ENH: added optional caption and label arguments to DataFrame.to_latex()

doc/source/whatsnew/v1.0.0.rst

@@ -20,8 +20,7 @@ including other versions of pandas.
 
 Enhancements
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
--
+- :meth:`DataFrame.to_latex` now accepts ``caption`` and ``label`` arguments (:issue:`25436`)
 -
 
 .. _whatsnew_1000.enhancements.other:

pandas/core/generic.py

@@ -2924,15 +2924,21 @@ def to_latex(
         multicolumn=None,
         multicolumn_format=None,
         multirow=None,
+        caption=None,
+        label=None,
     ):
         r"""
-        Render an object to a LaTeX tabular environment table.
+        Render object to a LaTeX tabular, longtable, or nested table/tabular.
 
-        Render an object to a tabular environment table. You can splice
-        this into a LaTeX document. Requires \usepackage{booktabs}.
+        Requires ``\usepackage{booktabs}``.  The output can be copy/pasted
+        into a main LaTeX document or read from an external file
+        with ``\input{table.tex}``.
 
         .. versionchanged:: 0.20.2
-           Added to Series
+           Added to Series.
+
+        .. versionchanged:: 0.26.0
+           Added caption and label arguments.
 
         Parameters
         ----------
@@ -3001,7 +3007,20 @@ def to_latex(
             from the pandas config module.
 
             .. versionadded:: 0.20.0
+
+        caption : str, optional
+            The LaTeX caption to be placed inside ``\caption{}`` in the output.
+
+            .. versionadded:: 1.0.0
+
+        label : str, optional
+            The LaTeX label to be placed inside ``\label{}`` in the output.
+            This is used with ``\ref{}`` in the main ``.tex`` file.
+
+            .. versionadded:: 1.0.0
+
         %(returns)s
+
         See Also
         --------
         DataFrame.to_string : Render a DataFrame to a console-friendly
@@ -3060,6 +3079,8 @@ def to_latex(
             multicolumn=multicolumn,
             multicolumn_format=multicolumn_format,
             multirow=multirow,
+            caption=caption,
+            label=label,
         )
 
     def to_csv(

pandas/io/formats/format.py

@@ -888,6 +888,8 @@ def to_latex(
         multicolumn: bool = False,
         multicolumn_format: Optional[str] = None,
         multirow: bool = False,
+        caption: Optional[str] = None,
+        label: Optional[str] = None,
     ) -> Optional[str]:
         """
         Render a DataFrame to a LaTeX tabular/longtable environment output.
@@ -902,6 +904,8 @@ def to_latex(
             multicolumn=multicolumn,
             multicolumn_format=multicolumn_format,
             multirow=multirow,
+            caption=caption,
+            label=label,
         ).get_result(buf=buf, encoding=encoding)
 
     def _format_col(self, i: int) -> List[str]:

pandas/io/formats/latex.py

@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ def __init__(
         multicolumn: bool = False,
         multicolumn_format: Optional[str] = None,
         multirow: bool = False,
+        caption: Optional[str] = None,
+        label: Optional[str] = None,
     ):
         self.fmt = formatter
         self.frame = self.fmt.frame
@@ -45,11 +47,14 @@ def __init__(
         self.multicolumn = multicolumn
         self.multicolumn_format = multicolumn_format
         self.multirow = multirow
+        self.caption = caption
+        self.label = label
         self.escape = self.fmt.escape
 
     def write_result(self, buf: IO[str]) -> None:
         """
-        Render a DataFrame to a LaTeX tabular/longtable environment output.
+        Render a DataFrame to a LaTeX tabular, longtable, or table/tabular
+        environment output.
         """
 
         # string representation of the columns
@@ -114,12 +119,12 @@ def pad_empties(x):
                 "not {typ}".format(typ=type(column_format))
             )
 
