. Observe the use of \bigstrut to size the heights of the rows: it's an object with a depth of 4ex below the text baseline and a height of 6ex above the baseline. (The strut's total height is thus 10pt.) Adjust these parameters as needed to get the desired spacing. The strut's width is 0pt; hence it's not visible. One \bigstrut per row suffices.

enter image description here

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[paperheight=28cm, paperwidth=20cm, margin=2cm]{geometry}
\newcommand\VTGN[1]{#1} %% just so that this example compiles
\usepackage{tabularx}
\newcolumntype{Y}{>{\centering\arraybackslash}X}
\newcommand\bigstrut{\rule[-4ex]{0pt}{10ex}}
\begin{document}
\noindent
\begingroup
\setlength\tabcolsep{0.1pt} % default: 6pt
\begin{tabularx}{\textwidth}{ | *{7}{Y|} }
\hline
\bigstrut & addition & subtraction & multiplication & division & exponentiation & rootification \\ 
\hline 
Vortigenu \bigstrut & \VTGN{+} & \VTGN{-} & \VTGN{*} & \VTGN{/} & \VTGN{\char"5E} & \VTGN{\char"40} \\ 
\hline
Earth \bigstrut & + & $-$ & $\times$ & $\div$ & ? & ? \\ 
\hline
\end{tabularx}
\endgroup
\end{document}

Addendum: I just noticed that you posted the following definition of the \VTGN macro:

\newcommand{\VTGN}[1]{\setmainfont{Vortigenu}{#1}\setmainfont{Times New Roman}}

Using \setmainfont in this manner is rather inefficient as well as quite complex; see Section 5 of the user guide of the fontspec package for a more in-depth explanation of this claim. I suggest you provide the following commands in the preamble:

\newfontfamily\vtgn{Vortigenu}
\newcommand\VTGN[1]{{\vtgn #1}} % Note the double curly braces

This definition of \VTGN makes it unnecessary to execute \setmainfont twice. Moreover, it works without having to know what the main document font happens to be.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Numerical conditional within tikz keys

[Tex/LaTex] tables without tabular

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