Latex table rotate is not working - latex

Question

I am trying to rotate table but I could not do that. See my code below, I tried with rotate, sidewaystable and landscape. Nothing is working for me. Either it gives me error or work like the image. I want to show the table in a single page and rotated. Please help me to make it work.
\begin{table*}
\centering
%\begin{rotate}{90}
%\begin{sidewaystable}
%\begin{landscape}
\caption{Some description}
\label{tab:the_table}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline
Text A & Text B & Test C \\\hline
\multicolumn{2}{|c|}{\multirow{2}{*}{Longer Text, long long long etc. etc.}} & Test F \\\cline{3-3}
\multicolumn{2}{|c|}{} & Test G \\\hline
\end{tabular}
% \end{rotate}
%\end{sidewaystable}
%\end{landscape}
\end{table*}
BTW, I have to use this IEEE template to write my report. I think the problem is specific to this template. Below is the whole code from the template
%% bare_conf.tex
%% V1.3
%% 2007/01/11
%% by Michael Shell
%% See:
%% http://www.michaelshell.org/
%% for current contact information.
%%
%% This is a skeleton file demonstrating the use of IEEEtran.cls
%% (requires IEEEtran.cls version 1.7 or later) with an IEEE conference paper.
%%
%% Support sites:
%% http://www.michaelshell.org/tex/ieeetran/
%% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/IEEEtran/
%% and
%% http://www.ieee.org/
%%*************************************************************************
%% Legal Notice:
%% This code is offered as-is without any warranty either expressed or
%% implied; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
%% FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE!
%% User assumes all risk.
%% In no event shall IEEE or any contributor to this code be liable for
%% any damages or losses, including, but not limited to, incidental,
%% consequential, or any other damages, resulting from the use or misuse
%% of any information contained here.
%%
%% All comments are the opinions of their respective authors and are not
%% necessarily endorsed by the IEEE.
%%
%% This work is distributed under the LaTeX Project Public License (LPPL)
%% ( http://www.latex-project.org/ ) version 1.3, and may be freely used,
%% distributed and modified. A copy of the LPPL, version 1.3, is included
%% in the base LaTeX documentation of all distributions of LaTeX released
%% 2003/12/01 or later.
%% Retain all contribution notices and credits.
%% ** Modified files should be clearly indicated as such, including **
%% ** renaming them and changing author support contact information. **
%%
%% File list of work: IEEEtran.cls, IEEEtran_HOWTO.pdf, bare_adv.tex,
%% bare_conf.tex, bare_jrnl.tex, bare_jrnl_compsoc.tex
%%*************************************************************************
% *** Authors should verify (and, if needed, correct) their LaTeX system ***
% *** with the testflow diagnostic prior to trusting their LaTeX platform ***
% *** with production work. IEEE's font choices can trigger bugs that do ***
% *** not appear when using other class files. ***
% The testflow support page is at:
% http://www.michaelshell.org/tex/testflow/
% Note that the a4paper option is mainly intended so that authors in
% countries using A4 can easily print to A4 and see how their papers will
% look in print - the typesetting of the document will not typically be
% affected with changes in paper size (but the bottom and side margins will).
% Use the testflow package mentioned above to verify correct handling of
% both paper sizes by the user's LaTeX system.
%
% Also note that the "draftcls" or "draftclsnofoot", not "draft", option
% should be used if it is desired that the figures are to be displayed in
% draft mode.
%
\documentclass[conference]{IEEEtran}
\usepackage{blindtext, graphicx}
\usepackage{epstopdf}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{relsize}
\usepackage{multirow}
\usepackage{multicol}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{rotating}
\usepackage{pdflscape}
\usepackage{afterpage}
\usepackage{capt-of}
\usepackage{lscape}
% Add the compsoc option for Computer Society conferences.
%
% If IEEEtran.cls has not been installed into the LaTeX system files,
% manually specify the path to it like:
% \documentclass[conference]{../sty/IEEEtran}
% Some very useful LaTeX packages include:
% (uncomment the ones you want to load)
% *** MISC UTILITY PACKAGES ***
%
%\usepackage{ifpdf}
% Heiko Oberdiek's ifpdf.sty is very useful if you need conditional
% compilation based on whether the output is pdf or dvi.
