Creating a table with FIXED length column widths

Question

I'm trying to recreate a table from a RPG character sheet:

I don't care about the colouring particularly, black and white works perfectly fine, the sizing is the main issue. I am going to be making multiple copies of this table, and I want all of them to be uniform. So even if every data value was blank is would then just produce a blank table of the same measurements as a filled in version.

I'm wanting each box to have (roughly) the following widths (relative to the total table width):

• Name:70%, Class: 30%
• Range: 21%, RoF: 37%, Damage: 40%
• Pen: 21%, Clip 18%, Reload: 18%, Weight: 14%, Availability: 19%
• Special: 100%

Sketch with measurements in place of the data for the table (not drawn to scale):

These widths are to keep the table looking close to the original as possible in terms of layout. Being still relatively new to LaTeX and very new to doing more than a basic data table. The only way I could think of doing this would be something along the lines of making 100 columns, and using \multicolumn{% above} . However even with that lengthy method, since LaTeX likes to make everything as small as possible the far right columns wouldn't have their full width and it would create different sized tables depending on the data.

I've looked around as quite a number of questions about fixed length table columns but all seem to be fixing it to be smaller than the text within (causing multine) rather than wanting to keep the size the same and allow empty space to fill the gap.

For some context, the goal is to have a macro that I can input the data for each box, and then the macro creates a copy of the table, filled in with the entered data. The macro I have sorted, the issue is just the formatting/layout of the table.

Here is the macro code I have:

\documentclass[11pt]{article}


\usepackage{fancyhdr}

\oddsidemargin 0.2cm
\topmargin -1.0cm
\textheight 24.0cm
\textwidth 15.25cm
\parindent=0pt
\parskip 1ex
\pagestyle{fancy}

\newcommand{\printweptable}{
\begin{tabular}{p{\linewidth}}
 Name: \name \hfill Cls: \class \\
 Rng: \range    \hfill RoF: \rof \hfill Rmg: \dmg\\
 Pen: \pen \hfill Clip: \clip \hfill Rld: \rld \hfill Wt: \wt \hfill Avl: \avl\\
 Special: \special
\end{tabular}
}

%Weapon info
\newcommand{\setwepstats}[9]{%
\def\name{#1}%
\def\class{#2}%
\def\range{#3}%
\def\rof{#4}%
\def\dmg{#5}%
\def\pen{#6}%
\def\clip{#7}%
\def\rld{#8}%
\def\wt{#9}
\wepstatsrelay
}%

\def\wepstatsrelay#1#2{
\def\avl{#1}%
\def\special{#2}}%

\begin{document}

\setwepstats{Name}{Class}{Range}{RoF}{Damage}{Pen}{Clip}{Reload}{Wt}{Availability}{Special}

\printweptable

\setwepstats{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

\printweptable

\end{document}

I think I shall use the code provided by Werner, and scrap the macro I had (his seems cleaner to use and reuse.

I have now merged the codes provided by both Werner and cfr and have this working code:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{xkeyval}

\makeatletter
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{name}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{class}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{range}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{rof}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{damage}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{pen}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{clip}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{reload}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{weight}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{availability}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{special}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{mods}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{qualities}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{width}[\linewidth]{}

\newcommand{\statlabel}{\textsc}

\usepackage{calc,xparse}
\newlength\mycardwidth
\setlength\mycardwidth{.75\textwidth}
\NewDocumentCommand \boxme { O{} }{%
  \fbox{%
    \parbox{\linewidth-2\fboxrule-2.5\fboxsep}{\strut #1}%
  }%
}
\NewDocumentCommand \pageme { O{} O{} }{%
  \begin{minipage}{#1\mycardwidth}
    \centering\boxme[#2]
  \end{minipage}%
}
\NewDocumentCommand \cardme { O{.75\textwidth} +m }{%
  \setlength\mycardwidth{#1-2\fboxrule-2\fboxsep}%
  \fbox{%
    \begin{minipage}{\mycardwidth}
      \centering
      #2%
    \end{minipage}%
  }%
}

\newcommand{\setcharacterstats}[1]{%
  \begingroup
  \setkeys{rpg}{name,class,range,rof,damage,pen,clip,reload,weight,availability,special,mods,qualities,width,#1}%
  \noindent
  \centering
  \cardme[\textwidth]{%
    \pageme[.69][\statlabel{Name}: \char@name]%
    \pageme[.31][\statlabel{Cls}: \char@class]

    \pageme[.22][\statlabel{Rng}: \hfill \char@range \hfill m]%
    \pageme[.38][\statlabel{RoF}: \char@rof]%
    \pageme[.4][\statlabel{Dmg}: \char@damage]

