Create a simple table with borders

Visually clarify table boundaries: Thick horizontal lines $1a$ ; Thick frame $1c$
Visually clarify column titles and row titles: Thin border line $1a, 1b$ ; Left-aligned row title $1b, 1c$ ; Bold font $1c$
Apply border pattern: Inner gridlines $1c$
See source examples: Create a simple table with borders

minimal 45.svg

\documentclass{article}
 
\usepackage{pgfplotstable}
 
\begin{document}
 
% Original data
\pgfplotstableread{
    0.0     75.9638
    0.380665    206.565
    0.58711     243.435
    0.793555    333.435
}\data
 
% Get column names
\pgfplotstablegetcolumnnamebyindex{0}\of{\data}\to{\firstcolumnname}
\pgfplotstablegetcolumnnamebyindex{1}\of{\data}\to{\secondcolumnname}
 
% Retrieve desired element
\pgfplotstablegetelem{1}{[index]1}\of\data
 
% Perform calculation, save to \result
\pgfmathsetmacro\result{\pgfplotsretval + 360}
 
% Assemble new line
\edef\createsumrow{\noexpand\pgfplotstableread[header=has colnames,col sep=comma,row sep=crcr]{
    \firstcolumnname,\secondcolumnname\noexpand\\
    1.0,\result\noexpand\\
}\sum}
\createsumrow
 
% Concatenate
\pgfplotstablevertcat{\data}{\sum}
 
% Output
\pgfplotstabletypeset{\data}
 
\end{document}

Formatting - Create table styles and apply them across your document

Center
Hlines
Grid
Environments
Colors
Dashed line every 5th row

Key Managment

Key Management - PGF/TikZ Manual

full key (similar to absolute path): starts with a / slash like /pgf/table/a
partial key (similar to relative path): doesn’t start with a / slash like a
handler (like hidden files): start with a . dot like .code

Handlers

change directory .cd like \pgfkeys{/pgf/table/.cd, a=}
quote link key (similar to soft link)
use a macros value .expand once= .expand twice .expanded
calculate .evaluated
pass on /.forward to

Debug

show value .show value
show code .show code
execute as key’s code /utils/exec=⟨code⟩

Set key

\pgfkeys{/my key/.code=The value is '#1'.} % Create key
\pgfkeys{/my key=hi!} % Set key

Get key

\pgfkeys{/my key/.initial=red}
\pgfkeys{/my key=blue}
\pgfkeys{/my key/.get=\mymacro}
\mymacro

\pgfkeys{
  /a/.code=(a:#1),
  /b/.code=(b:#1),
  /b/.forward to=/a,
  /c/.forward to=/a
}
\pgfkeys{/b=1} \pgfkeys{/c=2}

output: (b:1)(a:1) (a:2)

How

pgf keys for pgfplotstable styles
tabulararray for better spacing
tabularray interface 1 for pgf code injection
no bookstabs because bad borders

Inspiration

Syntax

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{yetenol-styles}
\pgfplotstableset{⟨globally applied styles⟩}
\begin{document}
 
\pgfplotstabletypeset[⟨individual styles⟩]{⟨input file or table cells⟩}
 
\end{document}

simple table.svg csv alternate table.svg
minimal 2.svg

Examples

import the file yetenol-styles.sty for the required style definitions

Code in table

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{cc}
    Special & \verb`\abc{}$&^_^uvw 123` \\
    Spacing & \verb`\bfseries\ \#\%` \\
    Nesting & \verb`$\left\\\{A\right.$\#`
\end{tabular}
\end{document}

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tabularray,codehigh}
\begin{document}
\begin{tblr}{hlines}
    Special & \fakeverb{\abc{}$&^_^uvw 123} \\
    Spacing & \fakeverb{\bfseries\ \#\%} \\
    Nesting & \fbox{\fakeverb{$\left\\\{A\right.$\#}}
\end{tblr}
\end{document}

