4

I'm using the code given below:

\documentclass[11pt]{report}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\begin{document}
\lipsum[1]\footnote{real footnote}
\begin{table}[!ht]\centering
\caption{Title}
\begin{minipage}[t]{\textwidth}
\centering\small
\begin{tabular}{ll} 
A & B \\ 
name  & age \footnotemark \\ 
size & height \footnotemark  \\ 
\end{tabular}
\footnotetext[2]{table note}
\footnotetext[4]{table note}
\end{minipage}
\end{table}
\lipsum[1]
\end{document}

and I have three questions:

  1. does this comply with English typographic rules?

  2. if yes, why does \footnotetext[2]{table note} yield a b and 2 for the numbering?

  3. should not I control the width of the minipage to have the table notes appear right under the table and not on the left as in the current version?

lockstep
  • 250,273
pluton
  • 16,421

1 Answers1

4

If you are already using a minipage, as you do, you can insert footnotes directly into the table, without calling the \footnotemark and the the footnotetext. This way, you would have a coherent numbering throughout (i.e. letters).

Then, regarding your other questions: I don't know about (1), I think it depends on styles, but you should perhaps ask on English SX; about (3), yes I think it would look better to make the minipage the same width as the table (but if the real table is this small, perhaps you should stretch the columns too).

Here's a MWE:

\documentclass[11pt]{report}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\begin{document}
\lipsum[1]\footnote{real footnote}
\begin{table}[!ht]\centering
\caption{Title}
\begin{minipage}[t]{.2\textwidth}
\centering\small
\begin{tabular}{ll} 
A & B \\ 
name  & age \footnote[2]{table note} \\ 
size & height \footnote[4]{table note}  \\ 
\end{tabular}
\end{minipage}
\end{table}
\lipsum[1]
\end{document}
ienissei
  • 6,223
  • I have to investigate for the letters because I would like symbols instead. – pluton May 14 '12 at 11:39
  • @pluton Yes, I think they are the default for minipage footnotes, but you can undoubtedly change that. See here for how to do it. – ienissei May 14 '12 at 12:10
  • The thing is that with this solution, the vertical space between the end of the table and the footnotes is too large. – pluton May 17 '12 at 17:07
  • @pluton Add this to your preamble: \makeatletter \setlength{\skip\@mpfootins}{5.5pt} \makeatother. The second argument can be any length you like. – ienissei May 17 '12 at 20:59