[Tex/LaTex] Three tables side by side, want only one caption

floatsminipagetables

I have three tables and I want to use one caption under them. I tried the following but then nothing prints except the caption –

\begin{figure}[!h]
    \begin{table}[h]
    \centering
        \begin{minipage}[t]{0.3\linewidth}
            \begin{tabular}[t]{|c | c | c | c |}
                \hline
                State                      & $1$-step      \\ \hline
                $\ket{n, \leftarrow, 0}$   & $\leftarrow$  \\
                $\ket{n, \leftarrow, 1}$   & $\rightarrow$ \\
                $\ket{n, \rightarrow, 0}$  & $\rightarrow$ \\
                $\ket{n, \rightarrow, 1}$  & $\leftarrow$  \\
                \hline
            \end{tabular}
        \end{minipage}
        \begin{minipage}[t]{0.3\linewidth}
            \begin{tabular}[t]{|c | c | c | c |}
                \hline
                State                     & $2$-step      \\ \hline
                $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow, 0}$   & $\leftarrow$  \\
                $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow, 1}$   & $\rightarrow$ \\
                $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \rightarrow, 0}$  & $\rightarrow$ \\
                $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \rightarrow, 1}$  & $\leftarrow$  \\ \hline

                \hline
            \end{tabular}
        \end{minipage}        
        \begin{minipage}[t]{0.3\linewidth}
            \begin{tabular}[t]{|c | c | c | c |}
                \hline
                State                     & $3$-step \\ \hline
                $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow,  \leftarrow, 0}$   & $\leftarrow$  \\
                $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow,  \leftarrow, 1}$   & $\rightarrow$ \\
                $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow,  \rightarrow, 0}$  & $\rightarrow$ \\
                $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow,  \rightarrow, 1}$  & $\leftarrow$  \\

                \hline
            \end{tabular}
        \end{minipage}    
    \end{table}
\caption{Directions}
\end{figure}

If I remove the figure and begin{figure}, end{figure}, and caption{} tags, the tables show but there is no caption. So how can I get the tables to show with the caption?

Best Answer

You can't really nest floating environments (it doesn't make sense logically). That's the main problem, and may stem from the fact that you think you need a table environment in order to place a tabular. That's not the case. You're probably after the following:

enter image description here

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{braket}
\begin{document}

\begin{table}[ht]
    \centering
    \begin{tabular}[t]{| c | c |}
        \hline
        State                      & $1$-step      \\ \hline
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow, 0}$   & $\leftarrow$  \\
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow, 1}$   & $\rightarrow$ \\
        $\ket{n, \rightarrow, 0}$  & $\rightarrow$ \\
        $\ket{n, \rightarrow, 1}$  & $\leftarrow$  \\
        \hline
    \end{tabular}\hfill%
    \begin{tabular}[t]{| c | c |}
        \hline
        State                     & $2$-step      \\ \hline
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow, 0}$   & $\leftarrow$  \\
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow, 1}$   & $\rightarrow$ \\
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \rightarrow, 0}$  & $\rightarrow$ \\
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \rightarrow, 1}$  & $\leftarrow$  \\
        \hline
    \end{tabular}\hfill%
    \begin{tabular}[t]{| c | c |}
        \hline
        State                     & $3$-step \\ \hline
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow,  \leftarrow, 0}$   & $\leftarrow$  \\
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow,  \leftarrow, 1}$   & $\rightarrow$ \\
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow,  \rightarrow, 0}$  & $\rightarrow$ \\
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow,  \rightarrow, 1}$  & $\leftarrow$  \\
        \hline
    \end{tabular}
\caption{Directions}
\end{table}

\end{document}

You may also be interested in a booktabs implementation:

enter image description here

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{braket,booktabs}
\begin{document}

\begin{table}[ht]
    \centering
    \begin{tabular}[t]{c c}
        \toprule
        State                      & $1$-step      \\ \midrule
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow, 0}$   & $\leftarrow$  \\
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow, 1}$   & $\rightarrow$ \\
        $\ket{n, \rightarrow, 0}$  & $\rightarrow$ \\
        $\ket{n, \rightarrow, 1}$  & $\leftarrow$  \\
        \bottomrule
    \end{tabular}\hfill%
    \begin{tabular}[t]{c c}
        \toprule
        State                     & $2$-step      \\ \midrule
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow, 0}$   & $\leftarrow$  \\
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow, 1}$   & $\rightarrow$ \\
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \rightarrow, 0}$  & $\rightarrow$ \\
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \rightarrow, 1}$  & $\leftarrow$  \\
        \bottomrule
    \end{tabular}\hfill%
    \begin{tabular}[t]{c c}
        \toprule
        State                     & $3$-step \\ \midrule
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow,  \leftarrow, 0}$   & $\leftarrow$  \\
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow,  \leftarrow, 1}$   & $\rightarrow$ \\
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow,  \rightarrow, 0}$  & $\rightarrow$ \\
        $\ket{n, \leftarrow,  \leftarrow,  \rightarrow, 1}$  & $\leftarrow$  \\
        \bottomrule
    \end{tabular}
\caption{Directions}
\end{table}

\end{document}

As an aside: You could have placed the entire table into a single tabular as well.

Related Question