Aligned table cells in 2-columns layout

[Stuart Rogers]

Olsson, Kristina wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I have a document with two columns per page, and I would like the table
> cells to be aligned horizontally. 
> Above the table there is a heading which goes across the columns. If I
> place the marker for the table immediately after the heading, the entire
> table will only show in the left column. If I place the marker at the
> line below the heading, the table appears in both columns but the table
> cells are not aligned horizontally. 
> Does anyone know how to align the table cells horizontally (so that the
> horizontal table cell lines are placed in line with each other) when
> using a 2-column layout?
> I'm grateful for help.

If I understand you correctly (and I'm sorry, but your question is not 
really clear), your heading is far enough down the page that there is 
just barely room below it in the left column for the entire table, and 
if you insert another body pgf below the heading, the table is then 
forced to flow into the second column. However, the top of the table in 
the left column appears below the empty body pgf, whereas the 
continuation in the right column appears level with it.

If that is the problem, you can fix it like this:

1. Create a new pgf tag called (e.g.) TableAnchor, identical to your 
body tag but with a negative Space Below of some number larger than the 
font size, e.g., -12pt for a 10pt font. (Some people also change the 
font colour to a bright colour so the pilcrow is easy to find and 
identify later. The colour is irrelevant because there is never any text 
in this tag.)

2. Put your table anchor in its own paragraph tagged TableAnchor.

3. Change the Space Above in your Table tag to the same negative number 
you used in step one. The negative spaces below and above cancel each 
other out, and your table will align at the top of the tagged pgf, 
rather than below it.

Now if your table flows into a second column, the tops of the two 
sections will be even.

HTH,

-- 
Stuart Rogers
Technical Communicator
Phoenix Geophysics Limited
Toronto, ON, Canada
+1 (416) 491-7340 x 325

srogers phoenix-geophysics com

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
--Popular Mechanics, 1949


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