Setting table column width

Apologies in advance for the lengthy example below. Suppose I create a two-column table:

>> t=table((1:2)',repmat(1:5,2,1))
t =
  2×2 table
    Var1            Var2         
    ____    _____________________
     1      1    2    3    4    5
     2      1    2    3    4    5

At some point, MATLAB renders the second column in a "compact" format. In this case, this is triggered by adding a sixth element to the arrays in the second column:

>> t=table((1:2)',repmat(1:6,2,1))
t =
  2×2 table
    Var1        Var2    
    ____    ____________
     1      [1×6 double]
     2      [1×6 double]

The same thing happens with chars, for which the magic threshold seems to be 10 characters; beyond that, the "compact" format appears:

>> t=table((1:2)',repmat('abcdefghij',2,1))
t =
  2×2 table
    Var1       Var2   
    ____    __________
     1      abcdefghij
     2      abcdefghij

>> t=table((1:2)',repmat('abcdefghijk',2,1))
t =
  2×2 table
    Var1       Var2    
    ____    ___________
     1      [1×11 char]
     2      [1×11 char]

I'm trying to understand if there is a way to set the width threshold for when this happens. Things I've tried that DO NOT work:

• Setting the header of the second column to an artificially long name:

    >> t=table((1:2)',repmat(1:6,2,1),'VariableNames',{'Short','AVeryLongVariableNameThankYouVeryMuch'})                  

• Using addprop:

    >> t=addprop(t,'ColumnWidth','table');
    >> t.Properties.CustomProperties.ColumnWidth=[30 100]

(and using 'variable' instead of 'table' produces the same output.)

• Setting output numerical output format:

    >> format long e

(and similarly with all the other options I tried with that command.)

I've found a number of posts [1][2][3][4] that ask similar questions, but unless I'm misunderstanding those discussions, none apply here. So is there a way to control the maximum width of table columns?

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

I'm trying to understand if there is a way to set the width threshold for when this happens.

No, there is not. Those limits are hard-coded in near line 33 of @tabular/disp.m

table() objects are not designed as display objects.

[AMM]

Walter, your depth of MATLAB knowledge is truly amazing. I'll just use a bunch of fprintfs. Not as pretty, but it'll work. Thanks.

Answer 2

[John K. George]

>> t=table((1:2)',repmat(1:5,2,1))

Index in position 1 exceeds array bounds (must not exceed 1).

[Walter Roberson]

At some point, you have accidentally created a variable named table or a variable named repmat so instead of table() or repmat() being a function call, the variable is overriding the function and MATLAB is understanding it as an indexing request rather than a function call.

[John K. George]

inadvertently perhaps. How would I resolve this issue - if in fact, this is what has occurred?

[Walter Roberson]

whos table
whos repmat

if one of them shows up as being a variable then clear the variable.

[John K. George]

Walter, thank you for your timely response(s) by the way. Much appreciated. It's working now! I'm actually trying to accomplish two things.

1. The "Select_Sensor" column is currently cut-off at the right.
2. Ideally, I would like the option of three "Categorical" dropdown menus, one for each column.

As it is, only the first column on the left ("Crew1, Crew2,... etc.) has been expanded to include dropdowns. See the attached script.

Answer 3

[John K. George]

Attached reply. I had already tried typing "clear" by the way.