% usage:
% \ifpdf
% % pdf code
% \else
% % dvi code
% \fi
% The latest version of ifpdf.sty can be obtained from:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/oberdiek/
% Also, note that IEEEtran.cls V1.7 and later provides a builtin
% \ifCLASSINFOpdf conditional that works the same way.
% When switching from latex to pdflatex and vice-versa, the compiler may
% have to be run twice to clear warning/error messages.
% *** CITATION PACKAGES ***
%
%\usepackage{cite}
% cite.sty was written by Donald Arseneau
% V1.6 and later of IEEEtran pre-defines the format of the cite.sty package
% \cite{} output to follow that of IEEE. Loading the cite package will
% result in citation numbers being automatically sorted and properly
% "compressed/ranged". e.g., [1], [9], [2], [7], [5], [6] without using
% cite.sty will become [1], [2], [5]--[7], [9] using cite.sty. cite.sty's
% \cite will automatically add leading space, if needed. Use cite.sty's
% noadjust option (cite.sty V3.8 and later) if you want to turn this off.
% cite.sty is already installed on most LaTeX systems. Be sure and use
% version 4.0 (2003-05-27) and later if using hyperref.sty. cite.sty does
% not currently provide for hyperlinked citations.
% The latest version can be obtained at:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/cite/
% The documentation is contained in the cite.sty file itself.
% *** GRAPHICS RELATED PACKAGES ***
%
\ifCLASSINFOpdf
% \usepackage[pdftex]{graphicx}
% declare the path(s) where your graphic files are
% \graphicspath{{../pdf/}{../jpeg/}}
% and their extensions so you won't have to specify these with
% every instance of \includegraphics
% \DeclareGraphicsExtensions{.pdf,.jpeg,.png}
\else
% or other class option (dvipsone, dvipdf, if not using dvips). graphicx
% will default to the driver specified in the system graphics.cfg if no
% driver is specified.
% \usepackage[dvips]{graphicx}
% declare the path(s) where your graphic files are
% \graphicspath{{../eps/}}
% and their extensions so you won't have to specify these with
% every instance of \includegraphics
% \DeclareGraphicsExtensions{.eps}
\fi
% graphicx was written by David Carlisle and Sebastian Rahtz. It is
% required if you want graphics, photos, etc. graphicx.sty is already
% installed on most LaTeX systems. The latest version and documentation can
% be obtained at:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/required/graphics/
% Another good source of documentation is "Using Imported Graphics in
% LaTeX2e" by Keith Reckdahl which can be found as epslatex.ps or
% epslatex.pdf at: http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/
%
% latex, and pdflatex in dvi mode, support graphics in encapsulated
% postscript (.eps) format. pdflatex in pdf mode supports graphics
% in .pdf, .jpeg, .png and .mps (metapost) formats. Users should ensure
% that all non-photo figures use a vector format (.eps, .pdf, .mps) and
% not a bitmapped formats (.jpeg, .png). IEEE frowns on bitmapped formats
% which can result in "jaggedy"/blurry rendering of lines and letters as
% well as large increases in file sizes.
%
% You can find documentation about the pdfTeX application at:
% http://www.tug.org/applications/pdftex
% *** MATH PACKAGES ***
%
%\usepackage[cmex10]{amsmath}
% A popular package from the American Mathematical Society that provides
% many useful and powerful commands for dealing with mathematics. If using
% it, be sure to load this package with the cmex10 option to ensure that
% only type 1 fonts will utilized at all point sizes. Without this option,
% it is possible that some math symbols, particularly those within
% footnotes, will be rendered in bitmap form which will result in a
% document that can not be IEEE Xplore compliant!
%
% Also, note that the amsmath package sets \interdisplaylinepenalty to 10000
% thus preventing page breaks from occurring within multiline equations. Use:
%\interdisplaylinepenalty=2500
% after loading amsmath to restore such page breaks as IEEEtran.cls normally
% does. amsmath.sty is already installed on most LaTeX systems. The latest
% version and documentation can be obtained at:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/required/amslatex/math/
% *** SPECIALIZED LIST PACKAGES ***
%
%\usepackage{algorithmic}
% algorithmic.sty was written by Peter Williams and Rogerio Brito.
% This package provides an algorithmic environment fo describing algorithms.
