Cell Objects

Table Objects	Properties	to Modify	to Add	to Delete
Row Objects	Properties	to Modify	to Add	to Delete
Columns	Properties	to Modify	to Add	to Delete
Cell Objects	Properties	to Modify	to Add	to Delete

The overall manipulation of a Table requires the proper handling of properties of cells, rows, or tables. R-Click in any cell of a table, select Table Properties, and a window pops up with three tabs; from this window, properties of the cell, the row containing that cell, or the table overall can be modified.

When adding the initial content to a cell, it is sometimes difficult to get the cursor into the cell. Try to click on a cell's left side, in the middle vertically.

Cell Properties

R-Click in a cell to bring up the Table Properties window; click the Cell TAB. The basic properties of a cell include:

horizontal & vertical alignment of the cell's content
spanning of rows and columns
header style option
nonbreaking style option
height & width of the cell
background color or image for only that cell

alignment of cell content

When a cell is larger than necessary for the content it holds, the horizontal & vertical alignment properties of the cell determine where in the cell to place the content. The specification of a cell alignment overrides any row alignment property that may have been specified. The table below shows the effect of the horizontal (H) and vertical (V) alignment attributes:

H:default, V:default	H:right, V:center
H:center, V:default	H:right, V:top
H:right, V:bottom	H:left, V:baselines

spanning rows & columns

In the table below, the entry "sector" spans 3 columns and the entry "year" spans 2 rows.; the entry "RMIB" spans both rows and columns.

RMIB		sector
RMIB		Finance	Operations	Legal
y e a r	1997	19.7	6.9	2.3
	1996	15.3	7.0	1.1

When changing the property of a cell to span columns or rows, cell's to its right are pushed over and form new columns on the table's right-hand side.

header style

Certain cells in a table may be headers for groups of other cells. These cells should be identified with the header property.

this is a header cell
here's how text displays normally

The default style for text in regular cells is plaintext, centered vertically, on the left side. Headers are typically displayed in boldface (since they are important visually) and centered. In Composer, it can be seen that the character objects in the upper cell have no character or paragraph styles applied; the centering and boldface display are the result of a cell property.

nonbreaking style

When a cell is given the nonbreaking style attribute, the text lines in a cell will not word-wrap when the table's cell is formatted to fit narrow windows. When used in excess, this property may cause a table to be wider than the space available, and the reader must then use the scroll bar to move back & forth to see the left and right sides of the table.

The nonbreaking style for groups of characters is a better choice for words to be kept together in a cell. Since cell widths are often significantly narrower than pages and impact other column widths as well, use the nonbreaking styles sparingly, on as few words as possible, so browsers have the freedom to format flexibly.

height & width

The Properties window allows the setting of a cell's width and minimum height, either as a percent of the table size or in absolute pixels. It is generally advisable to leave these dimension options unchecked, and let the cell float to the size it needs to be. Any such specification will have an impact on other cells in its row and column.

In the special case where a cell contains image(s) of known size, the table's width can be calculated in advance, and possibly then it makes sense to specify a cell size in absolute pixel dimensions.

background color or image

These options allow the specification of a solid background color, or of an image to be tiled, over the cell. The background setting for a cell overrides any such setting for the row or table containing it.

When picking a background color scheme, be sure that the content of a cell is visible against it; text and links should be easily readable against the chosen background.

Adding a cell to a table

Cells are added to the right of the cell where the cursor is blinking. Note that adding a cell to a table adds one new column to a table, also; other rows will be short one cell at the end.

L-Click in a cell: select Insert, then select Cell

=OR=

L-Click in a cell;
Menubar: Insert, select Cell

When adding the initial content to a cell, it is sometimes difficult to place the cursor into the cell. Try to click on the cell's left side, in the middle vertically.

Since cells are added to the right of a specified cell, a new first cell can not be added to a table. Add a new second cell, and cut and paste the cell entry from the first cell into it.

Deleting a cell from a table

There is no way to select a group of cells; cells can only be deleted one at a time.

R-Click in the cell: select Delete, then select Cell

=OR=

L-Click anywhere in the cell to be deleted;
Menubar: Edit, select Delete Table, then select Cell

Changing the properties of a cell

There is no way to select a group of cells; cell properties can only be modified one cell at a time. Modify values in the Cell TAB of the Table Properties window:

R-Click anywhere in the table: select Table Properties
then click the Cell TAB.

=OR=

L-Click anywhere in the table;
Menubar: Format, select Table Properties
then click the Cell TAB.

Then, modify the cell's properties...