Distribute very long table to multicolumns

Question

I have a table with 102 rows (102 = 17 x 6).
How can I put that into a multicolumn-environment with 6 columns which have 17 rows each?
With other words: How can I enforce a column break after each 17th row?

Hint: The table content itself should not be splitted, because there is much higlighting-stuff later (with pgfplotstable).
Hint: The table-rows have a content like in the picture.

MWE:

 \documentclass[a4paper, landscape]{article} 
 \usepackage[margin=5mm]{geometry}
\usepackage{multicol}
\setlength\columnseprule{.4pt}
\usepackage{pgfplotstable}
%\usepackage{longtable}% Does not work in multicol
\usepackage{supertabular}% Does work in multicol
\begin{document} 
% Create an example table ====================
\def\OutFilename{\jobname-meta.txt}
\newwrite\MyFile
\immediate\openout\MyFile=\OutFilename
\foreach \n in {1,...,102}{%%
\immediate\write\MyFile{(\n), AAA, BBB }
}%%
\immediate\closeout\MyFile
%Test: \input{\OutFilename}
%===================================
\begin{multicols}{6}
\pgfplotstabletypeset[string type, col sep=comma,
column type={}, % seems to be needed 1/2 
begin table={\begin{supertabular}{ l l l }},% column types defined here 2/2
end table=\end{supertabular},
% Does not work:
%every nth row={17}{after row={\vfill\null\columnbreak} },
%every row no 3/.style={before row=\vfill\null \columnbreak}},
]{\OutFilename}
\end{multicols}

\end{document}

Ulrike Fischer · Answer 1 · 2022-02-02T18:29:18.203

4

I wouldn't use a tabular but output the data simply in boxes:

\documentclass[a4paper, landscape]{article}
 \usepackage[margin=5mm]{geometry}
\usepackage{multicol}
\setlength\columnseprule{.4pt}
\usepackage{pgfplotstable}
%
\begin{document}
% Create an example table ====================
\def\OutFilename{\jobname-meta.txt}
\newwrite\MyFile
\immediate\openout\MyFile=\OutFilename
\foreach \n in {1,...,102}{%%
\immediate\write\MyFile{(\n), AAA, BBB }
}%%
\immediate\closeout\MyFile
%Test: \input{\OutFilename}
%===================================
\makeatletter
\begin{multicols}{6}
\pgfplotstabletypeset[string type, col sep=comma,
header=false,
every head row/.style={output empty row},
column type={}, % seems to be needed 1/2
begin table={},% column types defined here 2/2
end table={},
every nth row={17[-2]}{after row={\columnbreak} },
every nth row={102[-2]}{after row={}},
/pgfplots/table/typeset cell/.code={%
\ifnum\c@pgfplotstable@colindex=\c@pgfplotstable@numcols\relax
\pgfkeyssetvalue{/pgfplots/table/@cell content}{#1\}%
\else
\pgfkeyssetvalue{/pgfplots/table/@cell content}{\noindent\makebox[3em][l]{#1}\quad}%
\fi
}
]{\OutFilename}
\end{multicols}
\end{document}

edited Feb 02 '22 at 18:29

answered Feb 02 '22 at 16:33

Ulrike Fischer

327,261

Aha, ok. I think that will work.
And that the multicols became larger than the content is a multicol.sty "feature", I guess? – cis Feb 02 '22 at 16:38
Seems that this method kills other keys. I can't use %\usepackage{colotbl} every row no 5/.style={ before row=\rowcolor{yellow}}, – cis Feb 02 '22 at 17:02
well sure you no longer have a tabular. Use simply \color{yellow}. Or \colorbox or whatever. – Ulrike Fischer Feb 02 '22 at 17:17
Ah, I think I understand: this creates a table-look-like. Puh, but that's not so good. I fera, I can't use that solution. – cis Feb 02 '22 at 17:24
why not? you can do everything you can do with a table also without a table and with much less interference to multicol. – Ulrike Fischer Feb 02 '22 at 17:57
The first problem is that the method ruins the look of the document since the multicols span the whole page, not just the filled area.
Otherwise I can't use practically anything from pgfplotstable (e.g. skip rows etc.)
– cis Feb 02 '22 at 18:00
the multicol behaviour is quite unrelated as you could easily check by creating a simple multicol. – Ulrike Fischer Feb 02 '22 at 18:08
This is certainly a true statement and the method may be technically correct somewhere, but the solution is practically inapplicable. – cis Feb 02 '22 at 18:12
the problem with multicol is that there is a \newcolumn too much (at the end), so you will have to tell somehow pgfplotstable not to insert it at the end. – Ulrike Fischer Feb 02 '22 at 18:23