    \pageme[.22][\statlabel{Pen}: \char@pen]%
    \pageme[.19][\statlabel{Clip}: \char@clip]%
    \pageme[.19][\statlabel{Rld}: \char@reload]%
    \pageme[.18][\statlabel{Wt}: \hfill \char@weight \hfill kg]%
    \pageme[.22][\statlabel{Avl}: \char@availability]

    \pageme[][\statlabel{Special}: \char@special]%

    \pageme[][\statlabel{Mods}: \char@mods]%

    \pageme[][\statlabel{Qualities}: \char@qualities]%
  }
}
\makeatletter


%-----------------------------------
\begin{document}

\setcharacterstats{
  name = Long Las,
  class = Basic,
  range = 150,
  rof = S/-/-,
  damage = 1d10+3,
  pen = 1,
  clip = 40,
  reload = Full,
  weight = 4.5,
  availability = Scarce,
  special = Accurate Felling (4) Reliable
  }


\end{document}

With that code however, is there a way to center the variable data within the remaining space of the cell? E.g. If I had Carbine as the name, it would make the distance from the : and the C be equal to the distance from the e and the right side of the cell. (Not put it in the center of the entire cell).

I tried to edit the variable within the macro to replace \char@name with \center{\char@name} however this threw the variable onto an entirely new line (within the cell) and centered it based on the cell sides alone. If there's no simple way to do this, I'll stick with it being left aligned.

Answer 1

Key-Value Version

Here's a version of my earlier answer which provides a key-value interface. I've used the LaTeX 3 code for handling the keys because I find this the most intuitive to use, although the syntax looks a bit alien at first. (That is, I've never understood how to use xkeyval etc. properly, so I can't do it in the difficult, non-alien-looking way.)

Also, since my original code used xparse, I didn't need to add any packages to use this approach. geometry is added just to get a wider page for the example.

\cardme[<list of key-value pairs>]

\cardme now takes one optional argument which is a list of key-value pairs.

Available keys are:

avl=, card width=, clip=, cls=, dmg=, name=, pen=, rld=, rng=, rof=, special=, wt=,

Apart from card width, these take text which is the value of the key in this case. In each case, the default is to typeset nothing as the value. The default for card width, which expects a dimension, is .75\textwidth, as in the original code.

Two additional macros are provided.

\cardnames{<list of key-value pairs>}

can be used to customise the labels used for each key-value pair. The keys are as before, except that there is no card width. The difference is that this macro doesn't typeset anything. It just changes the text which will be used when creating the label in each box if, and when, \cardme is later used.

Similarly

\cardunits{<list of key-value pairs>}

can be used to assign a unit to each type of value. By default these are empty except for rng and wt which are set to km and kg respectively.

For example, suppose we create the following cards:

\noindent
\cardme

This will be an empty card with default width and labels.

\noindent
\cardme[%
  card width=\textwidth,
  name=This One,
  cls=Aristocracy,
  rng=450,
  rof=RoF,
  dmg=Extensive,
  pen=Pen,
  clip=Y,
  rld=N,
  wt=1,
  avl=Y,
  special=Extraordinary powers,
]

This card uses the default labels but, this time, the card is completed with a value in each box and the width is increased to allow for this.

\cardnames{
  name=Enw,
  cls=Dth,
  rng=Pll,
  dmg=Dfd,
  clip=Cnf,
  rld=AilLl,
  wt=Pwys,
  avl=ArGl,
  special=Arbennig,
}

This doesn't typeset anything. Rather, it changes some of the labels, while leaving others untouched. Hence, when we typeset another empty card with

\noindent\cardme[card width=.85\textwidth]

we will get an empty card with a mixture of default and custom labels and width of .85\textwidth.

