diff --git a/_doc/notebooks/git_dataframes.ipynb b/_doc/notebooks/git_dataframes.ipynb
index 8d8f85c15..9c4d09dae 100644
--- a/_doc/notebooks/git_dataframes.ipynb
+++ b/_doc/notebooks/git_dataframes.ipynb
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@
       ],
       "source": [
         "from gitpandas import Repository\n",
-        "tries = [\"../..\", \"../../..\"]\n",
+        "tries = [\"../..\", \"../../..\", \"../../../..\"]\n",
         "err = None\n",
         "for t in tries:\n",
         "    try:\n",
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@
         "        err = e\n",
         "        continue\n",
         "if err is not None:\n",
-        "    raise e"
+        "    raise err"
       ]
     },
     {
diff --git a/_unittests/ut_helpgen/test_changes.py b/_unittests/ut_helpgen/test_changes.py
index 414baf8ec..202c1efa7 100644
--- a/_unittests/ut_helpgen/test_changes.py
+++ b/_unittests/ut_helpgen/test_changes.py
@@ -56,13 +56,11 @@ def modifiy_commit(nbch, date, author, comment):
             generate_changes_repo(file, fold)
             with open(file, "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
                 content = f.read()
-            assert ".. plot::" in content
+            self.assertIn(".. plot::", content)
             content = content[
-                content.find("List of recent changes:"):].split("\n")
-            ls = [len(_) for _ in content]
-            ml = max(ls)
-            total = [l for l in ls if ml - 100 <= l < ml]
-            assert len(ls) > 0 and len(total) == 0
+                content.find("List of recent changes:"):]
+            self.assertTrue(len(content) > 0)
+            self.assertIn(":widths: auto", content)
         else:
             fLOG(
                 "sorry, fixing a specific case on another project for accent problem")
diff --git a/_unittests/ut_helpgen/test_doxygen2rst.py b/_unittests/ut_helpgen/test_doxygen2rst.py
index d1aacbc0d..3715a23eb 100644
--- a/_unittests/ut_helpgen/test_doxygen2rst.py
+++ b/_unittests/ut_helpgen/test_doxygen2rst.py
@@ -81,11 +81,14 @@ def test_process_var_tag(self):
         exp = """
         This is the documentation for this class.
 
-        +-----------+-----------------------------+
-        | attribute | meaning                     |
-        +===========+=============================+
-        | pa        | an example of an attribute. |
-        +-----------+-----------------------------+
+        .. list-table::
+            :widths: auto
+            :header-rows: 1
+
+            * - attribute
+              - meaning
+            * - pa
+              - an example of an attribute.
 
         Inline :math:`x^2 + y + z`. Another equation to test:
 
diff --git a/_unittests/ut_helpgen/test_utils_sphinxdocmain.py b/_unittests/ut_helpgen/test_utils_sphinxdocmain.py
index 7c9feaf87..b96a554ec 100644
--- a/_unittests/ut_helpgen/test_utils_sphinxdocmain.py
+++ b/_unittests/ut_helpgen/test_utils_sphinxdocmain.py
@@ -34,19 +34,19 @@ def test_sphinx_changes(self):
             OutputPrint=__name__ == "__main__")
         path = os.path.abspath(os.path.split(__file__)[0])
         file = os.path.normpath(os.path.join(path, "..", ".."))
-        assert os.path.exists(file)
-        fLOG(file)
+        self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(file))
 
         if sys.version_info[0] == 2:
             return
 
         rst = generate_changes_repo(None, file)
-        fLOG(rst)
-        assert len(rst) > 0
-        if "+-----------------------" not in rst:
-            raise Exception(
-                "+----------------------- not in rst:\n" +
-                str(rst))
+        # fLOG(rst[:5000])
+        self.assertTrue(len(rst) > 0)
+        self.assertIn(".. list-table::", rst)
+        self.assertIn("* - #", rst)
+        self.assertIn("* - 2138", rst)
+        self.assertIn("- 2017-08-25", rst)
+        self.assertIn("- catch zip extension", rst)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/src/pyquickhelper/pandashelper/tblformat.py b/src/pyquickhelper/pandashelper/tblformat.py
index 2299f7cbf..d0611931a 100644
--- a/src/pyquickhelper/pandashelper/tblformat.py
+++ b/src/pyquickhelper/pandashelper/tblformat.py
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ def complete(cool):
                 s = ""
             else:
                 s = typstr(s)
-            return s
+            return (" " + s) if s else s
         else:
             i, s = cool
             if s is None:
@@ -108,10 +108,11 @@ def complete(cool):
     if list_table:
 
         def format_on_row(row):
-            one = "\n      - ".join(map(complete, enumerate(row)))
-            return "    * - " + one
+            one = "\n      -".join(map(complete, enumerate(row)))
+            res = "    * -" + one
+            return res
 
-        rows = [".. list-table:: {0}".format(title if title else "")]
+        rows = [".. list-table:: {0}".format(title if title else "").strip()]
         if column_size is None:
             rows.append("    :widths: auto")
         else: