RE: [Groff] making tbl created tables fit on the paper

[Ted Harding]

On 04-Jul-06 Gabriel Diaz wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I wonder what kind tricks you use to make big tables that goes beyond
> the paper defined boundaries fit on the paper.
> 
> How you mangae to fit them? Just changin the point size?

That, and other things! You can use the numeric flag to reduce
the "blank space" (default = 3n) between columns. For example

.TS
l2 l2 l.

where instaed of "2" you can have "1" or even (in extreme need) "0".
However, with "0" there will be no space at all, so if entries will
the width of the columns you will need vertical lines to separate them.

You can also try (for text) setting a reduced inter-word space,
setting the end-of=sentence space to 0, setting a slightly negative
track-kerning (so the letters get a bit closer together), using
the \W (if you're output is PostScript) to make the characters
slightly narrower), etc. But these things can only make a small
percentage difference (maybe up to 15%).

You can also temporarily reduce the left margin (page offset)
and increase the line length (which has the effect of reducing
the right margin), so that the table goes outside the normal
boundaries, but in a nice way.

Another thing to think of doing is to set the table in landscape
orientation, though this usually means you need to set aside a
whole page for it.

> I use the mm macro and in the tables i use the T{ T} to quote text.
> But still i need to reduce it more.
> 
> Any tips would be appreciated.

If you could give us a clearer picture of the table layout and of
the extent of excess, that might help to focus ideas.

Best wishes,
Ted.

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Date: 04-Jul-06                                       Time: 12:01:59
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