# slim braces in a table

We need to make clear that certain data is the same in several rows. An underbrace taken from math-mode does the job quite well, but is unfortunately way too prominent in the table, especially in contrast to booktab’s layout.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{booktabs}

\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{lccc}
\toprule
& XXX & YYY & ZZZ \\
\midrule
aaa & 11111111111111 & 222222222222 & 333333333333 \\
bbb & 11111111111111 & 222222222222 & 333333333333 \\
ccc & 11111111111111 & 222222222222 & 333333333333 \\
& \multicolumn{3}{c}{{$\underbrace {\hspace{22em}}$}} \\
\\
ddd & & 0000 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}

\end{document}


I've tried \resizebox to shrink the brace, but this looks what it is: squeezed. It is also possible to use tikz to make something close to curly braces, but I am not too happy with the result of either; I'd like to retain the drawn, "swashy" quality of the math-mode.

Is there a possibility to get slimmer braces (i.e. like drawn with a narrower nib) in the same design as used in math-mode?

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And by "slimmer" you're referring to a thinner horizontal rule that connects the end points and middle cusp? –  Werner Nov 26 '12 at 21:12
Yes, sorry, that wasn't clear -- edited above, hope it is now... –  Florian Nov 26 '12 at 22:33

You can use a smaller font, also you can use a stretch version rather than having to specify the width:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{booktabs}

\begin{document}
\font\smallex=cmex10 at 4pt
\begin{tabular}{lccc}
\toprule
& XXX & YYY & ZZZ \\
\midrule
aaa & 11111111111111 & 222222222222 & 333333333333 \\
bbb & 11111111111111 & 222222222222 & 333333333333 \\
ccc & 11111111111111 & 222222222222 & 333333333333 \\
& \multicolumn{3}{c}{{$\underbrace {\hspace{22em}}$}} \\
cc22c & 11111111111111 & 222222222222 & 333333333333 \\
& \multicolumn{3}{c}{\textfont3=\smallex\upbracefill} \\
ddd & & 0000 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}

\end{document}

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I’d upvote this twice if I could! The stretch saves us a lot of work, indeed... –  Florian Nov 27 '12 at 11:42

Does this look good to you?

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.pathreplacing}

\newcommand\tikzmark[1]{%
\tikz[remember picture,overlay,inner xsep=0pt]\node (#1) {};}

\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{lccc}
\toprule
& XXX & YYY & ZZZ \\
\midrule
aaa & 11111111111111 & 222222222222 & 333333333333 \\
bbb & 11111111111111 & 222222222222 & 333333333333 \\
ccc & \tikzmark{start}11111111111111 & 222222222222 & 333333333333\tikzmark{end} \\[2pt]
ddd & & \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\tikz[remember picture,overlay]{
\draw[decorate,decoration={brace,mirror,raise=2pt}] (start) --node[below=3pt] {0000} (end);
}

\end{document}


Using the line width key you can control the thickness; for example, you can use:

\tikz[remember picture,overlay]{
\draw[line width=0.2pt,decorate,decoration={brace,mirror,raise=2pt}] (start) --node[below=3pt] {0000} (end);
}

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Thanks for that! But isn't the result the same as the tikz-solution linked in the question? I'd really like to have the "swashy" quality of the mathematical braces, but I'll probably use your plain-line variant, if nobody can show an easy way for the other one. –  Florian Nov 26 '12 at 22:21
@Florian it's quite similar (although my code is considerably shorter) to the one in the last post, but the shape of the brace is not exactly the same. –  Gonzalo Medina Nov 26 '12 at 22:35
I hadn't noticed the shape-difference at first, thanks for clarifing. I will will use David Carlisle’s solution for this project, but yours goes to my snippet collection for another time. –  Florian Nov 27 '12 at 11:39

Without tikz:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{booktabs,xcolor}

\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{lccc}
\toprule
& XXX & YYY & ZZZ \\
\midrule
aaa & 11111111111111 & 222222222222 & 333333333333 \\
bbb & 11111111111111 & 222222222222 & 333333333333 \\
ccc & 11111111111111 & 222222222222 & 333333333333 \\[-1.2em]
& \multicolumn{3}{c}{\color{gray!70}{{$\underbrace {\hspace{22em}}$}}} \\[-.2em]
ddd &\multicolumn{3}{c}{0000} \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}

\end{document}


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