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I am using the huxtable package to create tables in a PDF rendered in bookdown. The table is formatted exactly the way I want it, up until I run the print_md command, after which a border is moved up row from underneath the column names to underneath the header. Also, the header is moved from a centered position to right-aligned. Check it out:

df <- data.frame(
  "colname1" = c("something indicator"),
  "colname2" = "[Something](http://www.overleaf.com)",
  "colname3" = "[Something again](http://www.overleaf.com)")

df <- df %>% 
  as_hux() %>%
      theme_basic() %>% 
      set_tb_padding(2)

df <- df %>% 
  set_contents(1, 2:3, c("colname2", "colname3"))  %>% 
  insert_row("", "Header", "Header", after = 0) %>% 
  merge_cells(1, 2:3) %>% 
  set_align(1, everywhere, "center") %>% 
  set_tb_padding(1, everywhere, 0) %>%
  set_bold(1, everywhere)
df

Which gives: enter image description here

Table is formatted correctly. But. You'll notice that the URLs are not formatted correctly. It should only be showing the part within the brackets, which when clicked will take you to the site in parentheses.

This can be remedied with the following code:

df %>% print_md()

Which gives: enter image description here

Now the URLs look like they should, but the border has erroneously moved up a row, and "Header" is now right-aligned instead of center-aligned. How do I stop that from happening?

mvanaman
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  • Why are you using `print_md()` to print in a PDF anyway? – dash2 Apr 18 '21 at 18:37
  • The [documentation](https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/huxtable/huxtable.pdf) for huxtable indicates that you need markdown to get hyperlink support within a table. You can see in the demonstration in the question that when you render the PDF without using the markdown table format, the hyperlinks do not display properly, because the format the table comes out in is not read as markdown (the `[text](url)` syntax for hyperlinks is markdown, I believe). I thought the demonstration was pretty clear, but let me know otherwise. – mvanaman Apr 19 '21 at 19:16
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    I wrote the documentation... guess I should work some more on it! Using markdown in cells is completely separate from printing the whole table as markdown. When you use markdown in cells, huxtable interprets the markdown itself (and prints out TeX, HTML or whatever). So, use `set_markdown` to have certain cells interpreted as markdown. Then just print the huxtable as normal, e.g. by evaluating it. – dash2 Apr 21 '21 at 11:20
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    Ha! Well now I'm embarrassed. The odds of that...it seems to me like the documentation is solid! Maybe I should have used the word "implied"...I knew those markdown cells needed to be recognized as markdown one way or the other, but I see now my confusion was with the difference between "print" (as in print markdown code) vs "render" (as in interpret markdown code, but print some other format). The way you explained it was clarifying, thank you! – mvanaman Apr 22 '21 at 13:11

1 Answers1

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Don't ask me why it works. But changing print_md() to set_markdown() fixed both the border and alignment problems.

EDIT: I'm adding @dash2's comment to this answer.

The reason print_md() was causing problems is because it converts the table to markdown format, which R Markdown then reads and produces a table from. So some features (alignment) get lost in translation. It'd be better to print the table in the intended output format, be it Latex, HTML or whatever you're using, instead of markdown.

But the cells with markdown hyperlinks need to be respected still - print_md() is just the wrong way to go about it. Instead, use set_markdown(). This will ensure that, within huxtable itself, cells with markdown code are interpreted as markdown before the table is printed. The printed table will then retain the intended format.

Thank you @dash2 for creating such a powerful package!

mvanaman
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