Making a table in python

Question

I'm trying to make a table in python which I can put into a report I'm writing in LaTeX . I've tried to use matplotlib to do this but I get the following... enter image description here

If anyone has any idea how I can fix my code, or if theres a better approach I'd be grateful. Here's the code I'm using to generate this:

columns=('Temporary ID','ID')
tabledata=[]
for i in range(0,len(ID_mod)):
    tabledata.append([ID_mod[i],sort_ID2[i]])
plt.figure()
plt.table(cellText=tabledata,colLabels=columns)
plt.savefig('table.png')

I've just realised that the plt.table command is adding the table to an axis. I now have absolutely no idea how to go about producing the table I'm after — blablabla, Mar 30 '15 at 12:49
You should use a GUI library such as tkinter or pyside. There are plenty of question on this topic already when you search for those libraries. From personal experience Pyside and PyQt (which both use the QT framework) have table widgets which are relatively easy to use. — NDevox, Mar 30 '15 at 12:55
Have you looked at [this example](http://matplotlib.org/1.4.3/examples/pylab_examples/table_demo.html)? — fhdrsdg, Mar 30 '15 at 13:12
possible duplicate of [Creating tables in matplotlib](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17232683/creating-tables-in-matplotlib) or [Create Table in subplot](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/28681782/create-table-in-subplot) — Schorsch, Mar 30 '15 at 14:02

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 30 '15 at 13:10

2

I would highly recommend using LaTeX's built in table support instead. There are many options to beautify the tables as well, such as the booktabs package. More info and options here

answered Mar 30 '15 at 13:10

WakkaDojo

431
3
7

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 30 '15 at 18:19

The following are some simple example functions for generating LaTeX tables;

In [1]: %cpaste
Pasting code; enter '--' alone on the line to stop or use Ctrl-D.
:def header(align, caption, label=None, pos='!htbp'):
:    """
:    Return the start for a standard table LaTeX environment that contains a
:    tabular environment.
:
:    Arguments:
:    align -- a string containing the LaTeX alignment directives for the columns.
:    caption -- a string containing the caption for the table.
:    label -- an optional label. The LaTeX label will be tb:+label.
:    pos -- positioning string for the table
:    """
:    rs =  r'\begin{table}['+pos+']\n'
:    rs +=  '  \\centering\n'
:    if label:
:        rs += r'  \caption{\label{tb:'+str(label)+r'}'+caption+r'}'+'\n'
:    else:
:        rs += r'  \caption{'+caption+r'}'+'\n'
:    rs += r'  \begin{tabular}{'+align+r'}'
:    return rs
:
:def footer():
:    """
:    Return the end for a standard table LaTeX environment that contains a
:    tabular environment.
:    """
:    rs =  r'  \end{tabular}'+'\n'
:    rs += r'\end{table}'
:    return rs
:
:def line(*args):
:    """
:    Return the arguments as a line in the table, properly serparated and
:    closed with a double backslash.
:    """
:    rs = '  '
:    sep = r' & '
:    for n in args:
:        rs += str(n)+sep
:    rs = rs[:-len(sep)]+r'\\'
:    return rs
:--

If you print the output of the functions, you'll see it is LaTeX code;

In [2]: print(header('rr', 'Test table'))
\begin{table}[!htbp]
  \centering
  \caption{Test table}
  \begin{tabular}{rr}

In [3]: print(line('First', 'Second'))
  First & Second\\

In [4]: print(line(12, 27))
  12 & 27\\

In [5]: print(line(31, 9))
  31 & 9\\

In [6]: print(footer())
  \end{tabular}
\end{table}

Running the same code, but without printing the returned values;

In [7]: header('rr', 'Test table')
Out[7]: '\\begin{table}[!htbp]\n  \\centering\n  \\caption{Test table}\n  \\begin{tabular}{rr}'

In [8]: line('First', 'Second')
Out[8]: '  First & Second\\\\'

In [9]: line(12, 27)
Out[9]: '  12 & 27\\\\'

In [10]: line(31, 9)
Out[10]: '  31 & 9\\\\'

In [11]: footer()
Out[11]: '  \\end{tabular}\n\\end{table}'

Write the ouptut of these functions to a file, and use the \input mechanisn in LaTeX to include it in your main LaTeX file.

Making a table in python

2 Answers2