Less ugly tables

Tables tend to look fine in html, but when rendering to word they completely fall down. Below, I test a bunch of the standard packages. *The one that seems to work best is [flextable::flecxtable()], which is interesting, since [huxtable::huxtable()] claims to build on it but doesn’t work well at all.

NOTE: this doc probably looks fine on the website. The issue is word rendering.

I’ll test two tables- iris, which has narrow columns, and a table with lots of text, which tends to cause the most problems.

texttab <- readr::read_csv(file.path('data/component_table.csv'), 
                           show_col_types = FALSE) |> 
  dplyr::select(-tidyselect::last_col())

The solution

Maybe. This exact code works great in another project, and not at all here. I have no idea what’s going on.

library(flextable)

Warning: package 'flextable' was built under R version 4.4.2

set_flextable_defaults(font.family = 'Calibri',
                       font.size = 10,
                       table.layout = 'autofit')

Use flextable with set_table_properties(layout = 'autofit') .

head(iris) |> 
  flextable()

Table 1: This is a table with flextable

Sepal.Length	Sepal.Width	Petal.Length	Petal.Width	Species
5.1	3.5	1.4	0.2	setosa
4.9	3.0	1.4	0.2	setosa
4.7	3.2	1.3	0.2	setosa
4.6	3.1	1.5	0.2	setosa
5.0	3.6	1.4	0.2	setosa
5.4	3.9	1.7	0.4	setosa

texttab |> 
  flextable() #|> 
  # set_table_properties(layout = "autofit")

Table 2: This is a table with lots of text in flextable

General HydroBOT components	Type	General component definitions	Specific components used in our example
Input data	Not part of HydroBOT	Hydrologic data (timeseries). Typically representing multiple scenarios, e.g. climate and climate adaptations. May include other inputs as needed by response models.	Modified historical hydrographs to represent hypothetical climate change and adaptations (45 gauges, 15 scenarios)
Controller	Workflow	Interface between input data, response model, and other toolkit components. Sets up run(s).	Sets up links to data and parameters for EWR tool and aggregations.
Response models	External, integrated	A model of the response of values, e.g. social, cultural, environmental, or economic values in response to hydrologic drivers.	EWR tool
Aggregator	Workflow	Aggregates response model results to scales across the dimensions of time, space, and theme.	Response model sets the base scale for aggregation. EWR tool assesses hydrologic indicators (value) at gauges (space) and year (time).
Comparer	Workflow	Compares scenarios (typically) or other groupings. Provides standard outputs including comparison methods, plots, and tables.	Comparison of environmental values at various theme scales for the example climate and adaptation scenarios
Causal networks	External, integrated	Describe causal relationships between values.	Long Term Water Plan (LTWP)
Spatial data	External, integrated	Describe spatial relationships	Gauge locations, Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDL) units, Murray-Darling Basin

Note that there is an issue still if the table prints into a div. I think because divs render in word as tables, and so flextable struggles with what it controls. I’ll show that below.

The others

These all look fine in html, most things do. But the word doc is where things seem to fall down. Especially if they have lots of text.

head(iris) |> 
  knitr::kable()

Table 3: This is a table with kable

Sepal.Length	Sepal.Width	Petal.Length	Petal.Width	Species
5.1	3.5	1.4	0.2	setosa
4.9	3.0	1.4	0.2	setosa
4.7	3.2	1.3	0.2	setosa
4.6	3.1	1.5	0.2	setosa
5.0	3.6	1.4	0.2	setosa
5.4	3.9	1.7	0.4	setosa

Table 4: This is a table with kableExtra. It does not render to word. It used to with prefer-html: true, but that workarounds seems not to work anymore.

# head(iris) |> 
#   knitr::kable() |> 
#   kableExtra::kable_styling()

head(iris) |> 
  huxtable::huxtable() |> 
  huxtable::theme_article()

Table 5: This is a table with huxtable

Sepal.Length	Sepal.Width	Petal.Length	Petal.Width	Species
5.1	3.5	1.4	0.2	setosa
4.9	3	1.4	0.2	setosa
4.7	3.2	1.3	0.2	setosa
4.6	3.1	1.5	0.2	setosa
5	3.6	1.4	0.2	setosa
5.4	3.9	1.7	0.4	setosa

head(iris) |> 
 gt::gt()

Table 6: This is a table with gt

Sepal.Length	Sepal.Width	Petal.Length	Petal.Width	Species
5.1	3.5	1.4	0.2	setosa
4.9	3.0	1.4	0.2	setosa
4.7	3.2	1.3	0.2	setosa
4.6	3.1	1.5	0.2	setosa
5.0	3.6	1.4	0.2	setosa
5.4	3.9	1.7	0.4	setosa

Long text

This table is giving me fits elsewhere, let’s try it here. It has a common issue of wrapping words.

