Centering Text within a Multirow Cell in LaTex

Question

This is probably best explained with an example. I have the following table, where the "A" cell spans two rows, and the "B" cell spans two columns.

\begin{table}[htdp]
\begin{tabular}{l|r|r}
\multirow{2}{*}{A} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{B} \\
  & B1 & B2 \\
a & b1 & b2 \\
a & b1 & b2 \\
\end{tabular}
\end{table}
 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 
|A      |_ _ _ _B_ _ _ _|
|_ _ _ _|_ _B1_ |_ _B2_ |
|a      |     b1|     b2|
|a      |     b1|     b2|
|a      |     b1|     b2|
|_ _ _ _| _ _ _ |_ _ _ _|

I would like to center the text in the "A" cell, only. I would like to leave the rest of the column left-aligned. Giving:

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 
|   A   |_ _ _ _B_ _ _ _|
|_ _ _ _|_ _B1_ |_ _B2_ |
|a      |     b1|     b2|
|a      |     b1|     b2|
|a      |     b1|     b2|
|_ _ _ _| _ _ _ |_ _ _ _|

I'm sure this must be simple to do, but I can't seem to put my finger on it.

Thanks for a clear example of what you wanted to accomplish, by the way! — DMI, Dec 15 '09 at 21:26
Thanks, Dave :-) I was wondering whether I might be stating the obvious a little with the second table, but I felt one can't make things too clear. — Paul, Dec 15 '09 at 21:35

DMI · Accepted Answer · 2009-12-15T21:39:48.210

18

I think you need to do that with a fake \multicolumn:

\multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{2}{*}{A}} & \multicolumn{2}{c}B} \\

Inspiration from this FAQ.

edited Dec 15 '09 at 21:39

answered Dec 15 '09 at 21:25

DMI

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That gives: ! Misplaced \omit. \multispan -> \omit \@multispan. Not sure what that means :-S – Paul Dec 15 '09 at 21:29
Try swapping the nesting of the multirow/multicolumn? (so the multicolumn is on the outside). Sorry, I haven't got a working LaTeX install here to play with! – DMI Dec 15 '09 at 21:38
Edited answer to put multirow inside multicolumn instead of the other way round -- sorry, I think I got the nesting backwards! – DMI Dec 15 '09 at 21:45

score 16 · Answer 2 · edited May 25 '11 at 04:34

16

I came across a similar problem, but had to use \multirow{specified width}{} instead of \multirow{*}{}. Nesting multirow inside a multicolumn does not work in this case.

I found \multirow{specified width}{\centering text} to work instead.

edited May 25 '11 at 04:34

jevon

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answered Apr 23 '11 at 17:37

Harish

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This works particularly well if you are trying to center-align text over multiple rows, whereas the other solution only aligns the entire block. Thanks :) – jevon May 25 '11 at 04:22
I think you have the arguments in the wrong order. nrows is before width, right? – lindhe Dec 30 '15 at 11:54

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 27 '12 at 22:28

7

\multirow{2}{*}{\hfil A}

\hfil will automatically calculate the width of the cell and insert a half-width space

To insert a full cell-width space, which will right-justify a single cell, use \hfill. There are also \vfil and \vfill analogues.

answered Apr 27 '12 at 22:28

user1189728

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It does the trick in the easiest way. Thank you! – Sooora May 14 '23 at 15:48

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 05 '14 at 09:47

That is could be helpful for someone

\begin{tabular}{|c c | c|c|c|}
\hline
\multicolumn{2}{|c}{\multirow{2}{*}{Modulation}} & \multicolumn{3}{|c|}{M} \\
\cline{3-5}
&  & 2  & 4 & 8 \\
\hline
   \multirow{3}*{\hfil SNR=$\begin{cases}  \\  \\  \end{cases}$}    &  STMA &  xx dB & xx dB & xx dB\\
      &  QTMA    & xx dB & xx dB & xx dB \\
      &  POSTMA & xx dB & xx dB & xx dB\\
\hline
\end{tabular}

Centering Text within a Multirow Cell in LaTex

4 Answers4

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