Forcing exactly the same column widths in table

Question

Based on Writing descriptions of columns of table

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{polski}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\begin{document}
\begin{figure}\label{fig:ieee754single}
\centering\sf\setlength{\tabcolsep}{1.45pt}
\begin{tabular}{|*{32}{c|}}
\multicolumn{32}{|l}{\small  Bit}\\
\multicolumn{1}{|c}{\footnotesize  31}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  24}&
\multicolumn{1}{|c}{\footnotesize  23}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  16}&
\multicolumn{1}{|c}{\footnotesize  15}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  8}&
\multicolumn{1}{|c}{\footnotesize  7}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  0}\\
\hline
S &
E & E & E & E & E & E & E & E &
M & M & M & M & M & M & M & M &
M & M & M & M & M & M & M & M &
M & M & M & M & M & M & M \\
\hline
\multicolumn{1}{|c|}{}&
\multicolumn{8}{c|}{Wykładnik} &
\multicolumn{23}{c|}{Mantysa} \\
\cline{2-32}
\multicolumn{5}{|c}{\raisebox{-0.3ex}{Znak}} & \multicolumn{27}{c}{}\\
\cline{1-5}
\end{tabular}
\rm\caption{IEEE754 single}
\end{figure}
\end{document}

How can I force column widths to be the same. I like the width of E under 23.

Try it with p{<width>} instead of c as column specifier. — Martin Scharrer, May 08 '12 at 18:23
\begin{tabular}{|*{32}{p{\widthof{M}}|}} will work better than an E as the M is wider. This requires the calc package. — Peter Grill, May 08 '12 at 18:25
Martin, using p works for width setting but I lose centering of letters inside cells... Peter, ...but '23' is wider than 'M'... — Ichibann, May 08 '12 at 18:27
@Martin, I'm not able to paste it correctly. \begin{tabular}{|*{32}{>{\centering\arraybackslash}p{9.5pt}|}} does not work. — Ichibann, May 08 '12 at 18:30
@Ichibann: This need the common array package, see me answer now. — Martin Scharrer, May 08 '12 at 18:44
@Ichibann: The 23 is not boxed so does not affect the size of the box (at least that is how i saw it). — Peter Grill, May 08 '12 at 18:55
isn't this the same table asked about in question writing-descriptions-of-columns-of-table — barbara beeton, May 08 '12 at 19:13
@barbarabeeton, It's the same table. I think it is why OP wrote 'Based on'. As far as I understand, that question was about adding descriptions of columns. This question is about setting with of columns. — Ichibann, May 08 '12 at 19:26
@Ichibann -- i still have the same problem with the vertical positioning of the cell contents in Martin Scharrer's answer, but i see that you have avoided that problem in your answer with good visual centering. you might want to edit your answer to make that clear. it's a problem too often overlooked in tables, and it grates on my sensibilities. — barbara beeton, May 09 '12 at 13:26

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 06 '17 at 20:19

You can set the column width only with the paragraph p column type. In order to get centering you need to add \centering before, usually followed by \arraybackslash to restore the tabular meaning of \\. You can do so using the >{..} column specifier provided by the array package. It also allows you to define you own custom column types. I would suggest you do:

\usepackage{array}
\newcolumntype{C}{>{\centering\arraybackslash}p{2ex}}

and then use C instead of c. There is also a lower-level TeX way to do it, which I added below. It lowers the text a little, which looks better IMHO.

\documentclass{article}
%\usepackage{polski}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{array}

% Normal LaTeX way: \newcolumntype{C}{>{\centering\arraybackslash}p{2ex}}
% Using lower-level TeX commands:
\newcolumntype{C}{>{\lower.2ex\hbox to 2ex\bgroup\hss}c<{\hss\egroup}}
\begin{document}
\begin{figure}
\centering\sf\setlength{\tabcolsep}{1.45pt}
\begin{tabular}{|*{32}{C|}}
\multicolumn{32}{|l}{\small  Bit}\\
\multicolumn{1}{|c}{\footnotesize  31}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  24}&
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\footnotesize  23}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  16}&
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\footnotesize  15}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  8}&
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\footnotesize  7}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  0}\\
\hline
S &
E & E & E & E & E & E & E & E &
M & M & M & M & M & M & M & M &
M & M & M & M & M & M & M & M &
M & M & M & M & M & M & M \\
\hline
\multicolumn{1}{|c|}{}&
\multicolumn{8}{c|}{Wykładnik} &
\multicolumn{23}{c|}{Mantysa} \\
\cline{2-32}
\multicolumn{5}{|c}{\raisebox{-0.3ex}{Znak}} & \multicolumn{27}{c}{}\\
\cline{1-5}
\end{tabular}
\rmfamily
\caption{IEEE754 single}
\label{fig:ieee754single}
\end{figure}
\end{document}

Please also note my other changes (\label after \caption, \rmfamily instead of \rm, ..).