Complete code:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{calc,xparse,geometry}
\ExplSyntaxOn
\dim_new:N \l_Archimedes_card_width_dim
\dim_set:Nn \l_Archimedes_card_width_dim { .75\textwidth }
\keys_define:nn { Archimedes / card }
{
  avl .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_avl_tl,
  card~width .dim_set:N = \l_Archimedes_card_width_dim,
  clip .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_clip_tl,
  cls .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_cls_tl,
  dmg .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_dmg_tl,
  name .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_name_tl,
  pen .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_pen_tl,
  rld .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_rld_tl,
  rng .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_rng_tl,
  rof .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_rof_tl,
  special .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_special_tl,
  wt .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_wt_tl,
  avl .initial:n = ,
  clip .initial:n = ,
  cls .initial:n = ,
  dmg .initial:n = ,
  name .initial:n = ,
  pen .initial:n = ,
  rld .initial:n = ,
  rng .initial:n = ,
  rof .initial:n = ,
  special .initial:n = ,
  wt .initial:n = ,
}
\keys_define:nn { Archimedes / card / names }
{
  avl .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_avlname_tl,
  clip .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_clipname_tl,
  cls .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_clsname_tl,
  dmg .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_dmgname_tl,
  name .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_namename_tl,
  pen .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_penname_tl,
  rld .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_rldname_tl,
  rng .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_rngname_tl,
  rof .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_rofname_tl,
  special .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_specialname_tl,
  wt .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_wtname_tl,
  avl .initial:n = Avl,
  clip .initial:n = Clip,
  cls .initial:n = Cls,
  dmg .initial:n = Dmg,
  name .initial:n = Name,
  pen .initial:n = Pen,
  rld .initial:n = Rld,
  rng .initial:n = Rng,
  rof .initial:n = RoF,
  special .initial:n = Special,
  wt .initial:n = Wt,
}
\keys_define:nn { Archimedes / card / units }
{
  avl .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_avlunit_tl,
  clip .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_clipunit_tl,
  cls .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_clsunit_tl,
  dmg .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_dmgunit_tl,
  name .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_nameunit_tl,
  pen .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_penunit_tl,
  rld .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_rldunit_tl,
  rng .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_rngunit_tl,
  rof .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_rofunit_tl,
  special .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_specialunit_tl,
  wt .tl_set:N = \l_Archimedes_wtunit_tl,
  avl .initial:n = ,
  clip .initial:n = ,
  cls .initial:n = ,
  dmg .initial:n = ,
  name .initial:n = ,
  pen .initial:n = ,
  rld .initial:n = ,
  rng .initial:n = km,
  rof .initial:n = ,
  special .initial:n = ,
  wt .initial:n = kg,
}
\cs_new_protected:Nn \Archimedes_pageme:nn
{
  \begin{minipage}{#1\l_Archimedes_card_width_dim}
    \centering
    \fbox{
      \parbox{\linewidth-2\fboxrule-2.5\fboxsep}
      {
        \strut
        \textsc{ \use:c { l_Archimedes_#2name_tl } } : ~ \skip_horizontal:n {\fill} \use:c { l_Archimedes_#2_tl } \skip_horizontal:n {\fill}  \hbox:n { \use:c { l_Archimedes_#2unit_tl } }
      }
    }
  \end{minipage}
}
\NewDocumentCommand \cardnames { m }{
  \keys_set:nn { Archimedes / card / names } { #1 }
}
\NewDocumentCommand \cardunits { m }{
  \keys_set:nn { Archimedes / card / units } { #1 }
}
\NewDocumentCommand \cardme { O {} }{%
  \group_begin:
  \keys_set:nn { Archimedes / card } { #1 }
  \dim_sub:Nn \l_Archimedes_card_width_dim { 2\fboxrule + 2\fboxsep }
  \fbox{
    \begin{minipage}{\l_Archimedes_card_width_dim}
      \centering
      \Archimedes_pageme:nn {.69 } { name }
      \Archimedes_pageme:nn {.31 } { cls }\par
      \Archimedes_pageme:nn { .22 } { rng }
      \Archimedes_pageme:nn { .38 } { rof }
      \Archimedes_pageme:nn { .4 } { dmg }\par
      \Archimedes_pageme:nn { .22 } { pen }
      \Archimedes_pageme:nn { .19 } { clip }
      \Archimedes_pageme:nn { .19 } { rld }
      \Archimedes_pageme:nn { .18 } { wt }
      \Archimedes_pageme:nn { .22 } { avl }\par
      \Archimedes_pageme:nn {  } { special }
    \end{minipage}
  }
  \group_end:
}
\ExplSyntaxOff
\begin{document}
\noindent
\cardme

\noindent
\cardme[%
  card width=\textwidth,
  name=This One,
  cls=Aristocracy,
  rng=450,
  rof=RoF,
  dmg=Extensive,
  pen=Pen,
  clip=Y,
  rld=N,
  wt=1,
  avl=Y,
  special=Extraordinary powers,
]

\cardnames{
  name=Enw,
  cls=Dth,
  rng=Pll,
  dmg=Dfd,
  clip=Cnf,
  rld=AilLl,
  wt=Pwys,
  avl=ArGl,
  special=Arbennig,
}

\noindent\cardme[card width=.85\textwidth]
\end{document}

Original Answer

This uses \fbox and minipage to create the boxes-in-a-box look. I adjusted some of the percentages so they added to 100 on each line.

