Auto-sum in a table builder sounds like it belongs in a spreadsheet,
but there is a specific use case that comes up constantly: you have
a results table or a data table with a numeric column, and you need
a total row at the bottom that adds up cleanly in the export.
Doing this manually is tedious. You calculate the sum, type it in,
and then rebuild it every time a value in the column changes. It is
also easy to get wrong when numbers involve decimal precision.
In Tablesmit, auto-sum works through column types. When you set a
column to Number, Currency, or Percentage, you can enable auto-sum
for that column from the column header menu. Tablesmit calculates
the sum of all values in the column and places it in a styled total
row at the bottom of the table.
The total carries through to every export format. In the PDF it
appears as a distinct row with clear formatting. In the Excel export
it appears as a value in the last row. In the LaTeX export it
appears as a final row before the closing \hline.
When any value in the column changes, the total updates automatically.
You do not manage it. You just build the table and the total stays
correct.
This is particularly useful for financial tables, experiment results
tables, and any analytical summary where the reader expects to see
the column total at a glance.
Free, no account, MIT licensed. tablesmit.com
This post originally appeared on the Tablesmit Blog at tablesmit.com/blog/how-to-auto-sum-columns-table. Tablesmit is a free, open source table builder. Export to PDF, Excel, LaTeX, CSV, PNG. No account required. Try it at tablesmit.com.