Cfrtjryk

I have this long table with a lot of similar entries repeated.

I've tried to improve the visual result with some space between rows and grouping the common part of each entry. i.e. the first four observed variables should be:

• Blue rods revolute position goalkeeper


• Blue rods revolute position defence


• Blue rods revolute position midfield


• Blue rods revolute position attack

However, I'm not satisfied with the visual result. I would try with something similar to the cases environment (i.e. a big "{" between the first and the second column for each group) but I don't know how to do it with table rows.

Of course, if you have a suggestion on how to better compress the data or a suggestion on how to have a better visual effect that doesn't involve the big "{" you're welcome. However, note that the order how the row is important, so I cannot merge "blue rods" and "red rods".

This is the code I used to generate the example:

documentclass{book}

usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

usepackage{booktabs}

usepackage{multirow}

usepackage{makecell} 



begin{document}

begin{table}[htbp]

  centering

  begin{tabular}{@{}*{2}{l}*{2}{c}@{}}

    toprule

    multicolumn{2}{c}{Observed variable} &

    thead{Lowest \ possible value} &

    thead{Highest \ possible value} \

    midrule

    multirow{4}{*}{makecell[l]{Blue rods: \ revolute position}}

    & Goalkeeper &

    $-pi$ & $pi$ \

    & Defense &

    $-pi$ & $pi$ \

    & Midfield &

    $-pi$ & $pi$ \

    & Attack &

    $-pi$ & $pi$ \



    &&&\



    multirow{4}{*}{makecell[l]{Blue rods: \ prismatic position}}

    & Goalkeeper &

    $-0.9451e-1$ & $0.9451e-1$ \

    & Defense &

    $-1.82e-1$ & $1.82e-1$ \

    & Midfield &

    $-0.665e-1$ & $0.665e-1$ \

    & Attack &

    $-1.11e-1$ & $1.11e-1$ \



    &&&\



    multirow{4}{*}{makecell[l]{Blue rods: \ revolute velocity}}

    & Goalkeeper &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \

    & Defense &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \

    & Midfield &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \

    & Attack &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \



    &&&\



    multirow{4}{*}{makecell[l]{Blue rods: \ prismatic velocity}}

    & Goalkeeper &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \

    & Defense &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \

    & Midfield &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \

    & Attack &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \



    &&&\



    multirow{4}{*}{makecell[l]{Red rods: \ revolute position}}

    & Goalkeeper &

    $-pi$ & $pi$ \

    & Defense &

    $-pi$ & $pi$ \

    & Midfield &

    $-pi$ & $pi$ \

    & Attack &

    $-pi$ & $pi$ \



    &&&\



    multirow{4}{*}{makecell[l]{Red rods: \ prismatic position}}

    & Goalkeeper &

    $-0.9451e-1$ & $0.9451e-1$ \

    & Defense &

    $-1.82e-1$ & $1.82e-1$ \

    & Midfield &

    $-0.665e-1$ & $0.665e-1$ \

    & Attack &

    $-1.11e-1$ & $1.11e-1$ \



    &&&\



    multirow{4}{*}{makecell[l]{Red rods: \ revolute velocity}}

    & Goalkeeper &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \

    & Defense &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \

    & Midfield &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \

    & Attack &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \



    &&&\



    multirow{4}{*}{makecell[l]{Red rods: \ prismatic velocity}}

    & Goalkeeper &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \

    & Defense &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \

    & Midfield &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \

    & Attack &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \



    &&&\



    multirow{3}{*}{makecell[l]{Ball: \ position}}

    & x &

    $-5.75e-1$ & $5.75e-1$ \

    & y &

    $-3.55e-1$ & $3.55e-1$ \

    & z &

    $-infty$ & $infty$ \

    bottomrule

  end{tabular}

  caption{Observation space bounds}

end{table}

end{document}

This is mainly stylistic, but the answer contains also some useful suggestions.

I'd avoid braces, as they add nothing to comprehension. The labels should be aligned to the top row, not in the center, where they're ambiguous. In a table, a blank position means repetition of the value above. This way, the small space between groups is sufficient to make clear what the label refers to.

