Multicolumn table with different alignments

Question

I want to draw the following multiple column table in latex. The headings are centrally aligned and the other text is left aligned. How to do this? Here all fields such as One, Two etc may contain arbitrary amount of text.

My current attempt is as below. I further want to have:

(a) Two and Three split in the middle with respect to the text in column one.

(b) All text except headings to be left aligned

(c) A straight line between Two and Three

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{|p{5cm}|c|c|c|}
\hline
\textbf{A} & \textbf{B} & \textbf{C} & \textbf{D}\\
\hline
\blindtext & \begin{tabular}{@{}c@{}}Two \\ Three\end{tabular} & Four & Six
\end{tabular}
\end{document}

Answer 1

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{multirow}
\usepackage{multicol}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{|p{5cm}|l|l|l|}
\hline
\multicolumn{1}{|c}{\textbf{A} }& \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{B} }& \multicolumn{1}{c}{\textbf{C} }& \multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{D} }\\
\hline
\multirow{2}{*}{One} & Two  & Four & \multirow{2}{*}{Six}  \\ \cline{2-3}
 &  Three & Five & \\ \hline
Seven& Eight & Nine & Ten \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\end{document}

Answer 2

It is better to use package booktabs. Rules provide some space between rows.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{multirow}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{p{5cm}|l|l|l}
\toprule
\multicolumn{1}{c}{\textbf{A} }& \multicolumn{1}{|c}{\textbf{B} }& \multicolumn{1}{|c}{\textbf{C} }& \multicolumn{1}{|c}{\textbf{D} }\\
\midrule
\multirow{2}{*}{One} & Two  & Four & \multirow{2}{*}{Six}  \\ \cmidrule{2-3}
&  Three & Five & \\ \midrule
Seven& Eight & Nine & Ten \\ \bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{document}

Answer 3

I'm interpreting your requirements as follows: (a) Column "A" should be half as wide as column "B", and together they should span the first half the available width; (b) columns "C" and "D" should be equally wide and span the second half; (c) the contents of all cells should be top-algned; and (d) the height of the middle row of cells is determined by whichever of cells "One" and "Six" is taller.

If this interpretation is correct, the following setup may be what you're looking for. The only shortcoming, in my view, is that the horizontal line that separates cells Two/Four from cells Three/Five isn't balanced automatically; depending on the contents of cells Two and Four, a \phantom instruction may be needed, as is demonstrated in the code below.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{array,ragged2e}
\newcolumntype{P}[1]{>{\RaggedRight\arraybackslash}p{#1}}

\newlength\tablengtho
\newlength\tablengtha
\newlength\tablengthb
\newlength\tablengthcd

% Calculare widths of columns A, B, and C/D
\setlength\tablengtho{\dimexpr\textwidth-8\tabcolsep-5\arrayrulewidth\relax}
\setlength\tablengtha{\dimexpr0.6667\tablengtho/4\relax}
\setlength\tablengthb{\dimexpr1.3333\tablengtho/4\relax}
\setlength\tablengthcd{\dimexpr\tablengtho/4\relax}

\begin{document}

\noindent
\begin{tabular}{| P{\tablengtha} | P{\tablengthb} |
                  P{\tablengthcd} | P{\tablengthcd} |}
\hline
\multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\textbf{A}} & \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\textbf{B}} &
\multicolumn{1}{c|}{\textbf{C}} & \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\textbf{D}} \\
\hline
One One One One One One One One One  & 
\multicolumn{1}{@{}c@{}|}{%
   \begin{tabular}[t]{P{\tablengthb}}
         Two Two Two Two Two Two Two   \\ 
         \hline
         Three Three Three Three Three \\
   \end{tabular}} &
\multicolumn{1}{@{}c@{}|}{%
   \begin{tabular}[t]{P{\tablengthcd}}
         Four Four Four \phantom{Four} \\ % \phantom{Four} needed for balance
         \hline
         Five Five Five \\
   \end{tabular}} &
Six Six Six Six Six Six Six Six Six Six Six Six Six Six Six Six Six Six Six Six Six \\
\hline
Seven & Eight & Nine & Ten \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

\end{document}

Answer 4

I tried to do this with stables – Simplified Plain TEX tables which usually places text centered in each cell. I used 4 macros one for each row to control the horizontal size of the rows and to provide a way to control placing of text in each cell both horizontally and vertically.

\documentclass{article}

\input stables.tex

%the width of each column is controlled by the "\hsize=" in each of the four macros
%for each macro the first variable controls horizontal placement of the text, the second 
%takes the text itself and the third controls vertical placement of the text.
\def\AA#1#2#3{\hphantom{\hspace{#1}}% 
   \vtop{\hsize=1.2in\vskip#3 #2}\hphantom{\hspace{1pt}}}

\def\BB#1#2#3{\hphantom{\hspace{#1}}%
   \vtop{\hsize=2.2in\vskip#3 #2}\hphantom{\hspace{1pt}}}

\def\CC#1#2#3{\hphantom{\hspace{#1}}%
   \vtop{\hsize=1in\vskip#3 #2}\hphantom{\hspace{1pt}}}

\def\DD#1#2#3{\hphantom{\hspace{#1}}%
   \vtop{\hsize=1.4in\vskip#3 #2}\hphantom{\hspace{1pt}}}

\begin{document}

\begintable

A|B|C|D\elt
\multirow4{\AA{-.1cm}{One}{-.9cm}}|\BB{-.6cm}{Two}{-.2cm} |\CC{-.8cm}%
{Four}{-.2cm}|\multirow4{\DD{-.1cm}{Six}{-.9cm}}\elspec
|||\el
|||\el
|\trule|\trule| \el
|\BB{-.6cm}{Three}{-.4cm} |\CC{-.8cm}{Five}{-.4cm}|\el
|||\elt
\AA{-.9cm}{Seven}{-.2cm}|\BB{-.9cm}{Eight}{-.2cm}|\CC{-.8cm}{Nine}%  
{-.2cm}|\DD{-1cm}{Ten}{-.2cm}

\endtable

\end{document}

This was my result: