tab_spanner: Add a spanner column label

Description

Set a spanner column label by mapping it to columns already in the table. This label is placed above one or more column labels, spanning the width of those columns and column labels.

Usage

tab_spanner(
  data,
  label,
  columns = NULL,
  spanners = NULL,
  level = NULL,
  id = label,
  gather = TRUE,
  replace = FALSE
)

Value

An object of class gt_tbl.

Arguments

data: A table object that is created using the gt() function.
label: The text to use for the spanner column label.
columns: The columns to be components of the spanner heading.
spanners: The spanners that should be spanned over, should they already be defined.
level: An explicit level to which the spanner should be placed. If not provided, gt will choose the level based on the inputs provided within columns and spanners, placing the spanner label where it will fit. The first spanner level (right above the column labels) is 1.
id: The ID for the spanner column label. When accessing a spanner column label through cells_column_spanners() (when using tab_style() or tab_footnote()) the id value is used as the reference (and not the label). If an id is not explicitly provided here, it will be taken from the label value. It is advisable to set an explicit id value if you plan to access this cell in a later function call and the label text is complicated (e.g., contains markup, is lengthy, or both). Finally, when providing an id value you must ensure that it is unique across all ID values set for column spanner labels (the function will stop if id isn't unique).
gather: An option to move the specified columns such that they are unified under the spanner column label. Ordering of the moved-into-place columns will be preserved in all cases. By default, this is set to TRUE.
replace: Should new spanners be allowed to partially or fully replace existing spanners? (This is a possibility if setting spanners at an already populated level.) By default, this is set to FALSE and an error will occur if some replacement is attempted.

Examples

Use gtcars to create a gt table. Use the tab_spanner() function to effectively group several columns related to car performance under a spanner column with the label "performance".

gtcars %>%
  dplyr::select(
    -mfr, -trim, bdy_style,
    -drivetrain, -trsmn, -ctry_origin
  ) %>%
  dplyr::slice(1:8) %>%
  gt(rowname_col = "model") %>%
  tab_spanner(
    label = "performance",
    columns = c(
      hp, hp_rpm, trq, trq_rpm,
      mpg_c, mpg_h
    )
  )

This image of a table was generated from the first code example in the `tab_spanner()` help file.

Function ID