jack@stevie.cs.unlv.edu (Jack Alexander) (05/31/90)
When using the tabular environment, I am having difficulty using as much of the page as I need to. I would like to be able to set the left margin of the tabular environment to maximize page usage. Any helpful hints? -- Jack Alexander jack@jimi.cs.unlv.edu
dhosek@sif.claremont.edu (Hosek, Donald A.) (05/31/90)
In article <1843@jimi.cs.unlv.edu>, jack@stevie.cs.unlv.edu (Jack Alexander) writes... >When using the tabular environment, I am having difficulty using as >much of the page as I need to. I would like to be able to set the >left margin of the tabular environment to maximize page usage. What I teach in my LaTeX classes: The tabular environment is normally treated as just a big letter. For example, it's possible to get LaTeX to typeset something that 4 1 ii looks like 123 345 fgh in the middle of a paragraph. This is 7 12 q seldom actually desired, but useful to know. Where this becomes particularly noticable is that a tabular environment in its own paragraph is typeset with paragraph indentation, viz: 4 1 ii 123 345 fgh 7 12 q rather than flush left as you might prefer. The best way to deal with this problem is to define an aroundtbl environment which will tell LaTeX how to postion the tabular. The reason for defining an environment in this fashion is that it makes it easier to change how the tabulars will be placed: if one simply told LaTeX to center each tabular and then decided to typeset all tabulars flushleft, every instance of tabular would need to be changed. Defining the aroundtbl environment would reduce the work to simply changing a single definition. Using the aroundtbl environment, one would simply type something along the lines of the following for each tabular: \begin{aroundtbl} \begin{tabular}{cc} These columns & are \\ lined up & and centered \end{tabular} \end{aroundtbl} The following definitions are three possibilities for definining the aroundtbl environment: \newenvironment{aroundtbl}{\begin{center}}{\end{center}} will center each tabular. \newenvironment{aroundtbl}{\begin{flushright}}{\end{flushright}} will place each tabular flush against the right margin. \newenvironment{aroundtbl}{\begin{flushleft}}{\end{flushleft}} will place each tabular flush against the left margin. n.b. You should never use the center, flushright, or flushleft environments outside of the definition of a new command or environment. The above text is copyright 1990 by Don Hosek. It may be distributed without charge over the Usenet network, but must not be reproduced in another form without the prior written permission of Don Hosek. The definitions of the aroundtbl environment may be used freely. This text will appear in a textbook on LaTeX to appear in late 1990/early 1991. -dh --- Don Hosek "When I was younger, I would throw dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu spitballs at girls that I liked. Now, dhosek@ymir.bitnet I beg and plead for dates. Frankly, the uunet!jarthur!ymir old way was more satisfying."