On Wednesday, May 31, 2023 at 2:08:53 PM UTC-5 RM wrote:

Sometimes pandoc adds a load of undesired guff into the latex tables.

Is there a way to signal to pandoc that I want it to "cleanly" convert the markdown tables to latex instead of adding all sorts of bizarre formatting?

Example:

Consider the following markdown table:

| | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Notes |
|--------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
| Week 1 | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example |
| Week 2 | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example |
| Week 3 | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example |
| Week 4 | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example | Example |

Version 2.16 sensibly converts the markdown table to:

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lllllllll@{}}
\toprule
& Mon & Tue & Wed & Thu & Fri & Sat & Sun & Notes \\
\midrule
\endhead
Week 1 & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example &
Example & Example \\
Week 2 & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example &
Example & Example \\
Week 3 & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example &
Example & Example \\
Week 4 & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example &
Example & Example \\
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

While the latest version (3.1.2) converts it to this mess:

\begin{longtable}[]{@{}
>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 16\tabcolsep) * \real{0.1000}}
>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 16\tabcolsep) * \real{0.1125}}
>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 16\tabcolsep) * \real{0.1125}}
>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 16\tabcolsep) * \real{0.1125}}
>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 16\tabcolsep) * \real{0.1125}}
>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 16\tabcolsep) * \real{0.1125}}
>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 16\tabcolsep) * \real{0.1125}}
>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 16\tabcolsep) * \real{0.1125}}
>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\columnwidth - 16\tabcolsep) * \real{0.1125}}@{}}
\toprule\noalign{}
\begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
Mon
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
Tue
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
Wed
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
Thu
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
Fri
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
Sat
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
Sun
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
Notes
\end{minipage} \\
\midrule\noalign{}
\endhead
\bottomrule\noalign{}
\endlastfoot
Week 1 & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example &
Example & Example \\
Week 2 & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example &
Example & Example \\
Week 3 & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example &
Example & Example \\
Week 4 & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example & Example &
Example & Example \\
\end{longtable}

(And this isn't simply an issue with later versions. I've noticed 2.16 adds the guff to some tables, too. Though whatever algo it's using to make that choice differs between versions. )

I'd like all of my tables to be converted to the "clean" format. Is there an argument I can use to make that happen?