[Tex/LaTex] Making a table span multiple columns

Question

I have some tabular data and two column page layout. The number of columns is bigger such that that the table cannot fit into one column. How can I make the table span two columns such that the table is centered. I don't want to stretch it to the whole. Just take up two columns and center it since it is not big enough to take the whole space. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

This should help. It just shows how your code should look like after using Harish's recommendation:

\documentclass[twocolumn]{article}
\usepackage{lipsum}%Just for introducing dummy text.
\usepackage{dblfloatfix}

\begin{document}
\lipsum[1-4]%dummy text
\begin{table*}[h]%Using table* instead of table is what makes the table use the two columns.
    \centering
    \begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
    Data & Data & Data \\
    Data & Data & Data \\
    Data & Data & Data \\
    \end{tabular}
    \caption{This is a table with data}
\end{table*}
\lipsum[3-10]%Dummy text
\end{document}

Here's a screenshot of the result.