[OS X TeX] column width in tables

[Bob Kerstetter]

Hi Scott,

On Apr 27, 2006, at 2:27 PM, Scott Cunningham wrote:

>
> When I use the following code, the first column which reports the  
> names of variables ends up being far wider than any other column.   
> Why is this happening?  How do I specify that I want the first  
> column to be as large as the longest string in one of the cells in  
> that column, and no wider?  I will report both the code I'm using,  
> and then following that, some of the errors I received when it was  
> compiling.

You have already received some most excellent assistance, but here is  
something I do with tables, which I use about once every three or  
four months, so am obviously no expert.

Download the most current version of LyX. A good place to find the  
current binary is here:
http://wiki.lyx.org/LyX/LyXOnMac
It is currently compiled only for PowerPC's, but supposedly runs fine  
in Rosetta.

Create a table using the GUI. It's the last icon on the right in the  
top toolbar. You'll see it. The GUI has entries for number of columns  
and rows, plus border, alignment, multi-column spanning, and even  
longtable for spanning multiple pages.

Save the LyX file.

Export to LaTeX.

Open the LaTeX in your editor and copy it and paste.

This method is also useful for other seldom-used control sequences.

For daily use I don't work in LyX, preferring TeXShop, but for  
problem solving, it's great. :)



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