-        if not self.longtable:
-            buf.write("\\begin{{tabular}}{{{fmt}}}\n".format(fmt=column_format))
-            buf.write("\\toprule\n")
+        if self.longtable:
+            self._write_longtable_begin(buf, column_format)
         else:
-            buf.write("\\begin{{longtable}}{{{fmt}}}\n".format(fmt=column_format))
-            buf.write("\\toprule\n")
+            self._write_tabular_begin(buf, column_format)
+
+        buf.write("\\toprule\n")
 
         ilevels = self.frame.index.nlevels
         clevels = self.frame.columns.nlevels
@@ -183,11 +188,10 @@ def pad_empties(x):
             if self.multirow and i < len(strrows) - 1:
                 self._print_cline(buf, i, len(strcols))
 
-        if not self.longtable:
-            buf.write("\\bottomrule\n")
-            buf.write("\\end{tabular}\n")
+        if self.longtable:
+            self._write_longtable_end(buf)
         else:
-            buf.write("\\end{longtable}\n")
+            self._write_tabular_end(buf)
 
     def _format_multicolumn(self, row: List[str], ilevels: int) -> List[str]:
         r"""
@@ -268,3 +272,107 @@ def _print_cline(self, buf: IO[str], i: int, icol: int) -> None:
                 buf.write("\\cline{{{cl:d}-{icol:d}}}\n".format(cl=cl[1], icol=icol))
         # remove entries that have been written to buffer
         self.clinebuf = [x for x in self.clinebuf if x[0] != i]
+
+    def _write_tabular_begin(self, buf, column_format):
+        """
+        Write the beginning of a tabular environment or
+        nested table/tabular environments including caption and label.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        buf : string or file handle
+            File path or object. If not specified, the result is returned as
+            a string.
+        column_format : str, default None
+            The columns format as specified in `LaTeX table format
+            <https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Tables>`__ e.g 'rcl'
+            for 3 columns
+
+        """
+        if self.caption is not None or self.label is not None:
+            # then write output in a nested table/tabular environment
+            if self.caption is None:
+                caption_ = ""
+            else:
+                caption_ = "\n\\caption{{{}}}".format(self.caption)
+
+            if self.label is None:
+                label_ = ""
+            else:
+                label_ = "\n\\label{{{}}}".format(self.label)
+
+            buf.write("\\begin{{table}}\n\\centering{}{}\n".format(caption_, label_))
+        else:
+            # then write output only in a tabular environment
+            pass
+
+        buf.write("\\begin{{tabular}}{{{fmt}}}\n".format(fmt=column_format))
+
+    def _write_tabular_end(self, buf):
+        """
+        Write the end of a tabular environment or nested table/tabular
+        environment.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        buf : string or file handle
+            File path or object. If not specified, the result is returned as
+            a string.
+
+        """
+        buf.write("\\bottomrule\n")
+        buf.write("\\end{tabular}\n")
+        if self.caption is not None or self.label is not None:
+            buf.write("\\end{table}\n")
+        else:
+            pass
+
+    def _write_longtable_begin(self, buf, column_format):
+        """
+        Write the beginning of a longtable environment including caption and
+        label if provided by user.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        buf : string or file handle
+            File path or object. If not specified, the result is returned as
+            a string.
+        column_format : str, default None
+            The columns format as specified in `LaTeX table format
+            <https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Tables>`__ e.g 'rcl'
+            for 3 columns
+
+        """
+        buf.write("\\begin{{longtable}}{{{fmt}}}\n".format(fmt=column_format))
+
+        if self.caption is not None or self.label is not None:
+            if self.caption is None:
+                pass
+            else:
+                buf.write("\\caption{{{}}}".format(self.caption))
+
+            if self.label is None:
+                pass
+            else:
+                buf.write("\\label{{{}}}".format(self.label))
+
+            # a double-backslash is required at the end of the line
+            # as discussed here:
+            # https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/219138
+            buf.write("\\\\\n")
+        else:
+            pass
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _write_longtable_end(buf):
+        """
+        Write the end of a longtable environment.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        buf : string or file handle
+            File path or object. If not specified, the result is returned as
+            a string.
+
+        """
+        buf.write("\\end{longtable}\n")