% You can use the algorithmic environment in-text or within a figure
% environment to provide for a floating algorithm. Do NOT use the algorithm
% floating environment provided by algorithm.sty (by the same authors) or
% algorithm2e.sty (by Christophe Fiorio) as IEEE does not use dedicated
% algorithm float types and packages that provide these will not provide
% correct IEEE style captions. The latest version and documentation of
% algorithmic.sty can be obtained at:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/algorithms/
% There is also a support site at:
% http://algorithms.berlios.de/index.html
% Also of interest may be the (relatively newer and more customizable)
% algorithmicx.sty package by Szasz Janos:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/algorithmicx/
% *** ALIGNMENT PACKAGES ***
%
%\usepackage{array}
% Frank Mittelbach's and David Carlisle's array.sty patches and improves
% the standard LaTeX2e array and tabular environments to provide better
% appearance and additional user controls. As the default LaTeX2e table
% generation code is lacking to the point of almost being broken with
% respect to the quality of the end results, all users are strongly
% advised to use an enhanced (at the very least that provided by array.sty)
% set of table tools. array.sty is already installed on most systems. The
% latest version and documentation can be obtained at:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/required/tools/
%\usepackage{mdwmath}
%\usepackage{mdwtab}
% Also highly recommended is Mark Wooding's extremely powerful MDW tools,
% especially mdwmath.sty and mdwtab.sty which are used to format equations
% and tables, respectively. The MDWtools set is already installed on most
% LaTeX systems. The lastest version and documentation is available at:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/mdwtools/
% IEEEtran contains the IEEEeqnarray family of commands that can be used to
% generate multiline equations as well as matrices, tables, etc., of high
% quality.
%\usepackage{eqparbox}
% Also of notable interest is Scott Pakin's eqparbox package for creating
% (automatically sized) equal width boxes - aka "natural width parboxes".
% Available at:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/eqparbox/
% *** SUBFIGURE PACKAGES ***
%\usepackage[tight,footnotesize]{subfigure}
% subfigure.sty was written by Steven Douglas Cochran. This package makes it
% easy to put subfigures in your figures. e.g., "Figure 1a and 1b". For IEEE
% work, it is a good idea to load it with the tight package option to reduce
% the amount of white space around the subfigures. subfigure.sty is already
% installed on most LaTeX systems. The latest version and documentation can
% be obtained at:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/obsolete/macros/latex/contrib/subfigure/
% subfigure.sty has been superceeded by subfig.sty.
%\usepackage[caption=false]{caption}
%\usepackage[font=footnotesize]{subfig}
% subfig.sty, also written by Steven Douglas Cochran, is the modern
% replacement for subfigure.sty. However, subfig.sty requires and
% automatically loads Axel Sommerfeldt's caption.sty which will override
% IEEEtran.cls handling of captions and this will result in nonIEEE style
% figure/table captions. To prevent this problem, be sure and preload
% caption.sty with its "caption=false" package option. This is will preserve
% IEEEtran.cls handing of captions. Version 1.3 (2005/06/28) and later
% (recommended due to many improvements over 1.2) of subfig.sty supports
% the caption=false option directly:
%\usepackage[caption=false,font=footnotesize]{subfig}
%
% The latest version and documentation can be obtained at:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/subfig/
% The latest version and documentation of caption.sty can be obtained at:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/caption/
% *** FLOAT PACKAGES ***
%
%\usepackage{fixltx2e}
% fixltx2e, the successor to the earlier fix2col.sty, was written by
% Frank Mittelbach and David Carlisle. This package corrects a few problems
% in the LaTeX2e kernel, the most notable of which is that in current
% LaTeX2e releases, the ordering of single and double column floats is not
% guaranteed to be preserved. Thus, an unpatched LaTeX2e can allow a
% single column figure to be placed prior to an earlier double column
% figure. The latest version and documentation can be found at:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/base/
%\usepackage{stfloats}
% stfloats.sty was written by Sigitas Tolusis. This package gives LaTeX2e
% the ability to do double column floats at the bottom of the page as well
% as the top. (e.g., "\begin{figure*}[!b]" is not normally possible in
% LaTeX2e). It also provides a command:
%\fnbelowfloat
% to enable the placement of footnotes below bottom floats (the standard
% LaTeX2e kernel puts them above bottom floats). This is an invasive package
% which rewrites many portions of the LaTeX2e float routines. It may not work
% with other packages that modify the LaTeX2e float routines. The latest
% version and documentation can be obtained at:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/sttools/
% Documentation is contained in the stfloats.sty comments as well as in the
% presfull.pdf file. Do not use the stfloats baselinefloat ability as IEEE
% does not allow \baselineskip to stretch. Authors submitting work to the
% IEEE should note that IEEE rarely uses double column equations and
% that authors should try to avoid such use. Do not be tempted to use the
% cuted.sty or midfloat.sty packages (also by Sigitas Tolusis) as IEEE does
% not format its papers in such ways.
