Graphics, Figures & TablesTable for Thesis Abstract Page

Information and discussion about graphics, figures & tables in LaTeX documents.
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xJippu
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:32 pm

Table for Thesis Abstract Page

Post by xJippu »

My faculty has very strict policies on the appearance of a thesis. I'm trying to create a LaTeX thesis template for the faculty and I'm running into some problems with this table. I added a sample PDF of what it should look like.

The table needs to fill the page, and it needs to have "insert text here" cells ready for the user. I've managed to get it to look right, but some of the dimensions depend on the length of the text inside the cells. The large "abstract" cell in particular has proven to be troublesome.

What I've done is make a regular table in tabular-environment, play with column widths, row heights and spacing. Then I used a tabularx table inside the table to get that large paragraph box, but the height of the box depends on how many rows of text it has (try different attributes for lipsum and see how it changes). Also I couldn't figure out how to give \arraystretch a value bit more than -1 since now the text is touching the top lines.

I might be doing something else the hard way as well since I'm still a newcomer to LaTeX.

Example:

Code: Select all

\documentclass[12pt, a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[top=2cm, bottom=2cm, left=4cm, right=2cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{parskip}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}
\textbf{\Large ABSTRACT}\\
\textbf{\Large FOR THESIS}\hfill University of Oulu Faculty of Technology

\vspace{-6pt}
\begingroup
\scriptsize
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{-1}
\begin{tabular}{|p{33mm}|p{33mm}|p{33mm}|p{33mm}|}
\hline
\multicolumn{2}{|l}{Degree Programme (Bachelor's Thesis, Master’s Thesis)}
&\multicolumn{2}{|l|}{Major Subject (Licentiate Thesis)}\\[4mm]
\multicolumn{2}{|l}{
%Fill in the name of the Degree Programme in full. If you are graduating in a special Master’s Degree Programme, fill in the full name of the Master’s programme.
Master of science
}
&\multicolumn{2}{|l|}{
%In the Abstract of a Licentiate Thesis, you should fill in the Major Subject.
}\\[3mm]
\hline
\multicolumn{2}{|l}{Author}
&\multicolumn{2}{|l|}{Thesis Supervisor}\\[4mm]
\multicolumn{2}{|l}{
%The family name of the author(s) comes first, and the given name last. For example: Surname, Firstname; Doe, John.
Doe, John
}
&\multicolumn{2}{|l|}{
%The name of the teacher who supervised your thesis at the University; surname first, then the first letter of his/her given name, followed by his/her title (Dr, Prof., etc.).
Doe J Dr
}\\[3mm]
\hline
\multicolumn{4}{|l|}{Title of Thesis}\\[4mm]
\multicolumn{4}{|l|}{
%The title of the thesis. If the thesis itself is written in English, the title must also be in English.
A great title for a thesis
}\\[3mm]
\hline
Major Subject&Type of Thesis&Submission Date&Number of Pages\\[4mm]
%In this field, fill in the major subject (study option) / specialization you have studied in your degree programme. The degree programme can give you additional instructions if necessary.
Machinery					&
%Write "Bachelor's Thesis" or "Master's Thesis" or "Licentiate Thesis".
Master's Thesis				&
%Write the submission date of the thesis (month + year, e.g. "May 2013"). Submission date means the date the thesis is uploaded to Laturi.
January 2013				&
%Number of pages in the thesis and the number of appendices. For example: ...179 p., 5 App.
179 p., 5 App.				\\[3mm]
\hline
\multicolumn{4}{|l|}{Abstract}\\[4mm]
\multicolumn{4}{|l|}{
\begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{@{}X@{}}
\lipsum[1-5]
\end{tabularx}
}\\[132mm]
\hline
\multicolumn{4}{|l|}{Additional Information}\\[4mm]
\multicolumn{4}{|l|}{
%You can leave this field blank if you do not have anything special to add.
}\\[3mm]
\hline
\end{tabular}
\endgroup
\end{document}
Attachments
table.pdf
Example of the table
(205.44 KiB) Downloaded 515 times

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xJippu
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:32 pm

Table for Thesis Abstract Page

Post by xJippu »

Hey guys!