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfplotstable,listings,filecontents}
\pgfplotstableset{
    /pgfplots/compat = 1.17,
    mixedtable/.style = {col sep = &, row sep = newline, string type},
}
\lstset{
morecomment=[is]\~\%,
}
\begin{document}
\begin{filecontents}{table.tex}
~ x & y %\abc{}$&^_^uvw 123
~ langer text & 2 %\bfseries\ \#\%
~ 3 & 4 %
~ 5 & 6 %$\left\\\{A\right.$\#
\end{filecontents}
\begin{minipage}{0.5\textwidth}
\raggedleft
\pgfplotstabletypeset[mixedtable]{table.tex}
\end{minipage}
% \hfill
\begin{minipage}{0.5\textwidth}
\raggedright
\begin{lstinputlisting}[firstline=5]{table.tex}
\end{lstinputlisting}
\end{minipage}
 
\end{document}

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,array,longtable,booktabs}
\begin{document}
\begin{longtable}[]{@{}ll@{}}
    \toprule\noalign{}
    Command & Rendering \\
    \midrule\noalign{}
    \endhead
    \bottomrule\noalign{}
    \endlastfoot
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}lnot} & \(\lnot\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}land} & \(\land\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}lor} & \(\lor\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}to} & \(\to\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}gets} & \(\gets\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}iff} & \(\iff\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}implies} & \(\implies\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}impliedby} & \(\impliedby\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}mathbb\{R\}} & \(\mathbb{R}\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}approx} & \(\approx\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}subseteq} & \(\subseteq\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}supseteq} & \(\supseteq\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}setminus} & \(\setminus\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}times} & \(\times\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}leq} & \(\leq\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}geq} & \(\geq\) \\
    \texttt{\textbackslash{}cap} & \(\cap\) \\
    \end{longtable}
\end{document}

Create a simple table

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfplotstable}
\pgfplotstableset{
    /pgfplots/compat = 1.17,
    tabular/.style = {col sep = &, row sep = \\, string type},
}
\begin{document}
\pgfplotstabletypeset[tabular]{
    Name & Identifier \\
    Carl & 3 \\
    Peter & 7 \\
    Lara & 1 \\
}
\end{document}

minimal 5.svg

Create a center aligned table with horizontal lines around the header and at the end of the table

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,pgfplotstable}
\pgfplotstableset{
    /pgfplots/compat = 1.17,
    tabular/.style = {col sep = &, row sep = \\, string type},
    centering/.style = {
        begin table/.add = {\parskip=0pt\par\nopagebreak\centering{}}{},
        end table/.add = {}{\par\noindent\ignorespacesafterend{}},
    },
    hlines/.style = {
        every head row/.style = {before row = \hline, after row = \hline},
        every last row/.style = {after row = \hline},
    },
}
\begin{document}
\pgfplotstabletypeset[tabular,centering,hlines]{
    Name & Identifier \\
    Carl & 3 \\
    Peter & 7 \\
    Lara & 1 \\
}
\end{document}

simple table.svg

Generate a table from a csv-spreadsheet (comma separated values)

requires data.csv

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,pgfplotstable}
\pgfplotstableset{
    /pgfplots/compat = 1.17,
    csv/.style = {col sep = comma, row sep = newline, numeric type},
}
\begin{document}
\pgfplotstabletypeset[csv]{resources/data.csv}
\end{document}

minimal 14.svg

Generate a table from a csv file and color every other row

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{yetenol-styles}
\pgfplotstableset{booktabs,center,alternate}
\begin{document}
 