\cardme[<width>]{<content>}

sets up the main box. The optional parameter specifies the width. The required argument specifies the content. The default width is three-quarters of the width of the text block.

\pageme[<width>][<content>]

constructs an inner box. The two optional arguments are, first, the width and, second, the content. The default is to create an empty box the entire (inner) width of the card.

Then

\cardme[.8\textwidth]{%
  \pageme[.69][Name]%
  \pageme[.31][Class]

  \pageme[.22][Range]%
  \pageme[.38][RoF]%
  \pageme[.4][Damage]

  \pageme[.22][Pen]%
  \pageme[.19][Clip]%
  \pageme[.19][Reload]%
  \pageme[.18][Weight]%
  \pageme[.22][Availability]

  \pageme[][Special]%
}

specifies the following card:

Complete code:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{calc,xparse}
\newlength\mycardwidth
\setlength\mycardwidth{.75\textwidth}
\NewDocumentCommand \boxme { O{} }{%
  \fbox{%
    \parbox{\linewidth-2\fboxrule-2.5\fboxsep}{\strut #1}%
  }%
}
\NewDocumentCommand \pageme { O{} O{} }{%
  \begin{minipage}{#1\mycardwidth}
    \centering\boxme[#2]
  \end{minipage}%
}
\NewDocumentCommand \cardme { O{.75\textwidth} +m }{%
  \setlength\mycardwidth{#1-2\fboxrule-2\fboxsep}%
  \fbox{%
    \begin{minipage}{\mycardwidth}
      \centering
      #2%
    \end{minipage}%
  }%
}
\begin{document}
\cardme[.8\textwidth]{%
  \pageme[.69][Name]%
  \pageme[.31][Class]

  \pageme[.22][Range]%
  \pageme[.38][RoF]%
  \pageme[.4][Damage]

  \pageme[.22][Pen]%
  \pageme[.19][Clip]%
  \pageme[.19][Reload]%
  \pageme[.18][Weight]%
  \pageme[.22][Availability]

  \pageme[][Special]%
}
\end{document}

Answer 2

This seems to beg for a key-value interface:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{xkeyval}

\makeatletter
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{name}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{class}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{range}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{rof}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{damage}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{pen}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{clip}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{reload}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{weight}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{availability}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{special}[]{}
\define@cmdkey{rpg}[char@]{width}[\linewidth]{}

\newcommand{\setcharacterstats}[1]{%
  \begingroup
  \setkeys{rpg}{name,class,range,rof,damage,pen,clip,reload,weight,availability,special,width,#1}%
  \noindent
  \begin{tabular}{ @{} c @{} }
    \begin{tabular}{ | p{\dimexpr.69\char@width-2\tabcolsep} | p{\dimexpr.31\char@width-2\tabcolsep} | }
      \hline
      \statlabel{Name}: \char@name & \statlabel{Cls}: \char@class
    \end{tabular} \\
    \begin{tabular}{ | p{\dimexpr.23\char@width-2\tabcolsep} | p{\dimexpr.37\char@width-2\tabcolsep} | p{\dimexpr.4\char@width-2\tabcolsep} | }
      \hline
      \statlabel{Rng}: \char@range & \statlabel{RoF}: \char@rof & \statlabel{Dmg}: \char@damage
    \end{tabular} \\
    \begin{tabular}{ | p{\dimexpr.23\char@width-2\tabcolsep} | p{\dimexpr.20\char@width-2\tabcolsep} | p{\dimexpr.20\char@width-2\tabcolsep} |
                       p{\dimexpr.16\char@width-2\tabcolsep} | p{\dimexpr.21\char@width-2\tabcolsep} | }
      \hline
      \statlabel{Pen}: \char@pen & \statlabel{Clip}: \char@clip & \statlabel{Rld}: \char@reload & \statlabel{Wt}: \char@weight & \statlabel{Avl}: \char@availability
    \end{tabular} \\
    \begin{tabular}{ | p{\dimexpr\char@width-2\tabcolsep} | }
      \hline
      \statlabel{Special}: \char@special \\
      \hline
    \end{tabular}
  \end{tabular}\par
  \endgroup
}
\makeatletter

\newcommand{\statlabel}{\textsc}

\begin{document}

\setcharacterstats{
  name = The HuLK,
  class = Huge,
  range = Arm,
  rof = 5m,
  damage = 400,
  pen = 12,
  clip = 12.2,
  reload = 2s,
  weight = 7t,
  availability = 7,
  special = Green and very angry
  }

\end{document}

All the keys should be self-explanatory, including the possibility that you can adjust the width for each table. The default it \linewidth, and all the columns are specified in percentages of this.