Re: Table styles
- From: Clive Huggan <REMOVETHISoffice@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 10 Jul 2005 09:05:22 +1000
Here's my 2 cents worth, chaps ...
Firstly, Sol, I should tell you where I come from (other than Australia,
where I've just woken from slumber on a freezing Sunday morning). I develop
long documents that are transferred between many colleagues (mainly on PCs,
various editions of Word) and me (mainly on Mac OS 10.3.8, Word 2004). I
trust nothing in Word that leads to instability or bizarre behaviour.
I cannot abide features in Word that have been insufficiently thought out
and lead to instability or inconsistency. The latest changes to table
styles, or aspects of them, qualify in this respect. I ignored the new
"Table Normal" style in Word 2004 (maybe in Word X?? -- I jumped straight
from Word 2001), but I did find one problem intruded: if I copy a table in
my previous formatting (about which more in a moment) and paste it into a
new document, the text is pasted in the same style(s) -- more about that in
a moment too -- but not in a table. I have also experienced the styles of
pasted (maybe dragged?) text being converted to "Table Normal" style in the
new document, but can't reproduce it right now. I wouldn't be surprised if
your problem comes from the same stable ...
I mention the above because it may give somebody some insights to go further
than I have.
[BTW, I overcame the problem described -- I either simply drag the table to
a new document, or if I copy and paste a table I include the preceding
paragraph mark (i.e., external to the table, above it).]
Now, here's my table formatting, which -- with the exception of the above --
always works, despite the high number of transfers between computers and
platforms.
1. I usually use more than one style in tables, depending on the need.
2. None of these styles is based on Normal, because a number of document
stability advantages accrue from avoiding Normal, especially with numbering
(discussed often in this newsgroups -- do a Google newsgroup search with key
words and "McGhie" as the author), and, importantly, a recipient¹s Normal
style cannot over-ride yours. The styles I use in tables are based on either
of two underlying styles:
a. If I use a heading in the table, it's based on Heading 1, which has been
modified to be based on ³No style² (because this creates a break in the
inheritance list that isolates the Heading styles as a group -- again, if
you want more, do a Google search in this NG).
b. When non-heading text is used, it's either my customized body text style
(I title it "bt") that is based on "no style", or it's based on style "bt"
-- for example, "table text,tt", which has a smaller font than bt and closer
line spacing, or "table heading,th" which is based on "table text,tt" but is
bold and has different leading before and after.
3. I never change any paragraph or margin formatting (the only thing I
might change is to embolden/italicize a word or a series of words).
I insert *all* tables as AutoText items, of which I have a great variety,
including with colour backgrounds in all or some cells.
The foregoing was designed for total stability, and I'm pleased to say that,
other than the problem introduced in Word 2004 that led to the "copy the
paragraph before, too" workaround, I have *never* had any problem in four
years.
And you'll see that I use more than one style in the tables (as many as, I
suppose, half a dozen).
Now, Sol, I can't fix your problem but I hope the above helps at least as a
workaround.
Full notes that cover the above, among other things, are available in a free
download of some notes on the way I use Word for the Mac, titled "Bend Word
to Your Will", which are available from the Word MVPs' website
(http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/Bend/BendWord.htm).
[Note: The document is designed to be used electronically and most subjects
are self-contained dictionary-style entries. Be sure to read the front end
so you can use the document to best advantage and select the right settings
for reading it.]
See in particular the first page of "Appendix C: My specifications for
styles to minimise the likelihood of changed appearance on other computers",
then see the article under the heading "Example ? creating and inserting a
pre-formatted table via AutoText" (do a Find command for these words). Most
of the other practices I've alluded to above are covered in the major
section "Styles and templates ? the keys to consistency and saving time".
Cheers,
Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is at least 7 hours different from the US and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
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============================================================
On 10/7/05 3:01 AM, in article
jemcgimpsey-8C635D.11010609072005@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "JE McGimpsey"
<jemcgimpsey@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> In article <BEF5A21C.412B%Sol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
> Sol Apache <Sol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Also I could not set one whole table to be one table style. The table I need
>> has a heading with shaded cells and white text while the rest of the table
>> is just plain background and black text with perhaps a different style in
>> the first column then another style for the remaining columns.
>
> Please read again what I wrote.
>
> You can create one table style that does exactly what you describe.
> That's exactly what a Table style is for - formatting the entire table,
> including headers in one go.
>
> Create a Table style based on Table Normal. Use the "Apply formatting
> to" dropdown in the Modify Style dialog to set up your first column and
> header.
>
>> In the end I created two table styles, but if I apply the header (Table)
>> style, then all the cells go red (the header style), and if I apply the
>> Table style for the other part of the table, then all the heading row is
>> totally blank because the shading has gone but the text style (white text)
>> is invisible.
>
> You must have applied additional styles or direct formatting. From what
> you've indicated, that's neither necessary nor desired. After you get
> your Table style right, select the table and choose Clear Formatting.
>
>> Are all the tables you create have a single type of cell and text style?
>
> No. They're a mix of fonts, shading, decorations and borders. They
> sometimes have automatic striping (alternating colors for rows/columns).
>
>> If so, what is the point of a table style?
>
> To format an entire table with one style.
>
>> So far as I can see it is either in beta function (if so why didn¹t
>> Microsoft tell us) or it is one of the most useless functions I have
>> ever encountered.
>
> It's neither. It's that you don't understand what the style does. Once
> you understand it, I suspect you'll find it very useful.
.
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