\pgfplotstabletypeset[csv]{resources/data.csv}
 
\end{document}

csv alternate table.svg

Add a table caption and a label for cross references

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,pgfplotstable,tabularray,float,hyperref}
\hypersetup{colorlinks=true, linkcolor=blue}
\pgfplotstableset{
    /pgfplots/compat = 1.17,
    tabular/.style = {col sep = &, row sep = \\, string type},
    tblr/.style = {begin table = \begin{tblr}, end table = \end{tblr}},
    hlines/.style = {
        every head row/.style = {before row = \hline, after row = \hline},
        every last row/.style = {after row = \hline},
    },
    centering/.style = {
        begin table/.add = {\parskip=0pt\par\nopagebreak\centering{}}{},
        end table/.add = {}{\par\noindent\ignorespacesafterend{}},
    }
}
\begin{document}
Each person gets assigned a number listed in table \ref{tab:identifiers} on page \pageref{tab:identifiers}.
\begin{table}[H]
\pgfplotstabletypeset[tabular,tblr,centering,hlines]{
    Name & Identifier \\
    Carl & 3 \\
    Peter & 7 \\
    Lara & 1 \\
}\caption{People's identifiers}\label{tab:identifiers}
\end{table}
\end{document}

minimal 9.svg

Use german number seperator $3, 1416$ and align at exponent in scientific representation $\cdot 1 0^{n}$

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,pgfplotstable,booktabs}
\pgfplotstableset{
    /pgfplots/compat = 1.17,
    csv/.style = {col sep = comma, row sep = newline, numeric type},
    hlines2/.style = {
        every head row/.style = {before row = \toprule, after row = \midrule},
        every last row/.style = {after row = \bottomrule},
    },
    german/.style = {dec sep={,\!}, 1000 sep ={\,}},
}
\begin{document}
\pgfplotstabletypeset[csv,hlines2,german,sci sep align]{resources/data.csv}
\end{document}

minimal 11.svg

Allow table to split across multiple pages

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,pgfplotstable,longtable,booktabs}
\pgfplotstableset{
    /pgfplots/compat = 1.17,
    csv/.style = {col sep = comma, row sep = newline, numeric type},
    hlines2/.style = {
        every head row/.style = {before row = \toprule, after row = \midrule},
        every last row/.style = {after row = \bottomrule},
    },
    longtable/.style = {
        begin table = \begin{longtable},
        end table = \end{longtable},
        every head row/.append style = {
            after row/.append = \endhead
        }
    },
}
\begin{document}
\,\vspace{15cm} % Force table to split
\pgfplotstabletypeset[csv,hlines2,longtable]{resources/data.csv}
\end{document}

longtable combined.svg

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{yetenol-styles}
\pgfplotstableset{booktabs,center}
\begin{document}
 
Each person gets assigned a number listed in table \ref{tab:identifiers} on page \pageref{tab:identifiers}.
 
\begin{table}\pgfplotstabletypeset[tabular]{
    Name & Identifier \\
    Carl & 3 \\
    Peter & 7 \\
    Lara & 1 \\
}\caption{People's identifiers}\label{tab:identifiers}
\end{table}
 
\end{document}

caption label table.svg

Use german number seperator $3, 1416$ and align at exponent in scientific representation $\cdot 1 0^{n}$

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{yetenol-styles}
\pgfplotstableset{booktabs,center,german,sci sep align}
\begin{document}
 
\pgfplotstabletypeset[csv]{resources/data.csv}
 
\end{document}

german scisepalign table.svg

Allow table to split across multiple pages

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{yetenol-styles}
\pgfplotstableset{booktabs,center}
\begin{document}
\,\vspace{15cm} % Force table to split
 
\pgfplotstabletypeset[csv,longtable]{resources/data.csv}
 
\end{document}

longtable combined.svg

Hlines like bookstabs

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,pgfplotstable,booktabs}
\pgfplotstableset{
    /pgfplots/compat = 1.17,
    tabular/.style = {col sep = &, row sep = \\, string type},
    hlines2/.style = {
        every head row/.style = {before row = \toprule, after row = \midrule},
        every last row/.style = {after row = \bottomrule},
    },
}
\begin{document}
\pgfplotstabletypeset[tabular,hlines2]{
    Column 1 & Column 2 & Column 3 \\
    Data 1 & 10 & 20.5 \\
    Data 2 & 15 & 30.7 \\
    Data 3 & 20 & 40.9 \\
    Data 4 & 25 & 50.1 \\
}
\end{document}

