Re: Re: Feature request: HTML table formatting

[Carsten Dominik <dominik@science.uva.nl>]

On Apr 12, 2007, at 14:21, Matej Cepl wrote:

> Carsten Dominik <dominik@science.uva.nl> writes:
>> I don't like the idea of another character having
>> special meaning in tables.  We would have to find
>> a different way to specify this.
>
> To the presentation of tables I would strongly suggest reading
> http://tug.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/booktabs/ 
> booktabs.pdf
> -- whenever I broke rules set there, I regreted it later.

This is also consistent with what the Chicago Manual of Style
has to say about tables:

    13.53 Vertical rules
    Vertical rules should be used only to avoid confusion — for
    example, when a table is doubled up.  Their use between all
    columns has long been abandoned.

I do understand the need to group columns visually, so I would be
interested in a syntax to do this.  But for the implementation in
an export backend, would prefer spanner heads.  Again from the
Chicago Manual:

    13.22 Spanner heads
    When a table demands column heads of two or more
    levels — when related columns require both a collective
    head and individual heads—spanner heads, or spanners
    (sometimes called decked heads), are used. A horizontal
    rule, called a spanner rule, appears between the spanner
    and the column heads to show which columns the spanner
    applies to. For ease of reading, spanner heads should
    seldom exceed two levels.

- Carsten