I found an answer to my question by trial and error. Firstly, I removed the \arraystretch command completely, which made things a bit more neat. Secondly, I used a minipage-environment inside the table to create a static page for the actual abstract. Then I fiddled with cell heights and here's the result:

Code: Select all

\documentclass[12pt, a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[top=3.25cm, bottom=3.25cm, left=4cm, right=2cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{titlesec}
\newcommand{\sectionbreak}{\clearpage}
\titlespacing*{\section}{0pt}{0pt}{\baselineskip}[0pt]
\usepackage{parskip}
\setlength{\parskip}{\baselineskip}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}
\setcounter{secnumdepth}{0}
\section{ABSTRACT}
\vspace{-35pt}
\textbf{\Large FOR THESIS}\hfill University of Oulu Faculty of Technology

\vspace{-13pt}
\begingroup
\scriptsize
\begin{tabular}{|p{33mm}|p{33mm}|p{33mm}|p{33mm}|}
\hline
\multicolumn{2}{|l}{Degree Programme (Bachelor's Thesis, Master’s Thesis)}
&\multicolumn{2}{|l|}{Major Subject (Licentiate Thesis)}\\[2mm]
\multicolumn{2}{|l}{
%	Fill in the name of the Degree Programme in full. If you are graduating in a special Master’s Degree Programme, fill in the full name of the Master’s programme.

}
&\multicolumn{2}{|l|}{
%	In the Abstract of a Licentiate Thesis, you should fill in the Major Subject.

}\\[2mm]
\hline
\multicolumn{2}{|l}{Author}
&\multicolumn{2}{|l|}{Thesis Supervisor}\\[2mm]
\multicolumn{2}{|l}{
%	The family name of the author(s) comes first, and the given name last. For example: Surname, Firstname; Doe, John.

}
&\multicolumn{2}{|l|}{
%	The name of the teacher who supervised your thesis at the University; surname first, then the first letter of his/her given name, followed by his/her title (Dr, Prof., etc.).

}\\[2mm]
\hline
\multicolumn{4}{|l|}{Title of Thesis}\\[2mm]
\multicolumn{4}{|l|}{
%The title of the thesis. If the thesis itself is written in English, the title must also be in English.

}\\[2mm]
\hline
Major Subject&Type of Thesis&Submission Date&Number of Pages\\[2mm]
%	In this field, fill in the major subject (study option) / specialization you have studied in your degree programme. The degree programme can give you additional instructions if necessary.

&
%	Write "Bachelor's Thesis" or "Master's Thesis" or "Licentiate Thesis".

&
%	Write the submission date of the thesis (month + year, e.g. "May 2013"). Submission date means the date the thesis is uploaded to Laturi.

&
%	Number of pages in the thesis and the number of appendices. For example: ...179 p., 5 App.

\\[2mm]
\hline
\multicolumn{4}{|l|}{Abstract}\\[2mm]
\multicolumn{4}{|l|}{
%\parbox
\begin{minipage}[h][162mm][t]{147mm}
\setlength{\parskip}{\baselineskip}
%The form of the abstract is free, but the language should be clear and concise. The abstract must be written so that it fits into the space provided in this abstract form (the whole abstract in one page). Discuss the following matters in your abstract:
	%	Aims and goals of your thesis and the research question,
	%	what it is you are trying to find out in your thesis,
	%	your research methods,
	%	your most important findings, and
	%	how the results are to be used, their applicability and generalizability.
Abstract is a compact (200-400 words) presentation where the aims, methods and results of the thesis are described. The abstract must be an independent text and it should not include any citings to the actual thesis or the references therein. On the other hand, the abstract must not contain any information which has not been discussed in the actual thesis.
\end{minipage}}\\
\hline
\multicolumn{4}{|l|}{Additional Information}\\[2mm]
\multicolumn{4}{|l|}{
%You can leave this field blank if you do not have anything special to add.

}\\[2mm]
\hline
\end{tabular}
\endgroup\end{document}
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