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,pgfplotstable,tabularray}
\pgfplotstableset{
    /pgfplots/compat = 1.17,
    tabular/.style = {col sep = &, row sep = \\, string type},
    tabularray/.style = {begin table = \begin{tblr}, end table = \end{tblr}},
    hlines/.style = {
        every head row/.style = {before row = \hline, after row = \hline},
        every last row/.style = {after row = \hline},
    },
}
\begin{document}
\pgfplotstabletypeset[tabular,tabularray,hlines]{
    Column 1 & Column 2 & Column 3 \\
    Data 1 & 10 & 20.5 \\
    Data 2 & 15 & 30.7 \\
    Data 3 & 20 & 40.9 \\
    Data 4 & 25 & 50.1 \\
}
\end{document}

minimal 1.svg

Vlines and hlines

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,pgfplotstable,tabularray,booktabs}
\pgfplotstableset{
    /pgfplots/compat = 1.17,
    tabular/.style = {col sep = &, row sep = \\, string type},
    tabularray/.style = {begin table = \begin{tblr}, end table = \end{tblr}},
    hlines/.style = {
        every head row/.style = {before row = \hline, after row = \hline},
        every last row/.style = {after row = \hline},
    },
    vline/.style = {every first column/.style = {column type=l|,string type}},
}
\begin{document}
\pgfplotstabletypeset[tabular,tabularray,hlines,vline]{
    Column 1 & Column 2 & Column 3 \\
    Data 1 & 10 & 20.5 \\
    Data 2 & 15 & 30.7 \\
    Data 3 & 20 & 40.9 \\
    Data 4 & 25 & 50.1 \\
}
\end{document}

minimal 2.svg

Shade every second row

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,pgfplotstable,tabularray,xcolor}
\pgfplotstableset{
    /pgfplots/compat = 1.17,
    tabular/.style = {col sep = &, row sep = \\, string type},
    tabularray/.style = {begin table = \begin{tblr}, end table = \end{tblr}},
    hlines/.style = {
        every head row/.style = {before row = \hline, after row = \hline},
        every last row/.style = {after row = \hline},
    },
    hshade/.style = {every even row/.style = {before row = {\SetRow{gray9}}}},
}
\begin{document}
\pgfplotstabletypeset[tabular,tabularray,hlines,hshade]{
    Column 1 & Column 2 & Column 3 \\
    Data 1 & 10 & 20.5 \\
    Data 2 & 15 & 30.7 \\
    Data 3 & 20 & 40.9 \\
    Data 4 & 25 & 50.1 \\
}
\end{document}

minimal 3.svg

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,pgfplotstable,booktabs,colortbl}
\pgfplotstableset{
    /pgfplots/compat = 1.17,
    tabular/.style = {col sep = &, row sep = \\, string type},
    tabularray/.style = {begin table = \begin{tblr}, end table = \end{tblr}},
    hlines2/.style = {
        every head row/.style = {before row = \toprule, after row = \midrule},
        every last row/.style = {after row = \bottomrule},
    },
    hshade2/.style = {every even row/.style = {before row = {\rowcolor[gray]{0.9}}}},
}
\begin{document}
\pgfplotstabletypeset[tabular,hlines2,hshade2]{
    Column 1 & Column 2 & Column 3 \\
    Data 1 & 10 & 20.5 \\
    Data 2 & 15 & 30.7 \\
    Data 3 & 20 & 40.9 \\
    Data 4 & 25 & 50.1 \\
}
\end{document}

minimal 4.svg

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{}

\pgfplotstabletypeset{
$z$      & 0                       & 4                                 & 12                       \\
$p_Z(z)$ & $p_X(0) = \dfrac{1}{6}$ & $p_X(-4) + p_X(4) = \dfrac{1}{2}$ & $p_X(12) = \dfrac{1}{3}$ \\
}

