# Table column alignment

I just cannot get the third column alignment right, does anyone know how, please?

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{report}
\usepackage{multirow}
\usepackage{siunitx,booktabs}%for table decimals number
\begin{table}[!htbp]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{>{\bfseries}l S[table-format=-1.2(2)] S[table-format=-1.1e1]}
\toprule
{\textbf{Res.}}    & {$\boldsymbol{\beta}$}    & {$\boldsymbol{\chi^{2}}$}    \\
\midrule
4           & -0.60(14)         & 1738 \\
5           & -0.39(11)     & 1348\\
6           & -0.32(10)     & 612 \\
7           & -0.54(17)     & 1159  \\
8a          & -0.36(10)     & 621  \\
9           & -0.50(14)     & 800  \\
10          & -0.26(14)     & 544  \\
11a         & -0.54(16)     & -1140  \\
11b         & -0.50(15)     & 867  \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\caption[]{}
\end{table}

• If your numbers do not have a floating value why do you use -1.1e1? – TeXnician Jul 9 '17 at 10:32
• I actually dont know, I do not really understand how format tables with siunitx. However, does it affect the third column alignment? – yoyo Jul 9 '17 at 10:34

I'll try to explain the formatting of numbers with siunitx from your code:

table-format=-1.1e1 means it uses scientific notation (the e is for exponent), with a mantissa having possibly a — sign, 1 digit before the decimal dot (1.), and 1 digit after the decimal dot (.1). The exponent use 1 digit (that's the e1 part of the format).

table-format=-1.2(2) does not use scientific notation, but has an uncertainty part which uses 2 digits.

Thus for your last column, you should have

table-format=-4.0 (four digits with possibly a — sign, and no decimal part).

• What about if my last column is a mix of words and number. Example : for the first row:Inf and the rest rows: 3X10^6? – yoyo Jul 9 '17 at 10:59
• For cell contents not fitting the format, you get it centred putting it within a pair of braces. – Bernard Jul 9 '17 at 11:04
• This is the new code, where should I change? \begin{table}[!htbp] \centering \begin{tabular}{>{\bfseries}l S[table-format=-1.2(2)] S[table-format=-4]} \toprule {\textbf{Res.}} & {$\boldsymbol{\beta}$} & {$\boldsymbol{\chi^{2}}$} \\ \midrule 1 & -0.61(17) & Inf. \\ 2 & -0.60(17) & Inf. \\ 3 & -0.59(18) & 3$\times$10$^6$\\ 4 & -0.56(20) & Inf. \\ \bottomrule \end{tabular} \caption[]{} \label{} \end{table} – yoyo Jul 9 '17 at 11:07

Change S[table-format=-1.1e1] to S[table-format=-4.0]. -4.0 means: "Set aside enough space for four-digit numbers prefaced by a - symbol, and don't set aside any space for digits after the decimal marker" (since we're dealing with whole numbers). Why set -4.0? It's because the largest number in the third column (in absolute value terms) is "-1140".

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{report}
\usepackage{bm,siunitx,booktabs}%for table decimals number
\begin{document}
\begin{table}[!htbp]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{>{\bfseries}l
S[table-format=-1.2(2)]
S[table-format=-4.0] }
\toprule
{\textbf{Res.}} & {$\bm{\beta}$} & {$\bm{\chi^{2}}$}  \\
\midrule
4           & -0.60(14)     & 1738 \\
5           & -0.39(11)     & 1348\\
6           & -0.32(10)     & 612 \\
7           & -0.54(17)     & 1159  \\
8a          & -0.36(10)     & 621  \\
9           & -0.50(14)     & 800  \\
10          & -0.26(14)     & 544  \\
11a         & -0.54(16)     & -1140  \\
11b         & -0.50(15)     & 867  \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\caption[]{}
\end{table}
\end{document}