Referring to the body below, I would expect ~\ref{atts} to produce Table 1, but instead, it gives just 1.
What is the issue here?
Referring to the body below, I would expect ~\ref{atts} to produce Table 1, but instead, it gives just 1.
What is the issue here?
You have to use some package that knows what you are referring. I suggest cleveref:
\documentclass[twoside,11pt]{article}
\usepackage{cleveref}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}[ht]
\caption{Categories and example of attributes}
\label{atts}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{l p{8.0cm} l}
\hline
Variable & Items & Category \\
\hline
Built-up area & Inside built-up area; outside built-up area & !!!CAT!!! \\
Type of road & Highway; district or province road & !!!CAT!!! \\
Type of road lanes & Road with one road lane; road with separated road lanes & !!!CAT!!! \\
Intersection & Near intersection; outside intersection & !!!CAT!!! \\
Location characteristic & Road works; bridge; tunnel; railroad; roundabout & !!!CAT!!! \\
Road factors & Bad road surface; faulty signals; faulty lighting; road works; queue; downhill; curve; bad visibility & !!!CAT!!! \\
Miscellaneous & Accident following accident; aquaplaning; sun blinded; school; recreation centre; bus stop; person swung out of vehicle; no safety belt; no helmet; no child seat; cargo on roadway before accident; cargo on roadway because of accident; fire after accident; comments & !!!CAT!!! \\
Total number of deaths & 0; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5 & !!!CAT!!! \\ [1ex]
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{table}
~\Cref{atts} is bad.
\end{document}

For details, refer to the documentation -- execute texdoc cleveref from command prompt.
Since you did not specify any example, I just have to guess: The \ref{} command does not know if you are referring to a table or figure. There are however packages that can determine this from the label. Have a look at prettyref.
A while ago I compiled a larger example for testing the package which first uses the standard referencing commands before using the prettyref commands in the end:
\documentclass[ngerman]{scrartcl}
\usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{babel}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\usepackage{varioref}
\usepackage{prettyref}
\newrefformat{eq}{\textup{(\ref{#1})}}
\newrefformat{lem}{Lemma \ref{#1}}
\newrefformat{thm}{Theorem \ref{#1}}
\newrefformat{cha}{Kapitel \ref{#1}}
\newrefformat{sec}{Abschnitt \ref{#1}}
\newrefformat{tab}{Tabelle \ref{#1} auf Seite \pageref{#1}}
\newrefformat{fig}{Abbildung \ref{#1} auf Seite \pageref{#1}}
\usepackage[]{showlabels}
\begin{document}
\section{Erster Abschnitt}\label{sec:erst}
\blindtext[3]
\begin{figure}%
\rule{\columnwidth}{5cm}
\caption{Hallo Welt!}%
\label{fig:test1}%
\end{figure}
\blindtext[1]
\section{Zweiter Abschnitt}
\blindtext[5]
\begin{figure}%
\rule{\columnwidth}{5cm}
\caption{Hallo Welt!}%
\label{fig:test2}%
\end{figure}
\blindtext[4]
Siehe Abbildung \ref{fig:test1} auf Seite \pageref{fig:test1}
Siehe die Abbildung \vpageref{fig:test1}
Siehe Abbildung \vref{fig:test1}
Siehe Abbildung \ref{fig:test2} auf Seite \pageref{fig:test2}
Siehe Abbildung \vpageref{fig:test2}
Siehe Abbildung \vref{fig:test2}
Siehe Abbildungen \vrefrange{fig:test1}{fig:test2}
Siehe die Abbildungen \vpagerefrange{fig:test1}{fig:test2}
\prettyref{fig:test1}
\prettyref{sec:erst}
\end{document}
The exact problem was traced to typos at my end. The answers provided here are helpful from their part, but my case was resolved by type correction.