Argthtjtr

I have this code which is the beginning part of a big table.

begin{table}[H]

  begin{tabularx}{textwidth}{XXXXXXXXXXXX}

  hline

  multicolumn{1}{|X|}{} & multicolumn{1}{X|}{Shaft Diameter} & multicolumn{1}{X|}{Max Torque} & 

  multicolumn{1}{X|}{Outer Flange Diameter} & multicolumn{1}{X|}{Flange Base Depth} & multicolumn{1}{X|}{Inner Flange Diameter} & multicolumn{1}{X|}{Flange Boss Depth} & multicolumn{1}{X|}{Pitch Centre Diameter} & multicolumn{1}{X|}{Number of Holes} & multicolumn{1}{X|}{Hole Diameter} & multicolumn{1}{X|}{Key Way Width} & multicolumn{1}{X|}{Key Way Depth} \

  hline

However, even though the headings are wrapped, they aren't being displayed nicely. Anyway fix for that please?

There's no way you can accommodate those long headers in such narrow columns. Hyphenating them is not the solution, because they become utterly unreadable.

You might rotate the headers and make them smaller, but this is much of a “last resort”.

documentclass{article}

usepackage{tabularx,graphicx}



newcommand{mh}[1]{%

  multicolumn{1}{c|}{%

    makebox[0pt]{%

      rotatebox[origin=cl]{90}{%

        footnotesizebegin{tabular}{@{}l}#1end{tabular}%

      }%

    }%

  }%

}



begin{document}



noindent

begin{tabularx}{textwidth}{|X|*{11}{>{raggedleftarraybackslash}X|}}

hline

  & mh{Shaft Diameter} & mh{Max Torque} & 

  mh{Outer Flange \ Diameter} & mh{Flange Base \ Depth} &

  mh{Inner Flange \ Diameter} & mh{Flange Boss \ Depth} &

  mh{Pitch Centre \ Diameter} & mh{Number of Holes} &

  mh{Hole Diameter} & mh{Key Way Width} & mh{Key Way Depth} \

  hline

a & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 & 9 & 10 & 11 \

hline

end{tabularx}



end{document}

However, I'd go for an “indexed” format.

documentclass{article}

usepackage{tabularx,booktabs}



newcommand{mh}[1]{multicolumn{1}{c}{(#1)}}

newcommand{mhd}[2]{mbox{(#1): #2}}



begin{document}



noindent

begin{tabularx}{textwidth}{X*{11}{>{raggedleftarraybackslash}X}}

toprule

  & mh{1} & mh{2} & mh{3} & mh{4} & mh{5} & mh{6}

  & mh{7} & mh{8} & mh{9} & mh{10} & mh{11} \

midrule

a & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 & 9 & 10 & 11 \

a & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 & 9 & 10 & 11 \

a & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 & 9 & 10 & 11 \

bottomrule

end{tabularx}



medskip

{footnotesizeraggedright

mhd{1}{Shaft Diameter};

mhd{2}{Max Torque};

mhd{3}{Outer Flange Diameter};

mhd{4}{Flange Base Depth};

mhd{5}{Inner Flange Diameter};

mhd{6}{Flange Boss Depth};

mhd{7}{Pitch Centre Diameter};

mhd{8}{Number of Holes};

mhd{9}{Hole Diameter};

mhd{10}{Key Way Width};

mhd{11}{Key Way Depth}.\}



end{document}

Given that the table has a header column and eleven [11!] data columns, it's almost certainly necessary to typeset the table in landscape format. One way to do so is to employ a sidewaystable environment, provided by the rotating package, instead of a table environment.

Note that if you use the X column type for the data columns, it's not necessary to encase the header cells in multicolumn{1}{X|}{...} "wrappers".

documentclass{article} % choose an appropriate document class

usepackage[a4paper,margin=2.5cm]{geometry} % select suitable page parameters

usepackage[english]{babel} % load language-appropriate hyphenation patterns

usepackage{rotating} % for 'sidewaystable' env.

usepackage{tabularx} % for 'tabularx' env. and 'X' col. type

usepackage{ragged2e} % for 'Centering' macro

newcolumntype{C}{>{Centeringarraybackslashhspace{0pt}}X}



begin{document}

  begin{sidewaystable}

  setlengthtabcolsep{3pt}      % default: 6pt

  setlengthextrarowheight{2pt} % for a slightly more open "look"

  begin{tabularx}{textwidth}{|*{12}{C|}}

  hline

                    & Shaft Diameter & 

  Max Torque        & Outer Flange Diameter & 

  Flange Base Depth & Inner Flange Diameter & 

  Flange Boss Depth & Pitch Centre Diameter & 

  Number of Holes   & Hole Diameter & 

  Key Way Width     & Key Way Depth \

  hline

  end{tabularx}

  end{sidewaystable}

end{document}