% *** PDF, URL AND HYPERLINK PACKAGES ***
%
%\usepackage{url}
% url.sty was written by Donald Arseneau. It provides better support for
% handling and breaking URLs. url.sty is already installed on most LaTeX
% systems. The latest version can be obtained at:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/misc/
% Read the url.sty source comments for usage information. Basically,
% \url{my_url_here}.
% *** Do not adjust lengths that control margins, column widths, etc. ***
% *** Do not use packages that alter fonts (such as pslatex). ***
% There should be no need to do such things with IEEEtran.cls V1.6 and later.
% (Unless specifically asked to do so by the journal or conference you plan
% to submit to, of course. )
% correct bad hyphenation here
\hyphenation{op-tical net-works semi-conduc-tor}
\begin{document}
%
% paper title
% can use linebreaks \\ within to get better formatting as desired
\title{Bare Demo of IEEEtran.cls for Conferences}
% author names and affiliations
% use a multiple column layout for up to three different
% affiliations
\author{\IEEEauthorblockN{Michael Shell}
\IEEEauthorblockA{School of Electrical and\\Computer Engineering\\
Georgia Institute of Technology\\
Atlanta, Georgia 30332--0250\\
Email: http://www.michaelshell.org/contact.html}
\and
\IEEEauthorblockN{Homer Simpson}
\IEEEauthorblockA{Twentieth Century Fox\\
Springfield, USA\\
Email: homer#thesimpsons.com}
\and
\IEEEauthorblockN{James Kirk\\ and Montgomery Scott}
\IEEEauthorblockA{Starfleet Academy\\
San Francisco, California 96678-2391\\
Telephone: [phone]\\
Fax: [phone]}}
% conference papers do not typically use \thanks and this command
% is locked out in conference mode. If really needed, such as for
% the acknowledgment of grants, issue a \IEEEoverridecommandlockouts
% after \documentclass
% for over three affiliations, or if they all won't fit within the width
% of the page, use this alternative format:
%
%\author{\IEEEauthorblockN{Michael Shell\IEEEauthorrefmark{1},
%Homer Simpson\IEEEauthorrefmark{2},
%James Kirk\IEEEauthorrefmark{3},
%Montgomery Scott\IEEEauthorrefmark{3} and
%Eldon Tyrell\IEEEauthorrefmark{4}}
%\IEEEauthorblockA{\IEEEauthorrefmark{1}School of Electrical and Computer Engineering\\
%Georgia Institute of Technology,
%Atlanta, Georgia 30332--0250\\ Email: see http://www.michaelshell.org/contact.html}
%\IEEEauthorblockA{\IEEEauthorrefmark{2}Twentieth Century Fox, Springfield, USA\\
%Email: homer#thesimpsons.com}
%\IEEEauthorblockA{\IEEEauthorrefmark{3}Starfleet Academy, San Francisco, California 96678-2391\\
%Telephone: [phone], Fax: [phone]}
%\IEEEauthorblockA{\IEEEauthorrefmark{4}Tyrell Inc., 123 Replicant Street, Los Angeles, California 90210--4321}}
% use for special paper notices
%\IEEEspecialpapernotice{(Invited Paper)}
% make the title area
\maketitle
\begin{abstract}
%\boldmath
\blindtext[1]
\end{abstract}
% IEEEtran.cls defaults to using nonbold math in the Abstract.
% This preserves the distinction between vectors and scalars. However,
% if the journal you are submitting to favors bold math in the abstract,
% then you can use LaTeX's standard command \boldmath at the very start
% of the abstract to achieve this. Many IEEE journals frown on math
% in the abstract anyway.
