Table in Latex -- How to make perfect column lines?

Question

The code blow is related to a table. However, the column lines are discontinuous and I need perfect lines from top to bottom. How to do that?

begin{table*}[t!]
    caption{Table} 
    label{tab:tbl2}
    centering % center the table
    begin{tabular}{c | c | c c | c} 
    toprule 
    {} & multicolumn{2}{c}{a}  & multicolumn{2}{c}{b}   
    cmidrule(lr){2-3} cmidrule(lr){4-5}
    {c}  & d  & e & f  & g 
    hline
    multirow{2}{*}{h}  
    & multirow{2}{*}{i}        
    & j
    & multirow{2}{*}{k}
    
    {} & {} & f & {} & h
    
    midrule
    multirow{4}{*}{l} 
    & multirow{4}{*}{m}        
    & n
    & 
    &  
    
    & {} & b & $ c 
     
    & {} & d & f 
    
    & & f & &
    
    bottomrule
    end{tabular}
end{table*}

Mico · Accepted Answer

I believe that on this website, many (most?) recommendations aimed at making your table look attractive will focus on NOT using vertical lines at all. They're not needed! Really! Put differently, a "perfect" table neither requires nor benefits from vertical lines. In addition, you'll find many recommendations here to use the line-drawing macros of the booktabs package instead of hline and cline.

I, for one, certainly subscribe to these views. In addition to following the recommendations given in the preceding paragraph, I would also eliminate the whitespace padding to the left of the  first column and to the right of the final column, and I wouldn't use right-hand trimming on the second cmidrule. And, I'd replace the lone hline directive with midrule.

The following screenshot shows a before-and-after comparison. The table on the left is based on your code, while the one on the right implements the suggestions made above. (To make the tables look less abstract, I tripled all letters.)

documentclass{article}
usepackage{booktabs,multirow}

begin{document}
begin{table}[ht!]
centering
begin{minipage}[t]{0.45textwidth}
    centering
    caption{Before} 
    label{tab:before}
    centering
    begin{tabular}{c | c | c c | c} 
    toprule 
    {} & multicolumn{2}{c}{aaa}  & multicolumn{2}{c}{bbb}   
    cmidrule(lr){2-3} cmidrule(lr){4-5}
    {ccc}  & ddd  & eee & fff  & ggg 
    hline
    multirow{2}{*}{hhh}  
    & multirow{2}{*}{iii}        
    & jjj
    & multirow{2}{*}{kkk}
    
    {} & {} & fff & {} & hhh
    
    midrule
    multirow{4}{*}{lll} 
    & multirow{4}{*}{mmm}        
    & nnn
    & 
    &  
    
    & {} & bbb & $ccc$ 
     
    & {} & ddd & fff 
    
    & & fff & &
    
    bottomrule
    end{tabular}
end{minipage}
quad
begin{minipage}[t]{0.45textwidth}
    centering
    caption{After} 
    label{tab:after}
    centering
    begin{tabular}{@{} *{5}{c} @{}} 
    toprule 
    & multicolumn{2}{c}{aaa} & multicolumn{2}{c@{}}{bbb}   
    cmidrule(lr){2-3} cmidrule(l){4-5}
    {ccc}  & ddd  & eee & fff  & ggg 
    midrule% not "hline"
    multirow{2}{*}{hhh} & multirow{2}{*}{iii} & jjj & multirow{2}{*}{kkk} 
    & & fff & & hhh 
    midrule
    multirow{4}{*}{lll} & multirow{4}{*}{mmm} & nnn 
    & & bbb & $ccc$  
    & & ddd & fff 
    & & fff 
    bottomrule
    end{tabular}
end{minipage}
end{table} 
end{document}

js bibra · Answer

Is this what you are looking for?

MWE:

documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{article}

usepackage{float} 
usepackage{lscape} 
usepackage{booktabs} 
usepackage{tabularx} 
usepackage{multirow}
usepackage{array}
usepackage{enumitem}
begin{table*}[t!]
    caption{Table} 
    label{tab:tbl2}
    centering % center the table
    begin{tabular}{ccccc} 
    hline 
    {}      & multicolumn{2}{c}{a}                 & multicolumn{2}{c}{b}                  cmidrule(lr){2-3} cmidrule(lr){4-5}
    {c}     & d                                     & e                     &   f   & g       hline
    multirow{2}{*}{h}                              & multirow{2}{*}{i}    &   j   & multirow{2}{*}{k}    
    {}      & {}                                    & f                     &   {}  & h       hline
    multirow{4}{*}{l}                              & multirow{4}{*}{m}    &   n   & {}    
     {}     & {}                                    & b                     &   $  & c      
     {}     & {}                                    & d                     &   f   & {}    
     {}     & {}                                    & f                     &   {}  & {}    
    hline
    end{tabular}
end{table*}
end{document}

F. Pantigny · Answer

If you actually want vertically rules compatible with the horizontal rules of booktabs (even though this is not at all in the spirit of booktabs), you should use {NiceTabular} of nicematrix.
documentclass{article}
usepackage{booktabs}
usepackage{nicematrix}
usepackage{caption}

begin{document}
begin{table}[ht!]
centering
    caption{Before} 
    label{tab:before}
    centering
    begin{NiceTabular}{c | c | c c | c} 
    toprule 
      & multicolumn{2}{c}{aaa}  & Block{1-2}{bbb}   
    cmidrule(lr){2-3} cmidrule(lr){4-5}
    ccc  & ddd  & eee & fff  & ggg 
    hline
    Block{2-1}{hhh}  
    & Block{2-1}{iii}        
    & jjj
    & Block{2-1}{kkk}
    
    & & fff & & hhh
    
    midrule
    Block{4-1}{lll} 
    & Block{4-1}{mmm}        
    & nnn
    & 
    &  
    
    & & bbb & $ccc$ 
     
    & & ddd & fff 
    
    & & fff & &
    
    bottomrule
    end{NiceTabular}
end{table}
end{document}

You need several compilations (because nicematrix uses PGF/Tikz nodes under the hood).

Table in Latex -- How to make perfect column lines?

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