Table 7: This is just printed

texttab

# A tibble: 7 × 4
  General HydroBOT compone…¹ Type  General component de…² Specific components …³
  <chr>                      <chr> <chr>                  <chr>                 
1 Input data                 Not … Hydrologic data (time… Modified historical h…
2 Controller                 Work… Interface between inp… Sets up links to data…
3 Response models            Exte… A model of the respon… EWR tool              
4 Aggregator                 Work… Aggregates response m… Response model sets t…
5 Comparer                   Work… Compares scenarios (t… Comparison of environ…
6 Causal networks            Exte… Describe causal relat… Long Term Water Plan …
7 Spatial data               Exte… Describe spatial rela… Gauge locations, Sust…
# ℹ abbreviated names: ¹​`General HydroBOT components`,
#   ²​`General component definitions`,
#   ³​`Specific components used in our example`

texttab |> 
  knitr::kable()

Table 8: This is a table with kable

General HydroBOT components	General component definitions	Specific components used in our example	Details of Specific components
Input data	Hydrologic data (timeseries). Typically representing multiple scenarios, e.g. climate and climate adaptations. May include other inputs as needed by response models.	Modified historical hydrographs to represent hypothetical climate change and adaptations (45 gauges, 15 scenarios)	Daily flow rates for 45 for 15 scenarios
Controller	Interface between input data, response model, and other toolkit components. Sets up run(s).	Sets up links to data and parameters for EWR tool and aggregations.	NA
Response models	A model of the response of values, e.g. social, cultural, environmental, or economic values in response to hydrologic drivers.	EWR tool	The EWR tool holds databases of the EWRs required to meet the environmental objectives of the basin, which protect or enhance environmental assets that are valued based on ecological significance.
Aggregator	Aggregates response model results to scales across the dimensions of time, space, and theme.	Response model sets the base scale for aggregation. EWR tool assesses hydrologic indicators (value) at gauges (space) and year (time).	The spatial dimension consists of gauges nested within planning units within the basin. The time dimension assessess EWR performance averaged over the yearly data returned by the EWR tool. The value dimension consists of multiple EWRs (hydrologic indicators) that apply to environmental values (many-to-many), at multiple levels in the causal network (e.g. life-cycle components, species, groups of species, or long-term planning targets).
Comparer	Compares scenarios (typically) or other groupings. Provides standard outputs including comparison methods, plots, and tables.	Comparison of environmental values at various theme scales for the example climate and adaptation scenarios	Explored in detail in figures and tables
Causal networks	Describe causal relationships between values.	Long Term Water Plan (LTWP)	Provided by HydroBOT. LTWP required of Basin States by the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and give effect to the Basin-wide Environmental Watering Strategy.

texttab |> 
  huxtable::huxtable() |> 
  huxtable::theme_article()

Table 9: This is a table with huxtable

General HydroBOT components	General component definitions	Specific components used in our example	Details of Specific components
Input data	Hydrologic data (timeseries). Typically representing multiple scenarios, e.g. climate and climate adaptations. May include other inputs as needed by response models.	Modified historical hydrographs to represent hypothetical climate change and adaptations (45 gauges, 15 scenarios)	Daily flow rates for 45 for 15 scenarios
Controller	Interface between input data, response model, and other toolkit components. Sets up run(s).	Sets up links to data and parameters for EWR tool and aggregations.
Response models	A model of the response of values, e.g. social, cultural, environmental, or economic values in response to hydrologic drivers.	EWR tool	The EWR tool holds databases of the EWRs required to meet the environmental objectives of the basin, which protect or enhance environmental assets that are valued based on ecological significance.
Aggregator	Aggregates response model results to scales across the dimensions of time, space, and theme.	Response model sets the base scale for aggregation. EWR tool assesses hydrologic indicators (value) at gauges (space) and year (time).	The spatial dimension consists of gauges nested within planning units within the basin. The time dimension assessess EWR performance averaged over the yearly data returned by the EWR tool. The value dimension consists of multiple EWRs (hydrologic indicators) that apply to environmental values (many-to-many), at multiple levels in the causal network (e.g. life-cycle components, species, groups of species, or long-term planning targets).
Comparer	Compares scenarios (typically) or other groupings. Provides standard outputs including comparison methods, plots, and tables.	Comparison of environmental values at various theme scales for the example climate and adaptation scenarios	Explored in detail in figures and tables
Causal networks	Describe causal relationships between values.	Long Term Water Plan (LTWP)	Provided by HydroBOT. LTWP required of Basin States by the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and give effect to the Basin-wide Environmental Watering Strategy.