\NeedsTeXFormat{LaTeX2e}
\ProvidesPackage{yetenol-styles}[]
\RequirePackage{pgfplotstable} 
\RequirePackage{booktabs}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.17}
\RequirePackage{float} % By default place tables at precisely their location in the code
\floatplacement{table}{H}
\RequirePackage{booktabs} % Horizontal lines around table and header
\pgfplotstableset{
    booktabs/.style = {
        every head row/.style = {
            before row = \toprule, 
            after row = \midrule
        },
        every last row/.style = {
            after row = \bottomrule
        },
    },
}
\pgfplotstableset{
    center/.style = { % Horizontally align the table in the center of the page
        begin table/.add = {\parskip=0pt\par\nopagebreak\centering{}}{},
        end table/.add = {}{\par\noindent\ignorespacesafterend{}},
    },
    tabular/.style = { % Read default tabular values
        col sep = &, 
        row sep = \\,  
        string type,
    },
    csv/.style = { % Read comma seperated values
        col sep = comma,
        row sep = newline,
    },
    german/.style = { % Use german number seperators
        dec sep={,\!}, 
        1000 sep ={\,},
    },
    hasrowname/.style={
        every first column/.style={
            column type=l|,
            string type,
        },
    },
    noheader/.style = {
        header = false, % don't detect header
        every head row/.style={output empty row},  % removes the automatic header
         every last row/.style = {
            after row = {} % clear bottom line
        },
    },
}
\RequirePackage{colortbl} % Color every other row
\pgfplotstableset{
    alternate/.style = {
        every even row/.style= {
            before row={\rowcolor[gray]{0.9}}
        },
    },
}
\RequirePackage{longtable} % Allow table to split across multiple pages
\pgfplotstableset{
    longtable/.style = {
        begin table = \begin{longtable},
        end table = \end{longtable},
        every head row/.append style = {
            after row/.append = \endhead
        }
    },
}
\RequirePackage{tabularray}
\pgfplotstableset{
    tabularray/.style = {
        begin table = \begin{tblr},
        end table = \end{tblr},
        every head row/.style = {
            before row = \hline, 
            after row = \hline
        },
        every last row/.style = {
            after row = \hline
        },
        % every head row/.style = {
        %     before row = \toprule, 
        %     after row = \midrule
        % },
        % every last row/.style = {
        %     after row = \bottomrule
        % },
    },
}

Add custom styling

add overleaf style to replace default middle column type to be still use Overleaf’s visual table editor

\newcolumntype{m}[1]{>{\begin{pgfplotstablecoltype}[#1]}r<{\end{pgfplotstablecoltype}}}

empty cells with={--},
Index | PgfplotsTable Manual
5.3 A summary of how to define and use styles and keys | PgfplotsTable Manual
TikZ & PGF Manual

Styling setup

Manually add the file yetenol-styles.sty

\NeedsTeXFormat{LaTeX2e}
\ProvidesPackage{yetenol-styles}[]
\RequirePackage{pgfplotstable} 
\RequirePackage{booktabs}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.17}
\RequirePackage{float} % By default place tables at precisely their location in the code
\floatplacement{table}{H}
\RequirePackage{booktabs} % Horizontal lines around table and header
\pgfplotstableset{
    booktabs/.style = {
        every head row/.style = {
            before row = \toprule, 
            after row = \midrule
        },
        every last row/.style = {
            after row = \bottomrule
        },
    },
}
\pgfplotstableset{
    center/.style = { % Horizontally align the table in the center of the page
        begin table/.add = {\parskip=0pt\par\nopagebreak\centering{}}{},
        end table/.add = {}{\par\noindent\ignorespacesafterend{}},
    },
    tabular/.style = { % Read default tabular values
        col sep = &, 
        row sep = \\,  
        string type,
    },
    csv/.style = { % Read comma seperated values
        col sep = comma,
        row sep = newline,
    },
    german/.style = { % Use german number seperators
        dec sep={,\!}, 
        1000 sep ={\,},
    },
}
\RequirePackage{colortbl} % Color every other row
\pgfplotstableset{
    alternate/.style = {
        every even row/.style= {
            before row={\rowcolor[gray]{0.9}}
        },
    },
}
\RequirePackage{longtable} % Allow table to split across multiple pages
\pgfplotstableset{
    longtable/.style = {
        begin table = \begin{longtable},
        end table = \end{longtable},
        every head row/.append style = {
            after row/.append = \endhead
        }
    },
}

