In the Technical Report tables have a table heading or caption which consists of table number and table title. In the presentation most people only use the table title (i.e. the text part of the table heading). In the table heading you may specify, which data is contained in the table, which basic conditions were relevant, which statement or conclusion the table shall proof etc. Moreover, cited tables must get an indication of source (citation) here.
The components of a table heading are called as follows in this book:
Table 16Results of the fuel consumption measurements table heading
16 table number
Figure 16 table label
Results of the fuel consumption measurements table title
If the table is continued, the table heading may get a comment, that the table will be continued on the next page. This is useful, because the reader then knows of the con- tinuation right from the beginning of reading the table. The following examples show this and other possible methods of informing the reader about the continuation. In the fol- lowing examples the complete table is visualized by two short lines.
Atfirst an example of a table which expands across one page only.
Table heading for table on one page
Table 16Results of the fuel consumption measurements
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Here is an example how a table can be labeled which expands across more than one page.
Table heading with continuation hint (method 1)
Table 19Results of the welding experiments <to be continued>
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Table 19Results of the welding experiments <continued>
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The table number and title is exactly repeated on all subsequent follow-up pages. The comments“<to be continued>”and“<continued>”show, whether the current table sec- tion is on a first page or a follow-up page.
If a more explicit labeling is desired, the comment“<to be continued>”can also appear at the end of the table:
Table heading with continuation hint (method 2) Table 19Res…
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<to be continued>
Table 19Res…<cont.>
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<to be continued>
Table 19Res…<cont.>
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Another way to label the table headings, if the table expands across more than one page, is to apply the numbering method of technical drawings for this purpose. Here is an example.
Table heading with continuation hint (method 3) Table 19Res…<page 1 of 2>
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Table19 Res…<page 2 of 2>
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The table numbers can be consecutively counted through the whole report (example:
1, 2, 3, …, 67, 68, 69). They can also be a combination of the chapter number and the table number which is consecutively counted within the chapter (example for chapter 3:
3-1, 3-2, 3-3,…, 3-12, 3-13). Instead of a hyphen you can also use a dot to structure the table number (example: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3,…, 3.12, 3.13). Books that have many small tables on one page sometimes use a combination of page number and table number within the page (example for page 324: 324.1, 324.2, 324.3).
The consecutive numbering of tables without chapter or page number has the advan- tage that the total number of tables can be determined quite easily. However, if you want to add or leave out a table later during the writing process, there are disadvantages, if you do not use the automatic numbering functions of your word processor, because all sub- sequent table numbers and the cross-references to the tables must be changed.
If you want to create the list of tables automatically, you should format all table headings with the same formatting template (style, paragraph format) and use this style only for table headings. Otherwise the automatic creation might be incomplete or might have undesired entries.
In general, the table heading shall describe the contents of the table as accurate as possible. Table heading, header, and introductory column shall be understandable without further explanations. The legend and eventually table footnotes may complete this information.
For the formulation of table headings the same rules are applicable as for the for- mulation of document part headings, see Sect.2.4.3.
In the text there should be at least one cross-reference to each table which is integrated in the current text chapter. If possible, the table should be arranged near the cross-reference. If there are several cross-references from the text to a table, the table should be arranged near the most important cross-reference. Cross-references from the text to a table can be formulated as follows:
– …, Table xx.
– …, see Table xx.
– …shows the following table.
– …shows Table xx.
The table heading shall be positioned near the appertaining table. Therefore the dis- tance above the table heading and below the table should be larger than the distance between the table heading and the table.
If your table heading expands across more than one line, all text lines of the table title start at a common building line on the right side of the table label.
If you copy or scan a table from a source of literature or you integrate a table from the internet as a graphicfile into your Technical Report, you should cut off the table number and table title or you should not scan it together with the table. Then you should type your own table number and table title. The table title can either be taken over from the literature source or the internet without change or you formulate your own, new table title. All table
numbers and table titles are created in the same way with your word processor. The result is a consistent overall impression.
Cited tables which you did not develop on your own must get a note of reference (citation) in the table heading. How this note of reference looks like is described in Sect.3.5.4in detail.
▸ You should plan early which tables you wish to incorporate into your Technical Report. Even if you will insert or cite a table later on, you should insert a table heading as a placeholder at the correct place while you are writing your text You can add a note such as„Attention:“or„Table comes later:“or„###“at the beginning of the table heading.