Prevent Quarto from wrapping LaTeX code in a table environment

[vincentarelbundock]

Description

Hi everyone,

How can I stop Quarto from enclosing LaTeX code in a table environment when using the tbl-cap and label chunk options?

Background: I maintain a package to create tables in R. My users want to use tbl-cap and label chunk options to specify captions and labels in consistent fashion across output formats.

This works well in HTML and markdown formats. For LaTeX, however, Quarto automatically wraps the code in a floating table environment. This breaks my package LaTeX code, which relies on the tabularray package to produce "long" tables that cannot be included in a floating environment like table.

I would like to retrieve the value of chunk options and process those internally in my package. The retrieval can be done easily with knitr::opts_current$get(). All I am missing is a way to prevent Quarto wrapping.

Thanks!

Example:

---
title: "Example"
format: 
   html: default
    pdf:
        keep-tex: true
---

@tbl-iris says...

```{r}
#| tbl-cap: Blah blah
#| label: tbl-iris

library(tinytable)

knitr::opts_current$get("tbl-cap")

knitr::opts_current$get("label")

tt(iris) |> theme_tt("multipage")
```

[mcanouil]

I don't think you can do that and keep your table being a cross-reference at the same time.
Maybe (did not try) using the fenced div syntax instead of using code cell options.
(Cc @cscheid )

[mcanouil]

@tbl-example -> \ref{tbl-example}

That's Pandoc.

And to not insert the code in a \begin{table} environment.

That's because you used label: tbl-*.
It's a Quarto feature.
Unfortunately, here you want this feature to behave differently on computed content, which I don't think is really doable.
So, I'm afraid, if you want the cross-reference feature and use your R package, you'll have to use conditional content and reusable code cells, to use the feature for non LaTeX format, and handle yourself this for LaTeX format.

[cderv]

@tbl-example -> \ref{tbl-example}

That's Pandoc.

@mcanouil what do you mean ? I don't think pandoc convert this type of reference - it does only for citation. Quarto is the one outputting raw LaTeX here as part of crossref feature IMO.

That's because you used label: tbl-*.

Yes currently tbl- prefixed label trigger the cross-reference system, and I don't think we have a way out yet of float environment for tables.

We need to add support for tabularray somehow, or provide an opt-out mechanism for this special processing for advanced use case where a package author would handle the necessary raw LaTeX itself. The former would be best so that it is integrated with the rest of the tables. Otherwise, mixing cross-referenced table won't work well (for numbering and things like that).

Not sure what is really possible if tabularray and floats don't work together ... 🤔 Maybe a special treatment for longtblr environment is enough.

For now, it won't work without trying to hack around how cross ref are triggered in Quarto.

[vincentarelbundock]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to clarify things, I really appreciate it! Will try to find a workaround.

Not sure what is really possible if tabularray and floats don't work together ... 🤔 Maybe a special treatment for longtblr environment is enough.

Right. I should have specified that tabularray has three environments (tblr, talltblr, and longtblr).

What I described above is only a problem for longtblr. So it is admittedly a pretty niche issue...

[cderv]

This is the same issue with longtable I guess. I think we have a special processing for longtable, and this may need to be extended to longtblr then 🤔

• Cross-referencing breaks longtable #7604
• make longtable environments work with new crossref system #7613

[vincentarelbundock]

Right. The tricky thing is that IIRC, longtable uses the more standard \caption{} format. Figuring out where to insert caption={} in longtblr might not be as straigthforward.

[andrewheiss]

Another use case/question for using tabularray with Quarto. Right now, because of the issues discussed above by @vincentarelbundock and everyone else, I'm having to do this for multiple-output documents:

---
title: "Table stuff"
format: 
  pdf: default
  html: default
---

```{r}
library(tinytable)

tmp <- rbind(mtcars, mtcars)[, 1:6]
```

::: {.content-visible when-format="pdf"}

\ref{tbl-long-thing} will only appear in PDF

```{r}
tt(tmp, width = 0.8, caption = "A long table \\label{tbl-long-thing}") |>
  theme_tt("multipage", rowhead = 1)
```

:::

::: {.content-visible when-format="html"}

@tbl-long-thing will only appear in HTML

```{r}
#| label: tbl-long-thing
#| tbl-cap: "A long table"

tt(tmp, width = 0.8)
```

:::

Is that the approach we should be using until the dust settles on tabularray and Quarto? Or is there a better way?

I experimented with conditional chunk options and conditional cross reference container divs:

:::{ #tbl-long-thing .content-visible ...}
...
:::

but those don't seem to work :(