I'd also divide the table into three sections, adding “Blue rods”, “Red rods” and “Ball” at the top of the sections, in a distinct font for emphasize them.

Using siunitx is essentially mandatory for numeric tables.

documentclass{book}

usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

usepackage{booktabs}

usepackage{siunitx}



sisetup{output-exponent-marker=ensuremath{mathrm{e}}}



begin{document}



begin{table}[htbp]

  centeringsmall

  begin{tabular}{

    @{}

    l

    l

    S[table-format=-1.4e1]

    S[table-format=1.4e1]

    @{}c@{}

  }

    toprule

    multicolumn{2}{@{}c}{Observed variable} & multicolumn{2}{c@{}}{Possible value} \

    cmidrule(l){3-4}

    && {Lowest} & {Highest} \



    midrule

    multicolumn{4}{@{}l@{}}{itshape Blue rods} \



    revolute position

    & Goalkeeper &

    {$-pi$} & {$pi$} \

    & Defense &

    {$-pi$} & {$pi$} \

    & Midfield &

    {$-pi$} & {$pi$} \

    & Attack &

    {$-pi$} & {$pi$} \



    addlinespace



    prismatic position

    & Goalkeeper &

    -0.9451e-1 & 0.9451e-1 \

    & Defense &

    -1.82e-1 & 1.82e-1 \

    & Midfield &

    -0.665e-1 & 0.665e-1 \

    & Attack &

    -1.11e-1 & 1.11e-1 \



    addlinespace



    revolute velocity

    & Goalkeeper &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \

    & Defense &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \

    & Midfield &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \

    & Attack &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \



    addlinespace



    prismatic velocity

    & Goalkeeper &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \

    & Defense &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \

    & Midfield &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \

    & Attack &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \



    midrule

    multicolumn{4}{@{}l@{}}{itshape Red rods} \



    revolute position

    & Goalkeeper &

    {$-pi$} & {$pi$} \

    & Defense &

    {$-pi$} & {$pi$} \

    & Midfield &

    {$-pi$} & {$pi$} \

    & Attack &

    {$-pi$} & {$pi$} \



    addlinespace



    prismatic position

    & Goalkeeper &

    -0.9451e-1 & 0.9451e-1 \

    & Defense &

    -1.82e-1 & 1.82e-1 \

    & Midfield &

    -0.665e-1 & 0.665e-1 \

    & Attack &

    -1.11e-1 & 1.11e-1 \



    addlinespace



    revolute velocity

    & Goalkeeper &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \

    & Defense &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \

    & Midfield &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \

    & Attack &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \



    addlinespace



    prismatic velocity

    & Goalkeeper &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \

    & Defense &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \

    & Midfield &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \

    & Attack &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \



    midrule

    multicolumn{4}{@{}l@{}}{itshape Ball} \



    position

    & x &

    -5.75e-1 & 5.75e-1 \

    & y &

    -3.55e-1 & 3.55e-1 \

    & z &

    {$-infty$} & {$infty$} \

    bottomrule

  end{tabular}

  caption{Observation space bounds}

end{table}

end{document}

edited corrected errors in column headers and renew definition for command case

like this?

documentclass{book}

usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

usepackage{booktabs, multirow, makecell}

renewcommandtheadgape{}

usepackage{amsmath}

newcommand{case}[1]%

{$displaystyle

text{makecell[l]{#1}}quad

left{begin{tabular}{l}

            Goalkeeper  \

            Defense     \

            Midfield    \

            Attack 

        end{tabular}right.

