My table shows 'x' on the right margin

Question

I had this issue twice on two of my tables. Right next to the right margin, I see a weird 'x' of which I have no clue where it comes from. I thought there might be an obvious reason why this erroneously appears. I have converted this table from excel2latex and did a few edits, but there should be no xs in it.

This is how it looks like. And this is my code

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{placeins}
\usepackage{float}   
\usepackage{amsmath }
\usepackage{graphicx}
\graphicspath{ {images/} }
%%%\usepackage{lscape} % don't load both lscape and pdflscape
\usepackage{pdflscape}
\usepackage{fancyhdr} 
\usepackage[paper=portrait,pagesize]{typearea}
\usepackage{natbib}
\bibliographystyle{agsm}
\usepackage{longtable}
\newcommand{\etal}{\textit{et al.}}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{array}
\setlength\extrarowheight{2pt}
\usepackage{booktabs}% http://ctan.org/pkg/booktabs
\usepackage{calc}% http://ctan.org/pkg/calc
%%\usepackage{amsfonts}  % 'amsfonts' is loaded automatically by 'amssymb'
\newcommand\mc[1]{\multicolumn{1}{c}{#1}} % handy shortcut macro
\def\sym#1{\ifmmode^{#1}\else(^{#1})\fi}
\usepackage{hyperref} % it's a good idea to load this package last
\hypersetup{
    pdftoolbar=true,        % show Acrobat’s toolbar?
    pdfmenubar=true,        % show Acrobat’s menu?
    pdffitwindow=false,     % window fit to page when opened
    pdfstartview={FitH},    % fits the width of the page to the window
    pdftitle={title},    % title
    pdfauthor={Salvatore Mazzarino},     % author
    pdfsubject={Subject},   % subject of the document
    pdfcreator={Salvatore Mazzarino},   % creator of the document
    pdfproducer={Salvatore Mazzarino}, % producer of the document
    pdfkeywords={Green Networking} {Mobile Cloud} {Network Coding} {Energy}, % list of keywords
    pdfnewwindow=true,      % links in new window
    colorlinks=true,       % false: boxed links; true: colored links
    linkcolor=blue,          % color of internal links (change box color with linkbordercolor)
    citecolor=blue,        % color of links to bibliography
    filecolor=magenta,      % color of file links
    urlcolor=cyan           % color of external links
}
\begin{document}
% Table generated by Excel2LaTeX from sheet 'Sheet1'
\begin{table}[htbp]
  \centering
  \caption{Sensitivity checks table}
    \begin{tabular}{rrrrrrrr}
    \toprule
        & \multicolumn{3}{c}{\textbf{2018}} &     & \multicolumn{3}{c}{\textbf{2017}} \
    \midrule
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{Model}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{a} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{b} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{c} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{d} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{a} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{b} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{c} \
    \midrule
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{Wealth }} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{ (Yes)} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{(Yes incl. vehicles)} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{(Yes incl. vehicles)} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{ (Yes)} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{(Yes* incl. vehicles)} \
    \midrule
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{Housing costs}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No cap} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No cap} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No cap} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{Imputed for INR} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No cap} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No cap} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No cap} \
    \multicolumn{1}{l}{\multirow{\textbf{NTR}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{52.06}}} & \multicolumn{1}{r}{\multirow{\textbf{43.09}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{42.01}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{42.25}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{50.35}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{40.42}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{38.62}}} \
        &     &     &     &     &     &     &  \
    \multicolumn{1}{l}{\multirow{\textbf{NTR }}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{46.26}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{36.45}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{35.16}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{35.48}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{43.87}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{33.12}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{31.24}}} \
        &     &     &     &     &     &     &  \
   \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{Beta-error rate}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{12.52}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{18.22}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{19.49}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{19.09}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{14.77}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{22.04}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\multirow{\textbf{23.61}}} \
        &     &     &     &     &     &     &  \
    \midrule
        & \multicolumn{2}{p{8.11em}}{\textbf{Needs}} &     & \multicolumn{2}{p{8.11em}}{\textbf{Income}} & \multicolumn{2}{p{8.11em}}{\textbf{Housing}} \
    \midrule
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{∆}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↑ +5%}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↓ -5%}} &     & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↑ +5%}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↓ -5% }} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↑ +5%}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↓ -5%}} \
    \midrule
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{NTR}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{43.32}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{41.16}} &     & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{41.01}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{43.75}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{42.4}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{41.92}} \
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{Beta-error rate}} & \multicolumn{1}{l}{\multirow{\textbf{17.92}}} & \multicolumn{1}{l}{\multirow{\textbf{21.44}}} &  & \multicolumn{1}{l}{\multirow{\textbf{20.45}}} & \multicolumn{1}{l}{\multirow{\textbf{18.56}}} & \multicolumn{1}{l}{\multirow{\textbf{19.25}}} & \multicolumn{1}{l}{\multirow{\textbf{19.89}}} \
        &     &     &     &     &     &     &  \
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{∆}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↑+10%}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↓ -10%}} &     & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↑ +10%}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↓ -10%}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↑+10%}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↓ -10%}} \
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{NTR}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{44.99}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{39.81}} &     & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{39.5}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{45.6}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{42.94}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{42.04}} \
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{Beta-error rate}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{16.16}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{23.42}} &     & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\textbf{21.03}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\textbf{17.8}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{19.35}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{20.54}} \
    \midrule
        &     &     &     &     &     &     &  \
    \end{tabular}%
  \label{tab:addlabel}%
  {\raggedright *{*All specifications listed here are for the month of interview and core family or referring to (HH). NTR refers to caseloads. Sensitivity checks are done for model (c).  Denominator incl. Beta-error. \par}
\end{table}%
\end{document}

