2010-08-22

LaTable : An easy way to write tables in LaTeX

By enormous search on the Net, I've found this wonderful tool to create Tables in LaTeX in a very easy way. LaTable  is free tool for creating LaTeX tables in What You See Is What You Get fashion. I've found it after I finished my work in LaTeX!!! Now I wish that I came to know this software a bit earlier.

Features
LaTable is a Win32 application having following features  :
  • Near-WYSIWYG editing style;
  • Real-time LATEX code preview;
  • Simple navigation through the table;
  • Limited clipboard support for import/export into other spreadsheet and text editors;
  • CSV file format support;
  • Generates 'tabular', 'array' and custom environments;
  • Support for custom column formats.
Homepage: http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/help/Catalogue/entries/latable.html

Tutorial:
Copy portion of table prepared in Excel or any spreadsheet program like OpenOffice, gnumeric.
Creating LaTeX tables in easy way

Go to LaTable Window ---  press {c} * view code button to see the LaTeX code preview
LaTable : For LaTeX Tables in WYSIWYG  fashion
Select 1st cell -- and go to edit menu -- paste the contents of table. Do not use Ctrl+V key to paste.

LaTable puts automatically the copied data into a table and you can see the LaTeX code in code window.
Tables in LaTable

Make necessary table formatting from the table toolbar like - bordering cell/table, text arrangement, merging horizontal cells etc.
Customizing LaTeX Tables

To import the code, select the codes in Code window and copy it by pressing Ctrl+C keys.
OR
Go to edit menu - select copy as LaTeX code.
Copy LaTeX code for Tables from LaTable

Open your tex document in your LaTeX editor program and paste (Ctrl+V) the code at your desired position.

Writing a table in LaTeX is hard job and time consuming. So by using LaTable tool, you can easily make tables and customize them without being pro to the LaTeX  syntax.....

Enjoy it and if you find this article helpful, please comment here.

10 comments:

  1. Hi, Thanks for pointing to this tool!
    I am a Mac user but I have been able to install this tool under WineBottler and it works. You must view the code and copy it, then you can paste it in the Mac Latex editor. I have not been able to make work the copy latex code function from the Edit menu.

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  2. Thanks indeed, this saved my day!
    I had 12 tables in my thesis, just learned to use LATEX and came across this wonderful help. I am really grateful, thanks a million!

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  3. many thanks. this seems to be a really convenient way to make tables.
    The only (but serious) probem i meet is that latex (i'm using texmaker) frequently gives errors when i include latex codes from latable.
    Any solutions for this?

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  4. There is mac. version of latable available. One link is http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Developer-Tools/LaTable.shtml.

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  5. Hi, thank you for your great tutorial! I think this is the most elegant solution for simple tables!
    I found another great feature of this tool: the lines you draw are preserved even if you paste the data again. This is really useful if your data change. Simply load the LaTable data (.latb) and paste your new data; no need to draw the lines again!
    One drawback: you can not merge rows; LaTable does not support \multirow. Otherwise, this is a fantastic tool!

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  6. Hi. I'm trying to install LaTable from
    http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/help/Catalogue/entries/latable.html
    It says to download and extract files and then run setup.exe and follow instruction. I can't see any such file. and do I need to extract where my LaTex is?
    Many thanks for your helps
    Azita

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  7. Is there any way to make the text bold, italic, colored,.. without changing one entry at a time ?
    Thanks,
    Maria

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  8. Is there a similar tool for Mac OS?

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  9. Hi my code did not preview in the window what should I do? Please any help? Thank you

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