New command for creating long tables

Question

I am new to Tex and using below code to create a long table. I am creating a book using this where each verse's words are explained in the table format shown below. my document has large number of such tables.

\begin{longtable}{p{1.5cm}p{0.05cm}p{3.5cm}|p{1.5cm}p{0.05cm}p{3.5cm}|p{1.5cm}p{0.05cm}p{3.5cm}}

\end{longtable}

I was wondering if there is a way to shorten it with 1.5cm & 3.5 cm being variables and 0.05 cm as constant cells. This is just a flexibility for later editing. I tried to write something like this.

\newcommand{\ltb}[6]{\begin{longtable}{p{#1cm}p{0.05cm}p{{#2}cm}|p{{#3}cm}p{0.05cm}p{{#4}cm}|p{{#5}cm}p{0.05cm}p{{#6}cm}}}

but could not get any success. I was not sure what I was doing either, just a try. I am attaching a screenshot of how the table looks like. thanks for your help

Answer 1

In addition to Werner's suggestion, you can also use the @{decl.} syntax (which suppresses inter-column space and inserts decl. instead) so you don't have to explicitly typeset the equal signs in the rows of the table:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[margin=1cm]{geometry}% just to make room for the table
\usepackage{longtable}

\newlength\word
\newlength\worddef
\newlength\eqsep
\setlength\word{1.5cm}% Word width is 1.5cm
\setlength\worddef{3.5cm}% Word definition width is 3.5cm
\setlength\eqsep{\tabcolsep}% Space before and after the equal sign

\begin{document}

\begin{longtable}{p{\word}@{\hspace{\eqsep}=\hspace{\eqsep}}p{\worddef}|p{\word}@{\hspace{\eqsep}=\hspace{\eqsep}}p{\worddef}|p{\word}@{\hspace{\eqsep}=\hspace{\eqsep}}p{\worddef}}
word1  & some text & word2  & some text  & word3  & some text  \\
word4  & some text & word5  & some text  & word6  & some text  \\
\end{longtable}

\end{document}

Answer 2

Yes, you can define lengths to your own liking, storing them in "variables". For example,

\newlength{\word}%
\newlength{\equal}%
\newlength{\worddef}%
\setlength{\word}{1.5cm}% Word width is 1.5cm
\setlength{\equal}{0.05cm}% Equal sign width is 0.05cm
\setlength{\worddef}{3.5cm}% Word definition width is 3.5cm

and then use

\begin{longtable}{p{\word}p{\equal}p{\worddef}|p{\word}p{\equal}p{\worddef}|p{\word}p{\equal}p{\worddef}}
  ...
\end{longtable}