% Note that keywords are not normally used for peerreview papers.
\begin{IEEEkeywords}
IEEEtran, journal, \LaTeX, paper, template.
\end{IEEEkeywords}
% For peer review papers, you can put extra information on the cover
% page as needed:
% \ifCLASSOPTIONpeerreview
% \begin{center} \bfseries EDICS Category: 3-BBND \end{center}
% \fi
%
% For peerreview papers, this IEEEtran command inserts a page break and
% creates the second title. It will be ignored for other modes.
\IEEEpeerreviewmaketitle
\section{Introduction}
\begin{table*}
\centering
%\begin{rotate}{90}
%\begin{sidewaystable}
%\begin{landscape}
\caption{Some description}
\label{tab:the_table}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline
Text A & Text B & Test C \\\hline
\multicolumn{2}{|c|}{\multirow{2}{*}{Longer Text, long long long etc. etc.}} & Test F \\\cline{3-3}
\multicolumn{2}{|c|}{} & Test G \\\hline
\end{tabular}
% \end{rotate}
%\end{sidewaystable}
%\end{landscape}
\end{table*}
\subsection{Subsection Heading Here}
\blindtext
% needed in second column of first page if using \IEEEpubid
%\IEEEpubidadjcol
% An example of a floating figure using the graphicx package.
% Note that \label must occur AFTER (or within) \caption.
% For figures, \caption should occur after the \includegraphics.
% Note that IEEEtran v1.7 and later has special internal code that
% is designed to preserve the operation of \label within \caption
% even when the captionsoff option is in effect. However, because
% of issues like this, it may be the safest practice to put all your
% \label just after \caption rather than within \caption{}.
%
% Reminder: the "draftcls" or "draftclsnofoot", not "draft", class
% option should be used if it is desired that the figures are to be
% displayed while in draft mode.
%
%\begin{figure}[!t]
%\centering
%\includegraphics[width=2.5in]{myfigure}
% where an .eps filename suffix will be assumed under latex,
% and a .pdf suffix will be assumed for pdflatex; or what has been declared
% via \DeclareGraphicsExtensions.
%\caption{Simulation Results}
%\label{fig_sim}
%\end{figure}
% Note that IEEE typically puts floats only at the top, even when this
% results in a large percentage of a column being occupied by floats.
% An example of a double column floating figure using two subfigures.
% (The subfig.sty package must be loaded for this to work.)
% The subfigure \label commands are set within each subfloat command, the
% \label for the overall figure must come after \caption.
% \hfil must be used as a separator to get equal spacing.
% The subfigure.sty package works much the same way, except \subfigure is
% used instead of \subfloat.
%
%\begin{figure*}[!t]
%\centerline{\subfloat[Case I]\includegraphics[width=2.5in]{subfigcase1}%
%\label{fig_first_case}}
%\hfil
%\subfloat[Case II]{\includegraphics[width=2.5in]{subfigcase2}%
%\label{fig_second_case}}}
%\caption{Simulation results}
%\label{fig_sim}
%\end{figure*}
%
% Note that often IEEE papers with subfigures do not employ subfigure
% captions (using the optional argument to \subfloat), but instead will
% reference/describe all of them (a), (b), etc., within the main caption.
% An example of a floating table. Note that, for IEEE style tables, the
% \caption command should come BEFORE the table. Table text will default to
% \footnotesize as IEEE normally uses this smaller font for tables.
% The \label must come after \caption as always.
%
%\begin{table}[!t]
%% increase table row spacing, adjust to taste
%\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3}
% if using array.sty, it might be a good idea to tweak the value of
% \extrarowheight as needed to properly center the text within the cells
%\caption{An Example of a Table}
%\label{table_example}
%\centering
%% Some packages, such as MDW tools, offer better commands for making tables
%% than the plain LaTeX2e tabular which is used here.
%\begin{tabular}{|c||c|}
%\hline
%One & Two\\
%\hline
%Three & Four\\
%\hline
%\end{tabular}
%\end{table}
% Note that IEEE does not put floats in the very first column - or typically
% anywhere on the first page for that matter. Also, in-text middle ("here")
% positioning is not used. Most IEEE journals use top floats exclusively.
% Note that, LaTeX2e, unlike IEEE journals, places footnotes above bottom
% floats. This can be corrected via the \fnbelowfloat command of the
% stfloats package.