Result

Why \label after \caption and what is a difference between \rm and \rmfamily? — papciuch, May 08 '12 at 18:46
\label always labels the last command which increases an official LaTeX counter (\section, \caption, etc.) and will label the wrong thing if not after or inside \caption. \rm is an old LaTeX2.0 macro and \rmfamily the correct LaTeX2e macro which supports the modern font selection scheme. See Does it matter if I use \textit or \it, \bfseries or \bf, etc. for more details. — Martin Scharrer, May 08 '12 at 18:49
So should I use \sfseries in \centering\sf\setlength{\tabcolsep}{1.45pt}? — papciuch, May 08 '12 at 18:51
This looks very nice. Too bad 64-bit double will not fit on the page. Eccept... I do it other way. — papciuch, May 08 '12 at 19:04
@papciuch: Yes, \sfseries instead of \sf. I didn't see that. — Martin Scharrer, May 08 '12 at 19:06
@MartinScharrer, I think it is \sffamily, not \sfseries. — Ichibann, May 08 '12 at 19:10
BTW, why would they name them inconsistently? One time it's family, other time series... — Ichibann, May 08 '12 at 19:21

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 13 '17 at 20:04

Here you have 32- and 64-bit representation of float and double variable. If you like ± instead of Znak it will be good one. I think so ;). Do you like it?

\documentclass{article}
%\usepackage{polski}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{array}

% Normal LaTeX way: \newcolumntype{C}{>{\centering\arraybackslash}p{2ex}}
% Using lower-level TeX commands:
\newcolumntype{C}{>{\lower.2ex\hbox to 2ex\bgroup\hss}c<{\hss\egroup}}
\begin{document}
\begin{figure}
\centering\sffamily\setlength{\tabcolsep}{1.45pt}
\begin{tabular}{|*{32}{C|}}
\multicolumn{32}{l}{\raisebox{-0.3ex}{\small Bit}}\\
\multicolumn{1}{|c}{\footnotesize  31}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  24}&
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\footnotesize  23}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  16}&
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\footnotesize  15}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  8}&
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\footnotesize  7}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  0}\\
\hline
S &
E & E & E & E & E & E & E & E &
M & M & M & M & M & M & M & M &
M & M & M & M & M & M & M & M &
M & M & M & M & M & M & M \\
\hline
\multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\raisebox{-0.2ex}{$\pm$}}&
\multicolumn{8}{c|}{\raisebox{-0.2ex}{\small Wykładnik}} &
\multicolumn{23}{c|}{\raisebox{-0.2ex}{\small Mantysa}} \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\rmfamily
\caption{IEEE754 single}
\label{fig:ieee754single}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}
\centering\sffamily\setlength{\tabcolsep}{1.45pt}
\begin{tabular}{|*{32}{C|}}
\multicolumn{32}{l}{\raisebox{-0.3ex}{\small Bit}}\\
\multicolumn{1}{|c}{\footnotesize  63}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  56}&
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\footnotesize  55}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  48}&
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\footnotesize  47}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  40}&
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\footnotesize  39}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  32}\\
\hline
S &
E & E & E & E & E & E & E & E &
E & E & E &
M & M & M & M & M & M & M & M &
M & M & M & M & M & M & M & M &
M & M & M & M\\
\hline
\multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\raisebox{-0.2ex}{$\pm$}}&
\multicolumn{11}{c|}{\raisebox{-0.2ex}{\small Wykładnik}} &
\multicolumn{20}{c|}{\raisebox{-0.2ex}{\small Mantysa}} \\
\hline
\multicolumn{32}{c}{}\\[-1.2ex]
\multicolumn{1}{|c}{\footnotesize  31}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  24}&
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\footnotesize  23}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  16}&
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\footnotesize  15}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  8}&
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\footnotesize  7}&\multicolumn{6}{c}{}&\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\footnotesize  0}\\
\hline
M & M & M & M & M & M & M & M &
M & M & M & M & M & M & M & M &
M & M & M & M & M & M & M & M &
M & M & M & M & M & M & M & M\\
\hline
\multicolumn{32}{|c|}{\raisebox{-0.2ex}{\small Mantysa}} \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\rmfamily
\caption{IEEE754 double}
\label{fig:ieee754double}
\end{figure}
\end{document}

enter image description here

Forcing exactly the same column widths in table

2 Answers2

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