Thank you.

Maybe if you could share your code? It would be easier. We call this a MWE (minimum working example). — Arne Timperman, May 27 '22 at 15:03
Welcome to TeX.SX! You should indeed add the code of the table. The best is to add a complete code that can directly be compiled by others (so it should start with \documentclass{...} and end with \end{document}). — Vincent, May 27 '22 at 15:03
Your code currently is not compilable. First of all, the \multirow package is missing. Second, you use of the \multirow command is incorrect. The correct syntax is \multirow{<nrows>}{<width>}{<text>} with three mandatory arguments. In your code, the first two arguments are missing. Start by fixing these issues in order to get a compilable MWE. — leandriis, May 27 '22 at 15:56
Unrelated, but du remember $... $ around your negative percentages to get the prober minus sign. — daleif, May 27 '22 at 16:16
Thank you all for the very helpful tips! And many thanks @Vincent that helped me much, much appreciated! (if you have a clue why the two digits in the income column look like this '39.5, 45.6', I will be happy to hear why they look like this and how to fix their alignment like the rest). — ddocc, Jun 01 '22 at 09:04
It's most probably because of all of these \multicolumn commands. Try changing c to p{4.055em} in the second argument of the \multicolumn for the cells 21.03 and 17.8 (but really, a better approach would be to get rid of all of these useless \multicolumns). Also, if an answer solves your problem, you can accept it. It helps to keep the site organized. — Vincent, Jun 01 '22 at 13:38

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered May 27 '22 at 16:11

The times symbol you're seeing is inserted by the command \* at the end of the code, after the end of the tabular environment. If you don't know this command, see this question.

I modified your code to make it compilable:

I removed the \multirow commands since they didn't seem to really have a reason to be there anyway;
I declared the unicode character "∆" with

\DeclareUnicodeCharacter{2206}{\(\Delta\)}

I added a missing } at the end of the table.