\section{Conclusion}
\blindtext
% if have a single appendix:
%\appendix[Proof of the Zonklar Equations]
% or
%\appendix % for no appendix heading
% do not use \section anymore after \appendix, only \section*
% is possibly needed
% use appendices with more than one appendix
% then use \section to start each appendix
% you must declare a \section before using any
% \subsection or using \label (\appendices by itself
% starts a section numbered zero.)
%
\appendices
\section{Proof of the First Zonklar Equation}
\blindtext
% use section* for acknowledgement
\section*{Acknowledgment}
The authors would like to thank...
% Can use something like this to put references on a page
% by themselves when using endfloat and the captionsoff option.
\ifCLASSOPTIONcaptionsoff
\newpage
\fi
% trigger a \newpage just before the given reference
% number - used to balance the columns on the last page
% adjust value as needed - may need to be readjusted if
% the document is modified later
%\IEEEtriggeratref{8}
% The "triggered" command can be changed if desired:
%\IEEEtriggercmd{\enlargethispage{-5in}}
% references section
% can use a bibliography generated by BibTeX as a .bbl file
% BibTeX documentation can be easily obtained at:
% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/biblio/bibtex/contrib/doc/
% The IEEEtran BibTeX style support page is at:
% http://www.michaelshell.org/tex/ieeetran/bibtex/
%\bibliographystyle{IEEEtran}
% argument is your BibTeX string definitions and bibliography database(s)
%\bibliography{IEEEabrv,../bib/paper}
%
% <OR> manually copy in the resultant .bbl file
% set second argument of \begin to the number of references
% (used to reserve space for the reference number labels box)
\begin{thebibliography}{1}
\bibitem{IEEEhowto:kopka}
H.~Kopka and P.~W. Daly, \emph{A Guide to \LaTeX}, 3rd~ed.\hskip 1em plus
0.5em minus 0.4em\relax Harlow, England: Addison-Wesley, 1999.
\end{thebibliography}
% biography section
%
% If you have an EPS/PDF photo (graphicx package needed) extra braces are
% needed around the contents of the optional argument to biography to prevent
% the LaTeX parser from getting confused when it sees the complicated
% \includegraphics command within an optional argument. (You could create
% your own custom macro containing the \includegraphics command to make things
% simpler here.)
%\begin{biography}[{\includegraphics[width=1in,height=1.25in,clip,keepaspectratio]{mshell}}]{Michael Shell}
% or if you just want to reserve a space for a photo:
\begin{IEEEbiography}[{\includegraphics[width=1in,height=1.25in,clip,keepaspectratio]{picture}}]{John Doe}
\blindtext
\end{IEEEbiography}
% You can push biographies down or up by placing
% a \vfill before or after them. The appropriate
% use of \vfill depends on what kind of text is
% on the last page and whether or not the columns
% are being equalized.
%\vfill
% Can be used to pull up biographies so that the bottom of the last one
% is flush with the other column.
%\enlargethispage{-5in}
% that's all folks
\end{document}

Answer 1

You have to move the \caption statement out of the rotate environment. Now, the table is rotated, but it overlaps with the non-rotated caption. To fix, this use the sideways environment (not sidewaystable!) instead of rotate, because sideways calculates a new "bounding box" for the rotated text.
So your modified example looks like this:
\begin{table*}
\centering
\caption{Some description}% <-- moved this ...
\label{tab:the_table}% <-- ... and this
\begin{sideways}% <-- used this
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline
Text A & Text B & Test C \\\hline
\multicolumn{2}{|c|}{\multirow{2}{*}{Longer Text, long long long etc. etc.}} & Test F \\\cline{3-3}
\multicolumn{2}{|c|}{} & Test G \\\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{sideways}
\end{table*}
If you want to rotate the caption too, then you have to replace the table* environment with sidewaystable* and no further rotation inside.
\begin{sidewaystable*}
\centering
\caption{Some description}
\label{tab:the_table}
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline
Text A & Text B & Test C \\\hline
\multicolumn{2}{|c|}{\multirow{2}{*}{Longer Text, long long long etc. etc.}} & Test F \\\cline{3-3}
\multicolumn{2}{|c|}{} & Test G \\\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{sidewaystable*}