[Originally appeared 2000.]
This is the eighth in a series of columns about using tables in Word 97 and Word 2000 that began in issue Word of Law No. 20. Of the ten questions stated in that column, one remains:
What can go wrong when formatting tables, such as strange behavior in inserts in rows and columns?
Earlier in this series, we covered table-formatting issues arising from paragraph formatting or styles. Besides those, some of the most common formatting problems with tables, especially in Word 97, are columns that exceed the right page margin and tables with a ragged right border, having rows that end to the left or right of the general right border of the table. Some of these issues have been addressed by the changes in table behavior and tools of Word 2000, so answering this question gives us an excuse to explore further the Word 2000 table developments.
In Word 97, it is very easy to cause a table to spill over the right page margin, even running outside the page itself. As a simple experiment, start with a table that fills the page margins. Then select the right hand column and insert a column using the menu entry, “Table|Insert Columns.” The new column inserts to the left of the existing column, and the existing column pushes off to the right. The page margin offers no protection. As the Word 97 help file states, “Existing tables are not affected by changes to the page margins. To maintain the same relationship between the table width and page margins after changing the margins, adjust the table width manually.”
Fixing this problem requires resizing the table columns, whether using the mouse and the cell borders or the table column controls in the ruler, or using the Cell Height and Width dialog from the Table menu. If the table exceeds the right boundary of the page, shifting to Normal View from Page Layout can make this area accessible.
Word 97 also makes it easy to insert oddly arranged columns, causing one or more rows to extend out or shrink in from the right margin of the table. This occurs most easily if one or more cells in a column row vary in width from the rest of the column. This can happen by merging cells horizontally or by changing the width of a cell without changing the width of the column as a whole.
In Word 2000, the new Table AutoFit capabilities can help avoid these behaviors under some circumstances. It is fairly challenging to write about this feature at a level that can be understood by a range of readers. The whole topic of controlling table formats is complex enough (measured at least by the number of columns it has taken to explain it) that it should be considered a skill for master users. From an organization’s point of view, general users should be supplied with a set of working table formats, as we have discussed, and discouraged from changing them.
Plunging ahead for the master users, developers, trainers and architects, Word 2000 offers access to the new Table AutoFit properties in two ways. The first, more complete method is presented in the Insert Table dialog (accessed from the Table|Insert|Table menu entry). That dialog contains three Table AutoFit behavior choices – Fixed column width (accompanied by a sizing control), AutoFit to Contents and AutoFit to window. The second set of controls for Table AutoFit are included in the AutoFit section of the Table menu. That section includes five commands, AutoFit to Contents, AutoFit to Window, Fixed Column Width, Distribute Rows Evenly and Distribute Columns Evenly.
The AutoFit to Window setting does a good job of avoiding the column inserts that cause the table to exceed the right page margin and the right boundary of the page. With the table set to AutoFit to Window (either on creation or by application of the Table|AutoFit menu item to an existing table), the table format stays within the left and right margin. Insertion of a column results in shrinkage of the remaining columns, and deletion of a column results in expansion of the remaining columns, all within the existing margins. Under many circumstances, at least when trying to format one table at a time, this behavior can keep a table looking attractive.
AutoFit to Contents causes more varied formatting. The columns grow or shrink based on the text or other contents of cells of the table. Empty columns shrink to some minimum size. Watching the column sizes change as text is added or deleted gives the impression of a compound version of word wrap, which, in a real sense, it is.
As indicated in the last Word of Law column, these AutoFit functions are not consistent with the goal of keeping tables consistent in formatting throughout a document as a whole, or among the documents of an organization. They have their best use during development of table standards, or in solving the formatting of a single use table that will be used only in Word 2000.
The solutions to the ragged table edge issues turn out to depend on a number of circumstances, including both the methods used to size and insert cells and columns and the relationship to the Table AutoFit settings. Also, there is more to explain about Table AutoFit than can fit this week. We will keep at it for another week.
This 2000 article originally appeared in Office Watch. Subscribe to Office Watch free at http://www.office-watch.com/.