Center sideways text in table

Question

I'm trying to make a two-column table environment. The left column is supposed to center the sideways text "Tips" vertically and the right column should be a normal paragraph column. Here's what I have so far:

\documentclass[12pt]{book}
\usepackage{rotating} % for sideways
\usepackage{array}    % for the m centering

\newenvironment{tips}
{
    \begin{tabular}{m{5mm}|p{0.9\textwidth}}
    \begin{sideways} \textbf{Tips} \end{sideways} &
}
{\end{tabular}}

I have tried both m and c, but the left column text is still at the top.

This also gives me the problem that for longer texts in the left column, the vertical space before the table becomes larger. Any help?

Also, a quick second question: Is there a unit which makes the second column "fill out" the remainder of the page horizontally? I'm missing out a couple of millimeters using 0.9*\textwidth.

Answer 1

Instead of using the sideways environment, I would suggest using a \rotatebox{90}{...}.

\documentclass{scrartcl}
\usepackage{array}
\usepackage{rotating}
\newenvironment{tips}
{
\noindent
\begin{tabular}{m{0.03\textwidth}|m{0.97\textwidth}}
\rotatebox{90}{\textbf{Tips!}}&
}
{\end{tabular}
\bigskip
}

\begin{document}
\begin{tips}
Short Tip
\end{tips}

\begin{tips}
Forsok att undvika mer an fyra nastlade nivaer. Senare kapitel kommer ge dig forslag pa hur du kan strukturera om koden sa att du slipper onodig nastling. Forsok att undvika mer an fyra nastlade nivaer. Senare kapitel kommer ge dig forslag pa hur du kan strukturera om koden sa att du slipper onodig. nastling
\end{tips}
\end{document}