Trying to get a full width table but with varying columns

Question

I am trying to get a table with 3 parts to come out evenly, using tabular or tabularx, but I come out with 3 tables of different widths stacked on top of each other.

\begin{table}
\begin{tabular*}{\linewidth}[b]{lcr}
1 - 50 & \bf{The Balanced Table Header} & Sides: 44 - 1365 \\
\end{tabular*}
\begin{tabular*}{\linewidth}[b]{|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
100 & 101 & 10000000001 & 2000000002 & 3000000003 & 400000000004 \\
\end{tabular*}
\begin{tabular*}{\linewidth}[b]{lr}
BeEF - 20:7:7:16 & 20:7:7:16 - Total
\end{tabular*}
\end{table}

This is NOT what is needed, I want the table to expand to the largest width, but have the first row evenly spaced with 3 items, the second row with 6 items, and the third row with one item to the left and one item on the right.

I must NOT have any of the columns on one line smashing or enlarging the column widths on any other row, each row must not affect the rows above or below. Of course I would like to have the middle of the table with a set of identical rows.

The easiest way to me, would be to simply redefine the column layout on the fly inside the table, but I have not found a way to do this.

Any ideas how to get a table with full widths for all rows?

Answer 1

Although hardly to be recommended, it sounds as if you want something which looks roughly like this:

Pretty ugly, I think, but seems to fulfil the desiderata.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{array,tabularx}
\newcolumntype{C}{>{\centering\arraybackslash}X}
\newcolumntype{L}{>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}X}
\newcolumntype{R}{>{\raggedleft\arraybackslash}X}
\begin{document}
\begin{table}
  \begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{>{\hsize=.75\hsize}L>{\hsize=1.5\hsize}C>{\hsize=.75\hsize}R}
    1 - 50 & \textbf{The Balanced Table Header} & Sides: 44 - 1365
  \end{tabularx}
  \begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{|l|c|*{3}{C|}R|}
    100 & 101 & 10000000001 & 2000000002 & 3000000003 & 400000000004
  \end{tabularx}
  \begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{LR}
    BeEF - 20:7:7:16 & 20:7:7:16 - Total
  \end{tabularx}
\end{table}
\end{document}

Please consider reading the booktabs manual and following its advice. In particular, note that vertical rules are rarely a wise choice.