How to create a multirow red box for highlighting table results?

Question

I am trying to create a red box that covers multiple rows and columns for highlighting sections of a table.

I have created a MWE using @Steven B. Slegetes answer to this question. The code is:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage[table]{xcolor}
\usepackage{multirow}
%Create Red Boxes, Thanks Steven
\def\boxit#1{%
  \smash{\color{red}\fboxrule=1pt\relax\fboxsep=2pt\relax%
  \llap{\rlap{\fbox{\vphantom{0}\makebox[#1]{}}}~}}\ignorespaces
}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}[h]
    \caption{Red Box Test}
    \vspace{0.5em}
    \centering
    \begin{tabular}{cccc}
                          & A & B & C \\toprule
                        I & 1 & 2 & 3 \
         \boxit{0.4in}  J & 4 & 5 & 6 \
                        K & 7 & 8 & 9 \\bottomrule
    \end{tabular}
\end{table}

Which creates the following table:

Question: How do I get this to cover the row that begins with K as well as the row with J? I figured it must have something to with the multirow package, hence my including it. I have tried playing around with it to no avail.

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 10 '20 at 04:17

One way is to use tikz with its tikzmark library, which can mark arbitrary points on a page and then draw pictures based on the coordinates of the marked points. An example:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{tikzmark}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}[h]
\caption{Red Box Test}
\vspace{0.5em}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{cccc}
  & A & B & C \\toprule
I & 1 & 2 & 3 \
\tikzmark{J}J & 4 & 5 & 6 \
K & 7\tikzmark{7} & 8 & 9 \\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\begin{tikzpicture}[overlay,remember picture]
  \draw[red] ([shift={(-1ex,2ex)}]pic cs:J) rectangle ([shift={(1ex,-0.5ex)}]pic cs:7);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{table}
\end{document}

The result:

F. Pantigny · Answer 2 · 2020-10-20T14:56:40.700

7

I have edited this answer because, since version 5.5 (2020-10-20), one must no longer write \omit\CodeAfter here (now, \CodeAfter works in all circonstancies).

You can do that with {NiceTabular} of nicematrix. This environment creates PGF/Tikz nodes under the cells of the array and it's possible to use that nodes after the construction of the array.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{fit}
\usepackage{nicematrix}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}[h]
\caption{Red Box Test}
\vspace{0.5em}
\centering
\begin{NiceTabular}{cccc}
  & A & B & C \\toprule
I & 1 & 2 & 3 \
J & 4 & 5 & 6 \
K & 7 & 8 & 9 \\bottomrule
\CodeAfter
\tikz \node [draw=red, fit = (3-1) (4-2)] { } ;
\end{NiceTabular}
\end{table}
\end{document}

edited Oct 20 '20 at 14:56

answered Oct 10 '20 at 05:20

F. Pantigny

40,250

Why is the omit needed here ? – projetmbc Oct 10 '20 at 08:17
@projetmbc: Without the \omit, there is, in fact, a complete row after the \bottomrule. I have not found yet the solution to avoid the need of that \omit in all the situations... – F. Pantigny Oct 10 '20 at 09:32
Ok. Merci beaucoup. – projetmbc Oct 10 '20 at 12:02

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 10 '20 at 06:02

A (very) small variation of the @Sergei Golovan answer. From the tikzmark library is used \tikzmarknode macro, box is drawn by node which fit marked nodes:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{fit,            % new
                tikzmark}       % new
\tikzset{FIT/.style = {draw=red, thick, inner ysep=2pt, fit=#1}} % new
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage[skip=0.33\lineskip]{caption} % new
\begin{document}
    \begin{table}[ht]
\caption{Red Box Test}
\label{tab:redbox}
    \centering
\begin{tabular}{cccc}
                    & A                 & B & C \
    \toprule
I                   & 1                 & 2 & 3 \
\tikzmarknode{J}J   & 4                 & 5 & 6 \  % <---
K                   & 7\tikzmarknode{7} & 8 & 9 \  % <---
    \bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\begin{tikzpicture}[overlay,remember picture]
\node[FIT=(J) (7)] {};  % <---
\end{tikzpicture}
    \end{table}
\end{document}

Bernard · Answer 4 · 2020-10-11T09:34:03.540

A solution with pstricks: two empty nodes, and a \psframe joining these nodes.

\documentclass[svgnames]{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage[table]{xcolor}
\usepackage{multirow}
\usepackage{pst-node}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}[h]
    \caption{Red Box Test}
    \vspace{0.5em}
    \centering
    \begin{tabular}{cccc}
                          & A & B & C \\toprule
                      I & 1 & 2 & 3 \
          \pnode[-1.5ex, 2.5ex]{A}J & 4 & 5 & 6 \
                        K & 7\pnode[1.5ex, -1ex]{B} & 8 & 9 \\bottomrule
    \end{tabular}
\psframelinecolor=Coral(B)
\end{table}
\end{document}

How to create a multirow red box for highlighting table results?

4 Answers4

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