Parallel enumerate inside table

Question

I've been trying to create this table (it's meant for a Troubleshooting guide) but can't make both enumerates to align properly. I need every number to be side by side with each other.

The table is not something mandatory, I've tried to do something similar using minipage but results still far from what I need.

My question is very similar to others, solutions like this looks fine but I couldn't make it work inside a table. Or this other one would be great, but I can't convert the beamer way to article class.

I really don't want to be adding manual spacing since I might have to change the content etc. Manual numbering and separated rows are my last option.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{paracol, blindtext}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{|lp{0.3\textwidth}p{0.5\textwidth}|}
\hline 
 Short text & Short text & Short text \\ 
\hline 
Short text & 
\begin{enumerate}
    \item Short text 
    \item Short text
    \item Short text 
    \item Short text    
\end{enumerate} 
&
\begin{enumerate}
    \item Short text.
    \item \blindtext
    \item Short text 
    \item Short text    
\end{enumerate}
 \\
\hline 
\end{tabular}\end{document}

I'm confused as you say that that using a table is not necessary but http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/280077/parallel-numbering-in-columns/280115#280115 solves this problem without using tables. Also, by "I really don't want to be adding manual spacing" do you mean that you want a solution where the left and right hand columns are given separately, as in your MWE, or can the entries for the two columns be given "in parallel" like \items{lefthand item}{righthgand item}. — , Aug 16 '16 at 23:56
@Andrew Hello. That solution would work, but you see I need 3 columns, I couldn't make that with paracol. The items can be together as you suggest, as long as the result follows the numbering/alignment of my image (art). — G. Bay, Aug 17 '16 at 00:14

score 3 · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-17T00:24:33.903

I think that you should use the tableau environment to line up the entries in the two columns. I would do this by writing a macro to take care of the entries in the same row. Rather than inserting enumerate environments into the tabular environment it seems easier to have the macro take care of the labels as well. To get the correct spacing between the item numbers and the text it seems easier to put the labels into their own columns. Doing this produces:

and here is the code:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{paracol, blindtext}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\newcounter{items}
\newcommand\items[3][]{\refstepcounter{items}%
   #1&\arabic{items}.&#2&\arabic{items}.&#3\\%
}
\newcommand\Heading[3]{#1&\multicolumn2{l}{#2}&\multicolumn2{l}{#3}\\}

\begin{document}

  \begin{tabular}{lr@{\ }p{0.3\textwidth}r@{\ }p{0.5\textwidth}}\toprule
    \Heading{Short text}{Short text}{Short text}\midrule
    \items[Short text]{Short text}{Short text}
    \items{Short text}{Short text}
    \items{Short text}{\blindtext}
    \items{Short text}{Short text}
    \bottomrule
  \end{tabular}

\end{document}

A few more comments.

You had three columns with the leftmost column seemingly not being used most of the time. Accordingly, the \items macro takes three arguments, corresponding to your three columns, with the first argument being optional.
For completeness I wrote a \Heading macro for typesetting the heading of the table.
I have used the booktabs package and dropped your vertical rules because, stylistically, they should be avoided. This is explained in detail in the booktabs manual. If you really need them then of course you should put them back.

Thats great, works like a charm. Two additional questions, how would I make the first cell to be a multirow? And how do I increase the space between the lines? I'm working on that my self, but if you got any tips thats welcome. :) Many thanks. — G. Bay, Aug 17 '16 at 21:09
@G.Bay You can increase the line spacing with \renewcommand\arraystretch{1.5}. For cells spanning multiple rows see the multirow package. Happy to look at it if you post more details about what you want. If it's a big change it might require a new question. — , Aug 18 '16 at 02:30

Parallel enumerate inside table

1 Answers1