texttab |> 
 gt::gt()

Table 10: This is a table with gt

General HydroBOT components	General component definitions	Specific components used in our example	Details of Specific components
Input data	Hydrologic data (timeseries). Typically representing multiple scenarios, e.g. climate and climate adaptations. May include other inputs as needed by response models.	Modified historical hydrographs to represent hypothetical climate change and adaptations (45 gauges, 15 scenarios)	Daily flow rates for 45 for 15 scenarios
Controller	Interface between input data, response model, and other toolkit components. Sets up run(s).	Sets up links to data and parameters for EWR tool and aggregations.	NA
Response models	A model of the response of values, e.g. social, cultural, environmental, or economic values in response to hydrologic drivers.	EWR tool	The EWR tool holds databases of the EWRs required to meet the environmental objectives of the basin, which protect or enhance environmental assets that are valued based on ecological significance.
Aggregator	Aggregates response model results to scales across the dimensions of time, space, and theme.	Response model sets the base scale for aggregation. EWR tool assesses hydrologic indicators (value) at gauges (space) and year (time).	The spatial dimension consists of gauges nested within planning units within the basin. The time dimension assessess EWR performance averaged over the yearly data returned by the EWR tool. The value dimension consists of multiple EWRs (hydrologic indicators) that apply to environmental values (many-to-many), at multiple levels in the causal network (e.g. life-cycle components, species, groups of species, or long-term planning targets).
Comparer	Compares scenarios (typically) or other groupings. Provides standard outputs including comparison methods, plots, and tables.	Comparison of environmental values at various theme scales for the example climate and adaptation scenarios	Explored in detail in figures and tables
Causal networks	Describe causal relationships between values.	Long Term Water Plan (LTWP)	Provided by HydroBOT. LTWP required of Basin States by the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and give effect to the Basin-wide Environmental Watering Strategy.

gt seems to really have a lot of issues here. What if I use divs?

Table 11: This is a table with gt in a div.

texttab |> 
 gt::gt()

General HydroBOT components	Type	General component definitions	Specific components used in our example
Input data	Not part of HydroBOT	Hydrologic data (timeseries). Typically representing multiple scenarios, e.g. climate and climate adaptations. May include other inputs as needed by response models.	Modified historical hydrographs to represent hypothetical climate change and adaptations (45 gauges, 15 scenarios)
Controller	Workflow	Interface between input data, response model, and other toolkit components. Sets up run(s).	Sets up links to data and parameters for EWR tool and aggregations.
Response models	External, integrated	A model of the response of values, e.g. social, cultural, environmental, or economic values in response to hydrologic drivers.	EWR tool
Aggregator	Workflow	Aggregates response model results to scales across the dimensions of time, space, and theme.	Response model sets the base scale for aggregation. EWR tool assesses hydrologic indicators (value) at gauges (space) and year (time).
Comparer	Workflow	Compares scenarios (typically) or other groupings. Provides standard outputs including comparison methods, plots, and tables.	Comparison of environmental values at various theme scales for the example climate and adaptation scenarios
Causal networks	External, integrated	Describe causal relationships between values.	Long Term Water Plan (LTWP)
Spatial data	External, integrated	Describe spatial relationships	Gauge locations, Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDL) units, Murray-Darling Basin

Column widths.

None of those handle column widths with long text. kable smashes the first col, huxtable and gt smash them all.

Based on some github issues, does it work if I just don’t use a label at all?

Gt no label

texttab |> 
 gt::gt()

General HydroBOT components	Type	General component definitions	Specific components used in our example
Input data	Not part of HydroBOT	Hydrologic data (timeseries). Typically representing multiple scenarios, e.g. climate and climate adaptations. May include other inputs as needed by response models.	Modified historical hydrographs to represent hypothetical climate change and adaptations (45 gauges, 15 scenarios)
Controller	Workflow	Interface between input data, response model, and other toolkit components. Sets up run(s).	Sets up links to data and parameters for EWR tool and aggregations.
Response models	External, integrated	A model of the response of values, e.g. social, cultural, environmental, or economic values in response to hydrologic drivers.	EWR tool
Aggregator	Workflow	Aggregates response model results to scales across the dimensions of time, space, and theme.	Response model sets the base scale for aggregation. EWR tool assesses hydrologic indicators (value) at gauges (space) and year (time).
Comparer	Workflow	Compares scenarios (typically) or other groupings. Provides standard outputs including comparison methods, plots, and tables.	Comparison of environmental values at various theme scales for the example climate and adaptation scenarios
Causal networks	External, integrated	Describe causal relationships between values.	Long Term Water Plan (LTWP)
Spatial data	External, integrated	Describe spatial relationships	Gauge locations, Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDL) units, Murray-Darling Basin

