On Fri, Apr 26, 2013 at 4:57 PM, Marshall Feldman <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 4/26/13 4:12 PM, Scott Kostyshak wrote: > > On Fri, Apr 26, 2013 at 3:00 PM, Marshall Feldman <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hello, > > The standard format for formal tables uses spanners to indicate columns with > similar, related content. I am using LyX with the "formal" tables option set > to on. But I don't see how to introduce spanners into a table.. > > For example, suppose a table has two lines of headings. Suppose further that > row 1 has "Revenue" as a heading and that below this the table has two > headings, "Sales" and "Interest." So we would like the line beneath > "Revenue" to span two columns with a solid line, and for there to be enough > space at the edges of the spanned columns for the reader to make out that > the spanner is indeed separate from adjacent columns. See this page for > examples. > > So how does one handle spanners in LyX? > > Hi Marshall, > > If I understand correctly, what you refer to as "spanners" LyX would > refer to as "multi-column". In a table, select a couple of rows and > click on "multi-column" in the table toolbar (which is at the bottom > of the screen and is activated when the cursor is in a table). > > Best, > > Scott > > Thanks, Scott. > > Well it's not exactly multicolumn, at least not how I understand this term. > A cell that's multicolumn spans more than one column. This relates to > spanners, but it's only part of the issue. > > A spanner is a line under the heading for the multicolumn cell. The line > does not run the full width of the original columns that went into the > multicolumn cell. Since the spanner typically serves as a heading indicating > which columns fall under the heading, there has to be some way to > distinguish the columns falling under the heading from other, adjacent > columns. This is why the spanner line is shorter than the combined widths of > the original columns: whitespace on either side of the line separates it > from lines in adjacent cells. > > I'll try to draw a picture:
I don't think the picture came out like it was supposed to (maybe because of linewrapping). I'm understanding more what you're after, but I'm not sure why creative use of rows, multi-columns, and dashes (or some kind of LaTeX line or underline) can't achieve the same effect. Hopefully someone else will have some more ideas for you. Scott