Then I removed the times symbol added by \* by skipping a line after the tabular environment.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{placeins}
\usepackage{float}   
\usepackage{amsmath }
\usepackage{graphicx}
\graphicspath{ {images/} }
%%%\usepackage{lscape} % don't load both lscape and pdflscape
\usepackage{pdflscape}
\usepackage{fancyhdr} 
\usepackage[paper=portrait,pagesize]{typearea}
\usepackage{natbib}
\bibliographystyle{agsm}
\usepackage{longtable}
\newcommand{\etal}{\textit{et al.}}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{array}
\setlength\extrarowheight{2pt}
\usepackage{booktabs}% http://ctan.org/pkg/booktabs
\usepackage{calc}% http://ctan.org/pkg/calc
%%\usepackage{amsfonts}  % 'amsfonts' is loaded automatically by 'amssymb'
\newcommand\mc[1]{\multicolumn{1}{c}{#1}} % handy shortcut macro
\def\sym#1{\ifmmode^{#1}\else(^{#1})\fi}
\usepackage{hyperref} % it's a good idea to load this package last
\hypersetup{
    pdftoolbar=true,        % show Acrobat’s toolbar?
    pdfmenubar=true,        % show Acrobat’s menu?
    pdffitwindow=false,     % window fit to page when opened
    pdfstartview={FitH},    % fits the width of the page to the window
    pdftitle={title},    % title
    pdfauthor={Salvatore Mazzarino},     % author
    pdfsubject={Subject},   % subject of the document
    pdfcreator={Salvatore Mazzarino},   % creator of the document
    pdfproducer={Salvatore Mazzarino}, % producer of the document
    pdfkeywords={Green Networking} {Mobile Cloud} {Network Coding} {Energy}, % list of keywords
    pdfnewwindow=true,      % links in new window
    colorlinks=true,       % false: boxed links; true: colored links
    linkcolor=blue,          % color of internal links (change box color with linkbordercolor)
    citecolor=blue,        % color of links to bibliography
    filecolor=magenta,      % color of file links
    urlcolor=cyan           % color of external links
}
\DeclareUnicodeCharacter{2206}{(\Delta)}
\begin{document}
% Table generated by Excel2LaTeX from sheet 'Sheet1'
\begin{table}[htbp]
  \centering
  \caption{Sensitivity checks table}
    \begin{tabular}{rrrrrrrr}
    \toprule
        & \multicolumn{3}{c}{\textbf{2018}} &     & \multicolumn{3}{c}{\textbf{2017}} \
    \midrule
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{Model}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{a} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{b} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{c} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{d} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{a} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{b} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{c} \
    \midrule
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{Wealth }} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{ (Yes)} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{(Yes incl. vehicles)} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{(Yes incl. vehicles)} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{ (Yes)} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{(Yes* incl. vehicles)} \
    \midrule
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{Housing costs}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No cap} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No cap} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No cap} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{Imputed for INR} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No cap} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No cap} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{No cap} \
    \multicolumn{1}{l}{{\textbf{NTR}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{52.06}}} & \multicolumn{1}{r}{{\textbf{43.09}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{42.01}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{42.25}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{50.35}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{40.42}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{38.62}}} \
        &     &     &     &     &     &     &  \
    \multicolumn{1}{l}{{\textbf{NTR }}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{46.26}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{36.45}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{35.16}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{35.48}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{43.87}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{33.12}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{31.24}}} \
        &     &     &     &     &     &     &  \
   \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{Beta-error rate}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{12.52}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{18.22}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{19.49}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{19.09}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{14.77}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{22.04}}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{{\textbf{23.61}}} \
        &     &     &     &     &     &     &  \
    \midrule
        & \multicolumn{2}{p{8.11em}}{\textbf{Needs}} &     & \multicolumn{2}{p{8.11em}}{\textbf{Income}} & \multicolumn{2}{p{8.11em}}{\textbf{Housing}} \
    \midrule
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{∆}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↑ +5%}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↓ -5%}} &     & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↑ +5%}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↓ -5% }} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↑ +5%}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↓ -5%}} \
    \midrule
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{NTR}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{43.32}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{41.16}} &     & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{41.01}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{43.75}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{42.4}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{41.92}} \
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{Beta-error rate}} & \multicolumn{1}{l}{{\textbf{17.92}}} & \multicolumn{1}{l}{{\textbf{21.44}}} &  & \multicolumn{1}{l}{{\textbf{20.45}}} & \multicolumn{1}{l}{{\textbf{18.56}}} & \multicolumn{1}{l}{{\textbf{19.25}}} & \multicolumn{1}{l}{{\textbf{19.89}}} \
        &     &     &     &     &     &     &  \
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{∆}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↑+10%}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↓ -10%}} &     & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↑ +10%}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↓ -10%}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↑+10%}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{↓ -10%}} \
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{NTR}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{44.99}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{39.81}} &     & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{39.5}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{45.6}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{42.94}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{42.04}} \
    \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{Beta-error rate}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{16.16}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{23.42}} &     & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\textbf{21.03}} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\textbf{17.8}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{19.35}} & \multicolumn{1}{p{4.055em}}{\textbf{20.54}} \
    \midrule
        &     &     &     &     &     &     &  \
    \end{tabular}%
  \label{tab:addlabel}%
{\raggedright *{*All specifications listed here are for the month of interview and core family or referring to (HH). NTR refers to caseloads. Sensitivity checks are done for model (c).  Denominator incl. Beta-error. \par}}
\end{table}%
\end{document}

I think you should consider writing your tables directly in LaTeX rather than using excel2latex. There are a lot of useless \multicolumn{1}{...}, which only makes the code harder to read.

My table shows 'x' on the right margin

1 Answers1