r - Two sets of column spans using htmlTable package

Question

I'm trying to replicate Table 3.2, on page 26, in Chapter 3 of Reinforced Concrete: A Fundamental Approach by Edward G. Nawy using the htmlTable package.

I'm having problems with the 2 sets of column spans spread out by rows.

Here is the R code that I have:

install.packages(install.load)  

install.load::load_package("data.table", "htmlTable")  

# Table 3.2 Approximate mixing water and air content for different slumps
# and Nominal maximum sizes of aggregate

water_nonair <- data.table(V1 = c("1 to 2", "3 to 4", "6 to 7",
"Approximate amount of entrapped air in nonair- entrained concrete (%)"),
V2 = c(350, 385, 410, 3), V3 = c(335, 365, 385, 2.5), V4 = c(315, 340, 360, 2),
V5 = c(300, 325, 340, 1.5), V6 = c(275, 300, 315, 1), V7 = c(260, 285, 300, 0.5),
V8 = c(220, 245, 270, 0.3), V9 = c(190, 210, 0, 0.2))
setnames(water_nonair, c("Slump (in.)", "3/8 in.", "1/2 in.", "3/4 in.",
"1 in.", "1 1/2 in.", "2 in.", "3 in.", "6 in."))

water_air <- data.table(V1 = c("1 to 2", "3 to 4", "6 to 7"), V2 = c(305, 340,
365), V3 = c(295, 325, 345), V4 = c(280, 305, 325), V5 = c(270, 295, 310),
V6 = c(250, 275, 290), V7 = c(240, 265, 290), V8 = c(205, 225, 280),
V9 = c(180, 200, 0))
setnames(water_air, c("Slump (in.)", "3/8 in.", "1/2 in.", "3/4 in.",
"1 in.", "1 1/2 in.", "2 in.", "3 in.", "6 in."))

avg_air_content <- data.table(V1 = c("Recommended average total air content
(percent for level of exposure)", "Mild exposure", "Moderate Exposure",
"Extreme exposure"), V2 = c("", 4.5, 6, 7.5), V3 = c("", 4, 5.5, 7),
V4 = c("", 3.5, 5, 6), V5 = c("", 3, 4.5, 6), V6 = c("", 2.5, 4.5, 5.5), 
V7 = c("", 2, 4, 5), V8 = c("", 1.5, 3.5, 4.5), V9 = c("", 1, 3, 4))
setnames(avg_air_content, c("Slump (in.)", "3/8 in.", "1/2 in.", "3/4 in.",
"1 in.", "1 1/2 in.", "2 in.", "3 in.", "6 in."))

Combine the 3 data.tables:

water <- rbind(water_nonair, water_air, avg_air_content)
htmlTable(water, rnames = FALSE, caption = "Table 3.2
Approximate mixing water and air content for different slumps and Nominal
maximum sizes of aggregate", cgroup = rbind(c("", "Water (lb/yd^3
of Concrete for Indicated Nominal Maximum Sizes of Aggregate)", NA),
c("Nonair-Entrained Concrete", "Air Entrained Concrete")),
n.cgroup = rbind(c(1, 2, NA), c(3, 3, 3)), align = "lcc",
tfoot = c("^a These quantities of mixing water are for use in computing cement factors for
trial batches. They are maximal for reasonably well shaped angular coarse aggregates graded
within limits of accepted specifications.", "^b The slump values for concrete containing
aggregate larger than 1 ½ in. are based on slump tests made after removal of particles
larger than 1 ½ in. by wet screening."))

Can you offer any suggestions?

Thank you.

Irucka Embry

dont you want tspanners? `htmlTable(water, rnames = FALSE, align = 'lc', tspanner = c("Nonair", "Air", 'Avg'), n.tspanner = sapply(list(water_nonair, water_air, avg_air_content), nrow), n.cgroup = ncol(water), cgroup = 'Water ...')` — rawr, Oct 17 '16 at 03:34
@rawr: add this together with some css for the tspanner, e.g. `css.tspanner = "font-style: italic; text-align: center;", css.tspanner.sep = ""` should answer the question. You can also add frac-entities: http://www.danshort.com/HTMLentities/index.php?w=fract or just plain `^{` tags for the header http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7525977/how-to-write-fraction-value-using-html} — Max Gordon, Oct 17 '16 at 08:39

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 17 '16 at 16:48

I think you want to use the tspanner to separate stacked tables rather than the cgroup which is for separating columns.

l <- list(water_nonair = water_nonair,
          water_air = water_air,
          avg_air_content = avg_air_content)

library('htmlTable')
htmlTable(do.call('rbind', l), rnames = FALSE, align = 'lc',
          caption = "Table 3.2 Approximate mixing water and air content for
          different slumps and Nominal maximum sizes of aggregate",
          tspanner = c("Nonair-Entrained Concrete", "Air Entrained Concrete",
                       'Average Air Content'),
          n.tspanner = sapply(l, nrow), n.cgroup = ncol(l[[1]]),
          cgroup = "Water (lb/yd<sup>3</sup> of Concrete for Indicated Nominal
          Maximum Sizes of Aggregate)",
          css.tspanner = "font-style: italic; text-align: center;",
          css.tspanner.sep = "")

An easy way to get the fractions that @MaxGordon points out is to do a quick gsub of the column names although may be better to set the explicitly

water <- do.call('rbind', l)
colnames(water) <- gsub('(\\d)/(\\d)', '&frac\\1\\2;', colnames(water))
htmlTable(water, ...)

And I'm not sure where the ^a and ^b came in, but you can also use html characters for footnotes--two common ones:

tfoot = c("<sup>&dagger;</sup> 1 in. = 25.4 mm",
          "<sup>&Dagger;</sup> May be increased by 1 in. for methods
          of consolidation other than vibration.")

Thank you for the answer. I am using the same footnote notation as the Tables in Chapter 3 of the book. I haven't added all of the footnotes yet, but they span from a to g. — iembry, Oct 22 '16 at 00:07

r - Two sets of column spans using htmlTable package

1 Answers1