Huxtable no label

texttab |> 
  huxtable::huxtable() |> 
  huxtable::theme_article()

General HydroBOT components	Type	General component definitions	Specific components used in our example
Input data	Not part of HydroBOT	Hydrologic data (timeseries). Typically representing multiple scenarios, e.g. climate and climate adaptations. May include other inputs as needed by response models.	Modified historical hydrographs to represent hypothetical climate change and adaptations (45 gauges, 15 scenarios)
Controller	Workflow	Interface between input data, response model, and other toolkit components. Sets up run(s).	Sets up links to data and parameters for EWR tool and aggregations.
Response models	External, integrated	A model of the response of values, e.g. social, cultural, environmental, or economic values in response to hydrologic drivers.	EWR tool
Aggregator	Workflow	Aggregates response model results to scales across the dimensions of time, space, and theme.	Response model sets the base scale for aggregation. EWR tool assesses hydrologic indicators (value) at gauges (space) and year (time).
Comparer	Workflow	Compares scenarios (typically) or other groupings. Provides standard outputs including comparison methods, plots, and tables.	Comparison of environmental values at various theme scales for the example climate and adaptation scenarios
Causal networks	External, integrated	Describe causal relationships between values.	Long Term Water Plan (LTWP)
Spatial data	External, integrated	Describe spatial relationships	Gauge locations, Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDL) units, Murray-Darling Basin

Divs

Flextable struggles in divs. The best we can do is to set width = 1 to at least make all the cols the same width and use the whole space. Though usually what i end up doing is rendering those tables outside a div and pasting in.

texttab |> 
  flextable::flextable() |> 
  flextable::set_table_properties(layout = "autofit", width = 1)

Table 12: This is a flextable in a div with width = 1

General HydroBOT components	Type	General component definitions	Specific components used in our example
Input data	Not part of HydroBOT	Hydrologic data (timeseries). Typically representing multiple scenarios, e.g. climate and climate adaptations. May include other inputs as needed by response models.	Modified historical hydrographs to represent hypothetical climate change and adaptations (45 gauges, 15 scenarios)
Controller	Workflow	Interface between input data, response model, and other toolkit components. Sets up run(s).	Sets up links to data and parameters for EWR tool and aggregations.
Response models	External, integrated	A model of the response of values, e.g. social, cultural, environmental, or economic values in response to hydrologic drivers.	EWR tool
Aggregator	Workflow	Aggregates response model results to scales across the dimensions of time, space, and theme.	Response model sets the base scale for aggregation. EWR tool assesses hydrologic indicators (value) at gauges (space) and year (time).
Comparer	Workflow	Compares scenarios (typically) or other groupings. Provides standard outputs including comparison methods, plots, and tables.	Comparison of environmental values at various theme scales for the example climate and adaptation scenarios
Causal networks	External, integrated	Describe causal relationships between values.	Long Term Water Plan (LTWP)
Spatial data	External, integrated	Describe spatial relationships	Gauge locations, Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDL) units, Murray-Darling Basin

If we don’t set widths, it’s smooshed, even with autofit.

texttab |> 
  flextable::flextable() |> 
  flextable::set_table_properties(layout = "autofit")

Table 13: This is a flextable in a div with width = 1

General HydroBOT components	Type	General component definitions	Specific components used in our example
Input data	Not part of HydroBOT	Hydrologic data (timeseries). Typically representing multiple scenarios, e.g. climate and climate adaptations. May include other inputs as needed by response models.	Modified historical hydrographs to represent hypothetical climate change and adaptations (45 gauges, 15 scenarios)
Controller	Workflow	Interface between input data, response model, and other toolkit components. Sets up run(s).	Sets up links to data and parameters for EWR tool and aggregations.
Response models	External, integrated	A model of the response of values, e.g. social, cultural, environmental, or economic values in response to hydrologic drivers.	EWR tool
Aggregator	Workflow	Aggregates response model results to scales across the dimensions of time, space, and theme.	Response model sets the base scale for aggregation. EWR tool assesses hydrologic indicators (value) at gauges (space) and year (time).
Comparer	Workflow	Compares scenarios (typically) or other groupings. Provides standard outputs including comparison methods, plots, and tables.	Comparison of environmental values at various theme scales for the example climate and adaptation scenarios
Causal networks	External, integrated	Describe causal relationships between values.	Long Term Water Plan (LTWP)
Spatial data	External, integrated	Describe spatial relationships	Gauge locations, Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDL) units, Murray-Darling Basin