Longtable Linebreak overflow

Question

I am having some problems with longtable.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

\title{Test}


\usepackage{tabu}

\usepackage{longtable}
\usepackage{multirow}
\usepackage{multicol}


\begin{document}

\begin{longtable}{|l|l|l|l|l|}
\hline 
\textbf{Sensor} & \textbf{Erfassung} & \textbf{Typ} & \textbf{Spule} & \textbf{Erfassendes Steuerger\"{a}t} \\ 
\hline
B13.1 & Testwelle & Induktiv & - & ESO9 + CRA \\ 
\hline
B13.2 & Testwelle & Induktiv & - & ESO9 + MSI6 \\ 
\hline
\multirow{2}{}{B1} & \multirow{2}{}{Testwelle} & \multirow{2}{}{Induktiv Doppelspule} & 1 & ESO9 + CRA \\ 
 \cline{4-5}
 &  &  & 2 & MSI6 \\ 
\hline

\end{longtable}\label{tab:table1}

\end{document}

As you can see in the last column the size of the third cell is wrong. The word Doppelspule is overflowing.

Is there a way to fix this without changing the table type or setting the cell size manually?

Answer 1

You use wrong syntax for multirow cells. Missed are * or width of cells. For example: correct syntax is \multirow{2}{*}{B1}, not \multirow{2}{}{B1} etc. Complete MWE:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{longtable, makecell, multirow}
\renewcommand\theadfont{\small\bfseries}
\renewcommand\theadgape{}

\title{Test}

\begin{document}
    \begin{longtable}{|l|l|l|l|l|}
\hline
\thead{Sensor}  & \thead{Erfassung} & \thead{Typ}   
                        & \thead{Spule}     & \thead{Erfassendes Steuerger\"{a}t}   \\
    \hline
B13.1               & Testwelle         & Induktiv 
                    & --                & ESO9 + CRA        \\
    \hline
B13.2               & Testwelle         & Induktiv 
                    & --                & ESO9 + MSI6       \\
    \hline
\multirow{2}{*}{B1} & \multirow{2}{*}{Testwelle} & \multirow{2}{5em}{Induktiv Doppelspule}
                    & 1                 & ESO9 + CRA        \\
    \cline{4-5}
                    &   &                   & 2 & MSI6      \\
    \hline
\end{longtable}
\label{tab:table1}  % <--- wrong position!
\end{document}

Note: \label for table should be inside or after the caption, and caption has ti be located inside the table or longtable environment. Since you are not providing any information from which will be clear are you really need longtable, maybe you need to add to your table the following preamble:

    \begin{longtable}{|l|l|l|l|l|}
    \caption{My long table}
    \label{tab:table1}                  \\
    \hline
\thead{Sensor}  & \thead{Erfassung} & \thead{Typ}
                & \thead{Spule}     & \thead{Erfassendes Steuerger\"{a}t}   \\
    \hline
\endfirsthead
    \caption[]{My long table (cont.)}   \\
    \hline
\thead{Sensor}  & \thead{Erfassung} & \thead{Typ}
                & \thead{Spule}     & \thead{Erfassendes Steuerger\"{a}t}   \\
    \hline
\thead{Sensor}  & \thead{Erfassung} & \thead{Typ}
                & \thead{Spule}     & \thead{Erfassendes Steuerger\"{a}t}   \\
    \hline
\endhead
    \hline
    \multicolumn{5}{r}{\footnotesize\textit{Continue on the next page}}
\endfoot
    \hline
\endlastfoot
% table body

Using longtable, you need to compile your document at least two times, before the table line up correctly.

Answer 2

I suggest setting the tabular using booktabs rules and nested tabular instead of multirow. Also, I use \parbox inside the cells to break the lines. If you have an updated array package, you can use fixed width columns to easily line up complicated multispanning rows:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{longtable, booktabs, array}

\title{Test}

\begin{document}
    \begin{longtable}{@{}*{3}{l}wc{1.25cm}wl{2.2cm}@{}}
\caption{Long table \label{tab:table1}}\\

\toprule
\small\bfseries Sensor   & \small\bfseries Erfassung & \small\bfseries Typ   & 
\small\bfseries Spule     & \parbox{2cm}{\small\bfseries Erfassendes\par Steuergerät}\\
\midrule
\endhead
B13.1   & Testwelle   & Induktiv  & --   & ESO9 + CRA        \\
B13.2   & Testwelle   & Induktiv  & --   & ESO9 + MSI6       \\
\midrule
B1 & Testwelle & \parbox{2cm}{Induktiv \par Doppelspule} &
     \multicolumn{2}{@{}wl{3.45cm}}{%
     \begin{tabular}{@{}wc{1.25cm}l@{}}
     1 & ESO9 + CRA  \\ \midrule
     2 & MSI6\end{tabular}}\\
    \bottomrule
\end{longtable}
\end{document}