Example files

Add a comma-seperated spreadsheet to resources/data.csv

# Convergence results
# fictional source generated 2008
level,dof,$e_1$,$e_2$,info,{a,b},quot(error1)
1,9,2.50000000e-01,7.57858283e-01,48,0,0
2,25,6.25000000e-02,5.00000000e-01,25,-1.35691545e+00,4
3,81,1.56250000e-02,2.87174589e-01,41,-1.17924958e+00,4
4,289,3.90625000e-03,1.43587294e-01,8,-1.08987331e+00,4
5,1089,9.76562500e-04,4.41941738e-02,22,-1.04500712e+00,4
6,4225,2.44140625e-04,1.69802322e-02,46,-1.02252239e+00,4
7,16641,6.10351562e-05,8.20091159e-03,40,-1.01126607e+00,4
8,66049,1.52587891e-05,3.90625000e-03,48,-1.00563427e+00,3.99999999e+00
9,263169,3.81469727e-06,1.95312500e-03,33,-1.00281745e+00,4.00000001e+00
10,1050625,9.53674316e-07,9.76562500e-04,2,-1.00140880e+00,4.00000001e+00

Longtblr

\documentclass{article}
\pagestyle{empty}
\newcommand{\anton}{5}
\usepackage{pgfplotstable,tabularray,amsmath,amssymb,multicol}
\UseTblrLibrary{booktabs}\SetTblrInner{column{1,Z}={c}}
\pgfplotstableset{
    /pgfplots/compat = 1.17,
    tabular/.style = {col sep = &, row sep = \\, string type},    tblr/.style = {begin table = \begin{tblr}, end table = \end{tblr}},
    longtblr/.style = {begin table = \begin{longtblr}{}, end table = \end{longtblr}, skip coltypes},
    tabular/.style = {col sep = &, row sep = \\, string type},
    hlines/.style={every table/.append code=\SetTblrInner{
        hline{1,Z}={\heavyrulewidth},hline{2}={\lightrulewidth} }},
    dash3rd/.style = {every nth row = {3}{before row = \hline[dashed]}},
    splitonce/.style = {every row no 4/.style = {after row = \pagebreak}},
    every last column/.style = {column name = {\pgfmathsetmacro{\halfrows}{int((\pgfplotstablerows-1)/2)}\halfrows},%
        postproc cell content/.append style={%
    /pgfplots/table/@cell content/.add={}{\pgfplotstablerows}}},
    every table/.append code=\SetTblrInner{ row{\pgfplotstablerows}={font=\bfseries} }
}
\begin{document}
\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}
\begin{multicols}{2}
\pgfplotstabletypeset[tabular,longtblr,hlines,splitonce]{
    Header 1 & Header 2 & Header 3 \\
    Row 1 & Data & Data \\
    Row 2 & Data & Data \\
    Row 3 & Data & Data \\
    Row 4 & Data & Data \\
    Row 5 & Data & Data \\
    Row 6 & Data & Data \\
    Row 7 & Data & Data \\
    Row 8 & Data & Data \\
    Row 9 & Data & Data \\
    Row 10 & Data & Data \\
    } 
\end{multicols}
\end{minipage}
\end{document}

Alternatives

\documentclass{paper}
\begin{document}
 
\begin{table}[h]
    \centering
    \begin{tabular}{cc}
         Name & Identifier \\
         \hline
        Carl & 3 \\
        Peter & 7 \\
        Lara & 1 \\    
    \end{tabular}
    \caption{\centering Each person gets an identifier}
    \label{tab:identifier2}
\end{table}
 
\end{document}

Anton's Digital Garden

Table of Contents

More table examples, mainly pgfplotstable