Hi Gordon,
When you specify column names for a uitable in MATLAB and include multiple spaces in the names, MATLAB's default behaviour is to condense multiple spaces into a single space. As a workaround you can use significant whitespace character which is char(160) for Nonbreaking space.
Kindly refer to the code snippet below, where Nonbreaking space has been utilized.
fig = uifigure;
tbl = uitable(fig, 'data', rand(4,3));
% Define column names with non-breaking spaces i.e., char(160)
k = char(160);
tbl.ColumnName = {['a1' k k k '1'], ['a2' k k k k k '2'], ['a3' k k k k k k k k k k '3']};
Please refer to the following image which is output of the code provided above.
Please go through the following MathWorks documentations to learn more about significant whitespace characters: https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/strtrim.html?searchHighlight=char%28160%29&s_tid=srchtitle_support_results_4_char%2528160%2529#:~:text=Significant%20Whitespace%20Character
I hope the information provided above is helpful in accomplishing your task.