[Tex/LaTex] LaTeX table capabilities

tables

This might be a proper question for community wiki.

How can various text processor (like Word or Writer) table capabilities be achieved using LaTeX? For example, can I achieve:

multicolumns and multirows (yes, with multirow package)
merge cells operation spanning multiple rows and columns, respecting borders. Illustrated with figure below:

Row and column spanning

equal column distribution (yes, with appropriate column types and manually inputting column widths, or tabularx package)
equal rows distribution (?)
changing text direction (yes, does not depend on table enviroment?)
cell/row shading (yes, with colorx package)
using borders and lines
setting borders of each cell individually (?)
aligning cell contents inside a cell in all 9 directions (vertical, horizontal and centering)
etc.

Best Answer

Merge cells operation spanning multiple rows and columns, respecting borders.

Can be done using a \multirow (multirow package) inside a \multicolumn. The borders are drawn using \hline or \cline.

Code

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{multirow}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
                                                                            \hline
   Text A                        &  Text B                       & Test C \\\hline
   \multicolumn{2}{|c|}{\multirow{2}{*}{Longer Text, etc. etc.}} & Test F \\\cline{3-3}
   \multicolumn{2}{|c|}{}                                        & Test G \\\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{document}

Result

Result

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Complex LaTeX Table

One way would be to fix the width of the columns as in the first example:

enter image description here

It would be even better to eliminate the vertical lines as in the second example:

enter image description here

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}

\begin{document}
\begin{table}[htbp]
\caption{Combination Nomenclature, (Average Fill Factor)}
\resizebox{1.0\textwidth}{!}{
\begin{tabular}{|c||p{1.0em}|p{1.0em}|p{1.0em}|p{1.0em} l|}
\hline
\textbf{Combination} &\multicolumn{5}{l|}{\textbf{Included Optional Steps}}\\
\cline{2-6}
&\textbf{1}&\textbf{2}&\textbf{3}&\textbf{4}&\\
\hline\hline
\textbf{1}& X & & & &\\
\hline
\textbf{13}&  &  & X & X &\\
\hline
\textbf{14}&  &  &  & X &\\
\hline
\hline
\textbf{15}& \multicolumn{4}{l}{Nano Particles Deposited, Not Sintered}&\\
\hline
\textbf{16}& \multicolumn{4}{l}{Only Grinded Wafer 1, No Particles Deposited, Not Sintered}&\\
\hline
\textbf{17}& \multicolumn{4}{l}{Only Grinded Wafer 2, No Particles Deposited, Not Sintered}&\\
\hline
\end{tabular}}
\label{table:AverageFillFactor}
\end{table}
%
\begin{table}[htbp]
\caption{Combination Nomenclature, (Average Fill Factor)}
\resizebox{1.0\textwidth}{!}{
\begin{tabular}{c p{1.0em} p{1.0em} p{1.0em} p{1.0em} l }
\hline
\textbf{Combination} &\multicolumn{5}{l}{\textbf{Included Optional Steps}}\\
\cline{2-6}
&\textbf{1}&\textbf{2}&\textbf{3}&\textbf{4}&\\
\hline\hline
\textbf{1}& X & & & &\\
\hline
\textbf{13}&  &  & X & X &\\
\hline
\textbf{14}&  &  &  & X &\\
\hline
\hline
\textbf{15}& \multicolumn{4}{l}{Nano Particles Deposited, Not Sintered}&\\
\hline
\textbf{16}& \multicolumn{4}{l}{Only Grinded Wafer 1, No Particles Deposited, Not Sintered}&\\
\hline
\textbf{17}& \multicolumn{4}{l}{Only Grinded Wafer 2, No Particles Deposited, Not Sintered}&\\
\hline
\end{tabular}}
\label{table:AverageFillFactor}
\end{table}
\end{document}

[Tex/LaTex] Parallel texts with header on each page

Okay, here's a hack that uses atbegshi to add a header to parcolumns:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{parcolumns}
\usepackage{atbegshi}

\newcommand{\pcheaderfmt}[1]{{\large\sf\textbf{#1}}}
\newcommand{\pcheader}{}
\AtBeginShipout{\pcheader}

\begin{document}
\section{Latin and Piglatin}
    \renewcommand{\pcheader}
        {\par\noindent\pcheaderfmt{Latin}\hfill\pcheaderfmt{Piglatin}%
            \vspace{0.5ex}\hrule\vspace{1.5ex}}
    \pcheader
    \begin{parcolumns}{2}
    %
    \colchunk{Latin}
    %
    \colchunk{Piglatin}
    \colplacechunks
    %
    \colchunk{Latin}
    %
    \colchunk{Piglatin}
    %
    \end{parcolumns}
    \renewcommand{\pcheader}{}
\section{English and Pigenglish}
    \renewcommand{\pcheader}
        {\par\noindent\pcheaderfmt{English}\hfill\pcheaderfmt{Pigenglish?}%
            \vspace{0.5ex}\hrule\vspace{1.5ex}}
    \pcheader
    \begin{parcolumns}{2}
    %
    \colchunk{English}
    %
    \colchunk{Pigenglish}
    %
    \end{parcolumns}
    \renewcommand{\pcheader}{}
\end{document}

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