Table Fields

[Jeanne A. E. DeVoto]

At 1:08 PM -0800 11/4/2005, Timothy Miller wrote:
>I've tried trial and error, and tried searching the documentation. I 
>haven't gotten too far. This thing seems more or less undocumented. 
>The various table properties perplex me. I've figured out "tab 
>stops." That's about it.


Hmmm. There was never very much documentation of tables, but what 
there was seems to have gotten lost at some point - or at least I 
can't find it in the 2.61 docs. Here it is, for whatever it's worth:


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How to create a spreadsheet-like table:

A table field is a field that is displayed as a grid, in the style of 
a spreadsheet. Each line of the field becomes a row, and the columns 
in a row are separated by tab characters. You control a table field's 
behavior using the Table pane of the field's property inspector.

To make a field into a table field, follow these steps:

1.  Open the field's property inspector and choose "Table" from the 
menu at the top of the inspector palette.

2.  Check the "Table object" box to make the field into a table.

3.  If you want, change the baselines, grid, and tab stops settings 
to change the appearance of the table field.

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How to allow editing of individual cells in a table field:

Normally, a table field is edited like any other field, by entering 
text directly. You can specify that a table field's cells can be 
edited individually. When you click a cell, what you type goes into 
that cell.

To allow cell editing in a table field, in the "Table" pane of the 
field's property inspector, check the box labeled "Cell Editing". 
When you click a cell in the table field, a box appears to let you 
edit the cell's content.

   Tip:  To move between cells when cell editing is enabled, use the 
Tab key, Return key, and arrow keys.

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How to format numbers in a table field:

To control the format of numbers in a table field, you specify a 
format, along with the cells you want to apply the format to, in the 
field's property inspector. To choose a format, follow these steps:

1.  In the "Table" pane, check the "Cell formatting" box.

2.  Choose a column number from both menus labeled "Format Column".

3.  From the "Using" menu, choose the format you want to use. In the 
"With" box, enter a prefix or suffix, a number of decimal places,  a 
percentage value, or "short", "long", "internet", or "system" for a 
date.

4.  Press the Tab key, then click "Add" to apply the format.

   Note:  You can apply only one format to any particular cell.
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-- 
jeanne a. e. devoto ~ revolution at jaedworks.com
http://www.jaedworks.com