Table headers top aligned instead of bottom aligned

[frederik-elwert]

The change in #6883 leads to nicer output, but it has a side-effect that might be undesired (or at least unexpected for users): Previously, the minipage for table header cells would use a bottom vertical alignment [b] (while using top vertical alignment [t] for regular cells):

+----------------------------+---------------------------------------+----------------------------+
| A                          | B                                     | A                          |
+============================+=======================================+============================+
| sdasdasda                  | asdasdasdasd                          | sdasdasda                  |
|                            |                                       |                            |
+----------------------------+---------------------------------------+----------------------------+

Table: Title

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lll@{}}
\caption{Title}\tabularnewline
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.27\columnwidth}\raggedright
A\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.37\columnwidth}\raggedright
B\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.27\columnwidth}\raggedright
A\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endfirsthead
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.27\columnwidth}\raggedright
A\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.37\columnwidth}\raggedright
B\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.27\columnwidth}\raggedright
A\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.27\columnwidth}\raggedright
sdasdasda\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.37\columnwidth}\raggedright
asdasdasdasd\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.27\columnwidth}\raggedright
sdasdasda\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

The new output no longer produces minipages in most cases. However, this changes the alignment of table header cells from bottom to top.

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}
  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 4\tabcolsep) * \real{0.30}}
  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 4\tabcolsep) * \real{0.41}}
  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 4\tabcolsep) * \real{0.30}}@{}}
\caption{Title}\tabularnewline
\toprule
A & B & A \\
\midrule
\endfirsthead
\toprule
A & B & A \\
\midrule
\endhead
sdasdasda & asdasdasdasd & sdasdasda \\
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

In my personal opinion, the previous behaviour leads to nicer output. But more importantly, the change alters the output in an unexpected way.

From what I understood, pandoc still uses minipages where necessary. Would it be possible to output minipages also for table headers and restore the previous behaviour of bottom alignment?

[jgm]

Is there way a way to get bottom alignment without using minipages?

[jgm]

I think it might work to enclose the contents of each heading cell in a \vbox{...}.
EDIT: No, it doesn't.

Question: is bottom alignment or center (vertical) alignment better? The latter is default for HTML headers.

[frederik-elwert]

For me, \vbox actually did the trick:

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}
  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.20}}
  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.15}}
  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.15}}
  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.50}}@{}}
\caption{A test table \label{tbl:tab1}}\tabularnewline
\toprule
\vbox{\textsc{Auspicious Statue/deities}} & \vbox{\textsc{Moved from}} & \vbox{\textsc{Moved
to/resides in}} & \vbox{\textsc{Sources/remarks}} \\
\midrule
\endfirsthead
\toprule
\vbox{\textsc{Auspicious Statue/deities}} & \vbox{\textsc{Moved from}} & \vbox{\textsc{Moved
to/resides in}} & \vbox{\textsc{Sources/remarks}} \\
\midrule
\endhead
\end{longtable}

What issues did you notice?

Similarly, \vcenter should work for vertical centering, but it complained about missing $ in my case.

I actually think bottom alignment is nice, but I see that some people prefer vertical centering. My idea was mainly to restore the previous behaviour.

[jgm]

\vbox fails when the content gets longer.
(the cells become too wide)

[frederik-elwert]

Oh, yes, I see. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find an easier non-minipage solution. (Some seem to use a fake one-cell \multicolumn, but that also didn’t work for me.)

Are there major problems with minipage in this case? (I agree the current code is simpler/prettier, but it’s also a significant change in behaviour.)

[jgm]

I don't think there's a big problem using minipage.
That's probably the thing to do if there is no alternative.