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 02 '22 at 19:46

Based on my answer here for integrating a longtable inside multicols:

\documentclass[a4paper, landscape]{article} 
 \usepackage[margin=5mm]{geometry}
\usepackage[table]{xcolor}
\usepackage{multicol}
\setlength\columnseprule{.4pt}
\usepackage{pgfplotstable}
\usepackage{longtable}% Does not work in multicol
%\usepackage{supertabular}% Does work in multicol
\newsavebox\ltmcbox
\newlength\mysavecolroom
\begin{document} 
% Create an example table ====================
\def\OutFilename{\jobname-meta.txt}
\newwrite\MyFile
\immediate\openout\MyFile=\OutFilename
\foreach \n in {1,...,102}{%%
\immediate\write\MyFile{(\n), AAA, BBB }
}%%
\immediate\closeout\MyFile
%Test: \input{\OutFilename}
%===================================
\begin{multicols}{6}
\makeatletter\mysavecolroom=@colroom\makeatother
\setbox\ltmcbox\vbox{
\makeatletter\col@number@ne\makeatother
\pgfplotstabletypeset[string type, col sep=comma,
column type={}, % seems to be needed 1/2 
begin table={\begin{longtable}{ l l l }},% column types defined here 2/2
end table=\end{longtable},
% Does not work:
every nth row={8}{before row={\rowcolor{yellow}} },
]{\OutFilename}
\unskip
\unpenalty
\unpenalty}
\makeatletter@colroom=\mysavecolroom\makeatother
\unvbox\ltmcbox
\end{multicols}

\end{document}

I have added some highlighting to show that that works. No \columnbreaks are necessary, as multicols does the balancing itself.

This is a very professional solution that is amazingly simple if one knows the commands. Helps me good! — cis, Feb 03 '22 at 18:44

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 03 '22 at 06:26

Here is a solution with tabularray package:

\documentclass[a4paper,landscape]{article} 
\usepackage[margin=5mm]{geometry}
\usepackage{multicol}
\setlength\columnseprule{0.4pt}
\usepackage{pgfplotstable}
\usepackage{tabularray}
\SetTblrTemplate{head,foot}{empty}
\begin{document}
\def\OutFilename{\jobname-meta.txt}
\newwrite\MyFile
\immediate\openout\MyFile=\OutFilename
\foreach \n in {1,...,102}{%
  \immediate\write\MyFile{(\n), AAA, BBB}%
}%
\immediate\closeout\MyFile
\begin{multicols}{6}
\let\newpage=\par
\pgfplotstabletypeset[
  string type,
  col sep = comma,
  skip coltypes,
  begin table={\begin{longtblr}[
    halign = l,
    headsep = 0pt,
    footsep = 0pt,
    presep = 0pt,
    postsep = 0pt,
  ]{
    colspec = lll,
  }},
  end table = \end{longtblr},
  header = false,
  every head row/.style = {output empty row},
  every nth row = {17}{before row=\pagebreak},
  every nth row = {7}{before row=\SetRow{yellow7}},
]{\OutFilename}
\end{multicols}
\end{document}

I did not realize in the documentation that tabularray articulate itself super well with pgfplottable!! — JeT, Feb 22 '22 at 12:37
@Jet In fact, pgfplotstable is flexible and works well with other table packages. Anyway, It would be better to add more contents in this topic to tabularray documentation. — L.J.R., Feb 22 '22 at 14:09

Distribute very long table to multicolumns

3 Answers3