Tables are fun!
Tables in Papyrus are like a kitchen table, seemingly simple and functional but useful for a wide variety of purposes.
Michael High explains...My old dictionary predates the computer era. It defines a table in a document as "a compact scheme of numerical information". On a typewriter, they are created by setting up a suitable tab line and entering the information separated by pressing the tab key. If your text information is short enough that it never needs to take up more than one line within a column, you can do things this way in Papyrus. Just review the last tutorial on the use of paragraph styles, and away you go. However, there is a better way.
Tables are made up of rows and columns of information which can be either text, numbers or even pictures. The intersection of a row and column is called a cell. It is possible to create an empty table and then fill it with data. However, experience dictates the best way to create an effective table is to follow this step by step approach.
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Step 1 - Enter the data
In figure 1, I have typed in the information I want to form into a table by separating each column with a "tab" and each row with a "return", just as I would have done on a typewriter. I have then selected all the data I have entered and opened the Table setup dialog. The Table style looks at the selection and sees that it is currently text with two rows (from the two returns) and three columns (separated by the two tabs).
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Step 2 - Convert the text to a table
Clicking on one of the seven table style choices other than "text" converts the selected text to a table, with the chosen default lines separating the information. Figure 2 shows the "lines round everything" option being applied. Papyrus automatically works out the best column widths.Step 3 - Make any final edits to the data
Data editing is best done at this stage. Pages 179 to 181 of the Papyrus manual explain in detail how to move round a table. The best way to master this is to create a few tables and play with them. One thing that deserves a little more clarification is the deleting of rows. The [Control]+[Delete] function only applies to the row of text within a cell, not the row within the table. You can select the entire row and delete it, though it seems that once you add formatting to the table, this facility is lost.There is no button to recalculate the column widths, should you modify the text. However, to do this, all you have to do is select the entire table, bring up the Table setup dialog, select Table style "text" to convert it back to tab separated data, select Apply, select the table style you want and then click on OK.
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Step 4 - Fine tune the column widths
Figure 3 shows the effect of altering the column widths. See how the table automatically wraps the text to suit the new column widths and adjusts the row heights accordingly. This is the heart of the power of tables, the ability to reformat information in multiple columns whilst keeping the rows aligned. Notice that in converting the text to a table, Papyrus removed the Paragraph Style, whilst leaving the Text Style intact. That is because in tables, the paragraph margins are replaced by the cell margins, which are set in the Table setup dialog. It is possible to continue to use Text Style tags within tables.Commercial break!
Before moving on to the fun and games of cell manipulation and formatting, a brief word about calculations. Tables look like spreadsheets, and Papyrus has always had built in a powerful set to calculation tools. These get a brief mention on page 186 of the manual and do not even get listed among the features on the cover of the box. This is surprising, as I have found them to be simple and effective to use. The Reader Disk contains a file that gives an explanation of the different functions, as well as an example template that uses them.
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If you set up your screen as Figure 4, it is easier to see how these calculations work as you move round the table. By the way, this example uses the very powerful cell formatting function which is only detailed on the Reader Disk files, and despite what this example might imply, AC contributors are not paid for their efforts!
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Step 5 - Apply any cell manipulation
Cell manipulation consists of either splitting or joining cells. Joining has two principal uses. Firstly cells across the top or bottom of the table can be joined to create titles or footers. Secondly cells up the side can be joined to create group headings. This is particularly handy when the orientation of the text within the joined cell is changed.
Cell splitting is for for restoring cells that have previously been joined. The information as to how to split the selected cells comes from the adjoining cells, so you can not spit previously unjoined cells.
Step 6 - Add any special formatting of the cells.
Here the only limitation is your imagination and the resolution of your printer. Colour users can mix text of one colour with a background of another with a third colour for the boundary lines. If you have one of the recent generation of 600 dpi monochrome laser printers, you can get some effective 3D effects by combining grey backgrounds with light and dark grey boundary lines. Some examples are included on the Reader Disk.
The method of selecting the cells is different to that for selecting their boundaries. To select a cell, set the text cursor in the cell and drag it to another cell. To select the original cell only, drag the cursor back inside before releasing the mouse button. Selected cells invert their colours.
To select boundary lines you use the arrow cursor. A click selects an entire boundary line, while a [Control]+click selects the line segment for a single cell only. Holding down the [Shift] key enables you to toggle the selection status of any line.
Next time...
We will have some fun with graphical objects to create DTP layouts. My thanks to those who emailed me after the last tutorial. Perhaps we will have enough material for a readers' tips column in AC10?...
Michael High
michael_high@nt.com
Good news!
The powerful features explored in this tutorial have been there since Papyrus v3 but it's still worth upgrading to the latest version to make the most of forthcoming tutorials.
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