# Aligned Table of Notation Sybmols - Works but with Errors

I am getting a four (4) errors and 1 Bad Box with the code below. However, the output is the way I need in the PDF. Any ideas why I am getting the errors? And if so, how I can fix it.

The error is Missing $inserted in this code:$y_{f}$&$=$& \left\{\begin{array}{rl} 1, &\mbox{ if Supplier located at site$f$is open} \\0, &\mbox{ otherwise} \end{array} \right.\\ \usepackage{mathtools} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{tabulary} \usepackage{booktabs} \begin{table}[htbp]\caption{Table of Notation My Research} \vspace{-1.5em} \begin{center} \begin{tabular}{r c p{10cm} } \toprule$R_{i}$&$\triangleq$& Revenue at store$i$\\$i$&$\triangleq$& index value for store locations\\${T}_{c}$&$\triangleq& A very long description of this specific variable and is needed in the research and looks good when wrapped and aligned to the left.\\TC$&$\triangleq$& Total overall cost(\$)\\
\multicolumn{3}{c}{}\\
\multicolumn{3}{c}{\underline{Decision Variables}}\\
$y_{f}$ & $=$ & \left\{\begin{array}{rl}    1, &\mbox{ if Supplier located at site $f$ is open} \\
0, &\mbox{ otherwise} \end{array} \right.\\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\label{tab:TableOfNotationForMyResearch}
\end{table}
-

If you try to compile this MWE you should notice that you do not have more the bad box. In my solution I did not adopted the mbox to write the text and in the second example, instead of using the array environment I used cases (this allows you to see the difference).

\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{article}
\usepackage{mathtools}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{tabulary}
\usepackage{booktabs}

\begin{document}
\begin{table}[htbp]\caption{Table of Notation My Research}
\begin{center}% used the environment to augment the vertical space
% between the caption and the table
\begin{tabular}{r c p{10cm} }
\toprule
$R_{i}$ & $\triangleq$ & Revenue at store $i$\\
$i$ & $\triangleq$ & index value for store locations\\
${T}_{c}$ & $\triangleq$ & A very long description of this specific variable and is needed in the research and looks good when wrapped and aligned to the left.\\
$TC$ & $\triangleq$ & Total overall cost(\$)\\ \multicolumn{3}{c}{}\\ \multicolumn{3}{c}{\underline{Decision Variables}}\\ \multicolumn{3}{c}{}\\$y_f$&$=$& $$\left\{\begin{array}{rl} 1, & \text{if Supplier located at site f is open} \\ 0, & \text{otherwise} \end{array} \right.$$\\ \bottomrule \end{tabular} \end{center} \label{tab:TableOfNotationForMyResearch} \end{table} \end{document} This gives you as result: If you want to have the caption much more near the table use: \documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{article} \usepackage{mathtools} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{tabulary} \usepackage{booktabs} \begin{document} \begin{table}[htbp]\caption{Table of Notation My Research} \centering % to have the caption near the table \begin{tabular}{r c p{10cm} } \toprule$R_{i}$&$\triangleq$& Revenue at store$i$\\$i$&$\triangleq$& index value for store locations\\${T}_{c}$&$\triangleq& A very long description of this specific variable and is needed in the research and looks good when wrapped and aligned to the left.\\TC$&$\triangleq$& Total overall cost(\$)\\
\multicolumn{3}{c}{}\\
\multicolumn{3}{c}{\underline{Decision Variables}}\\
\multicolumn{3}{c}{}\\
$y_f$ & $=$ & $$\begin{cases} 1, & \text{if Supplier located at site f is open} \\ 0, & \text{otherwise} \end{cases}$$\\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\label{tab:TableOfNotationForMyResearch}
\end{table}
\end{document}

that gives you:

-
yes. That resolves the question. I understand now now that the cases are a better approach than array for this layout. – joe May 5 '12 at 17:38

The error message tells you that you're using math constructs outside a math environment. In your case it's \left\{ ... \right. Wrap it with $...$ or $$...$$ and the error should go away:

$y_{f}$ & $=$ & $\left\{ \begin{array}{rl} 1, &\mbox{ if Supplier located at site$f$is open} \\ 0, &\mbox{ otherwise} \end{array} \right.$\\
-
that worked.how about the bad bod. Overfull \hbox 7.37781pt too wide)? – joe May 5 '12 at 8:24
I can't reproduce the overfull boxes from your code excerpt. It would help if you could edit your question and provide a complete compilable LaTeX document that shows the issue. – Martin May 5 '12 at 8:30