# Controlling the float of table in supertabular

A table is created in supertabular environment. After the general heading Symbols and table caption General Parameters, I need to place the table below the caption. However, the table floats to the next page. If I do not use the parameter \setlength\extrarowheight{5pt}, then there is no problem. However, I need some space between two rows. I cannot use [H] parameter in supertabular. Here is the MWE.

\documentclass[12pt,oneside]{report}

\usepackage{lmodern}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{microtype}
\usepackage{booktabs,longtable,tabularx,caption,ragged2e,supertabular}
\usepackage{float}

\begin{document}

\chapter*{List of Abbreviations, Symbols, and Nomenclature}
\setlength\extrarowheight{5pt}% to give extra space between two rows.
\captionsetup[table]{singlelinecheck=false}

Symbols
\tablecaption*{General parameters}
\noindent
\begin{supertabular}{p{2cm} p{10cm}}
$V_{ult}$ & Ultimate vertical load\\
$E_u$ & Undrained Young's modulus\\
$\nu$ & Poisson's ratio\\
$\nu_u$ & Undrained Poisson's ratio\\
$\sigma$ & Stress\\
$\sigma^{'}$ & Effective vertical stress\\
$\sigma_x$ & Normal stress in $x$-direction\\
$\sigma_y$ & Normal stress in $y$-direction\\
$\sigma_z$ & Normal stress in $z$-direction\\
$\sigma_f$ & Failure normal stress\\
$\sigma_1$ & Major principal stress\\
$\sigma_2$ & Intermediate principal stress\\
$\sigma_3$ & Minor principal stress\\
%many more entries
\end{supertabular}

\end{document}


The output is shown in fig( only the first 2 pages)

Is supertabulara must? You could use a description environment and customize it acc. to your needs with enumitem.sty:

\documentclass[12pt,oneside]{report}

\usepackage{lmodern}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{enumitem}

\begin{document}

\chapter*{List of Abbreviations, Symbols, and Nomenclature}
\section*{Symbols}
\subsection*{General parameters}

\begin{description}[align=left,leftmargin=2cm,font=\normalfont,style=nextline,itemsep=0pt]
\item[$V_{ult}$] Ultimate vertical load
\item[$E_u$] Undrained Young's modulus
\item[$\nu$] Poisson's ratio
\item[$\nu_u$] Undrained Poisson's ratio
\item[$\sigma$] Stress
\end{description}

\end{document}


• Use of supertabular is not necessary. Your suggested way is helpful. However, for every item (total 40 items), I am getting a warning Underfull \hbox badness 10000. Can you tell how can I get rid of it? Second, between two lines(items), how can I reduce the space? – JaiGuruDev Dec 30 '15 at 0:19
• itemsep=0pt has been used, but I want a lesser vertical space still. – JaiGuruDev Dec 30 '15 at 0:46
• @JaiGuruDev - Reg. vertical spacing, replace itemsep=0pt with noitemsep and see if that helps. Reg. Underfull \hbox badness 10000, I don't get any with the code above, do you terminate every item with a \\? – Arash Esbati Dec 30 '15 at 7:41
• Simply brilliant! It was \\ at the end of each item which caused the underfull \hbox and vertical space problem. Removing \\ solved everything. – JaiGuruDev Dec 30 '15 at 13:55