$}



begin{document}

    begin{table}[htbp]

    centering

begin{tabular}{ @{} l *{2}{>{$} c < {$} } @{}  }

    toprule

thead{Observed variable}

    &   text{thead{Lowest \ possible value}}

        &   text{thead{Highest \ possible value}} \

        midrule



case{Blue rods: \ prismatic position}

    &   makecell{-pi    \

                  -pi    \

                  -pi    \

                  -pi}

    &   makecell{-pi    \

                  -pi    \

                  -pi    \

                  -pi}       \

   addlinespace

case{Blue rods: \ prismatic position}

    &   makecell[r]{-0.9451e-1 \

                  -1.82e-1      \

                  -0.665e-1     \

                  -1.11e-1}

    &   makecell[r]{0.9451e-1  \

                  1.82e-1       \

                  0.665e-1      \

                  1.11e-1}      \

   addlinespace

case{Red rods: \ prismatic  velocity}

    &   makecell{-infty       \

                  -infty       \

                  -infty       \

                  -infty}

    &   makecell{infty        \

                  infty        \

                  infty        \

                  infty}       \

     bottomrule

    end{tabular}

caption{Observation space bounds}

    label{tab:...}

end{table}

end{document}

A solution with a simpler code, based on bigdelim:

documentclass{book}

usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

usepackage{booktabs}

usepackage{multirow, bigdelim}

usepackage{makecell}

newcommand{e}[1]{,mathrm{e}{#1}}



begin{document}



begin{table}[htbp]

  centering

renewcommand{theadfont}{normalsize}

  begin{tabular}{@{}l@{ ,}cl*{2}{c}@{}}

    toprule

    multicolumn{3}{c}{Observed variable} &

    thead{Lowest \ possible value} &

    thead{Highest \ possible value} \

    midrule

addlinespace[1.5ex]

   & ldelim{{4}{0pt} & Goalkeeper &

    $-pi$ & $pi$ \

Blue rods: & & Defense &

     $-pi$ & $pi$ \

revolute position & & Midfield &

    $-pi$ & $pi$ \

    & & Attack &

    $-pi$ & $pi$ \

addlinespace[2ex]

  & ldelim{{4}{0pt} & Goalkeeper &

 $-0.9451e{-1}$ & $ 0.9451e{-1}$ \

Blue rods: & & Defense &

 $-1.82e{-1}$ & $1.82e{-1}$ \

prismatic position & & Midfield &

 $-0.665e{-1}$ & $0.665e{-1}$ \

 & & Attack &

 $-1.11e{-1}$ & $1.11e{-1}$ \

addlinespace[2ex]

 multirow{4}{*}{makecell[l]{Blue rods: \ revolute velocity}}

 & ldelim{{4}{0pt} & Goalkeeper &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

Blue rods: & & Defense &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

revolute velocity & & Midfield &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

  & & Attack &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

addlinespace[2ex]

  & ldelim{{4}{0pt} & Goalkeeper &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

Blue rods: & & Defense &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

prismatic velocity & & Midfield &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

  & & Attack &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

addlinespace[2ex]

  & ldelim{{4}{0pt} & Goalkeeper &

 $-pi$ & $pi$ \

Red rods: & & Defense &

 $-pi$ & $pi$ \

revolute position & & Midfield &

 $-pi$ & $pi$ \

 & & Attack &

 $-pi$ & $pi$ \

addlinespace[2ex]

  & ldelim{{4}{0pt} & Goalkeeper &

 $-0.9451e{-1}$ & $0.9451e{-1}$ \

Red rods: & & Defense &

 $-1.82e{-1}$ & $1.82e{-1}$ \

 prismatic position & & Midfield &

 $-0.665e{-1}$ & $0.665e{-1}$ \

  & & Attack &

 $-1.11e{-1}$ & $1.11e{-1}$ \

addlinespace[2ex]

 & ldelim{{4}{0pt} & Goalkeeper &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

Red rods: & & Defense &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

revolute velocity & & Midfield &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

  & & Attack &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

addlinespace[2ex]

 & ldelim{{4}{0pt} & Goalkeeper &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

Red rods: & & Defense &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

 prismatic velocity & & Midfield &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

 & & Attack &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

addlinespace[2ex]

 multirow{3}{*}{makecell[l]{Ball: \ position}}

 & ldelim{{3}{0pt} & x &

 $-5.75e{-1}$ & $5.75e{-1}$ \

 & & y &

 $-3.55e{-1}$ & $3.55e{-1}$ \

 & & z &

 $-infty$ & $infty$ \

addlinespace[1ex]

    bottomrule

  end{tabular}

  caption{Observation space bounds}

end{table}



end{document}