UK TeX FAQ -- question label altabcr

### Alignment tab changed to `\``cr`

This is an error you may encounter in LaTeX when a tabular environment is being processed. "Alignment tabs" are the `&` signs that separate the columns of a tabular; so the error message

>     ! Extra alignment tab has been changed to \cr

could arise from a simple typo, such as:

>     \begin{tabular}{ll}
>       hello   & there & jim \\
>       goodbye & now
>     \end{tabular}

where the second `&` in the first line of the table is more than the two-column `ll` column specification can cope with - an extra "`l`" in that solves the problem. (As a result of the error, "`jim`" will be moved to a row of his own.)

Rather more difficult to spot is the occurrence of the error when you're using alignment instructions in a "`p`" column:

>     \usepackage{array}
>     ...
>     \begin{tabular}{l>{\raggedright}p{2in}}
>     here & we are again \\
>     happy & as can be
>     \end{tabular}

the problem here (as explained in tabular cell alignment) is that the `\``raggedright` command in the column specification has overwritten `tabular`'s definition of `\\`, so that "`happy`" appears in a new line of the second column, and the following `&` appears to LaTeX just like the second `&` in the first example above.

Get rid of the error in the way described in tabular cell alignment - either use `\``tabularnewline` explicitly, or use the `\``RBS` trick described there.

`array.sty`
  Distributed as part of macros/latex/required/tools (zip, browse)

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