Editing Table Properties

After a table is inserted into a content file (e.g., topic, snippet), you can easily change the properties of that table. This includes changing the number of columns and cells, the style associated with the table, alignment, borders, and more.

How to Edit Table Properties

  1. Open the content file.
  2. Click inside the table.
  3. Do one of the following, depending on the part of the user interface you are using:
    • Ribbon Select Table > Table Properties.
    • Right-Click Right-click the table and from the context menu, select Table Properties.
  4. Select the General tab and modify the options as necessary.

    Table Size

    • Number of columns Enter the number of columns for the table.
    • Number of rows Enter the number of rows for the table.
    • Number of header rows Enter the number of header rows for the table. A header row can be used to hold titles for the different columns in the table. These rows are automatically repeated at the top of pages in print-based output when a table covers more than one page.
    • Number of footer rows Enter the number of footer rows for the table. A footer row can be used to hold footnote information about the table.

    Table Caption

    • Text Enter a caption (or title) for the table. This caption can be placed above the table or below it.

    • Side Click in this field and select to place the caption either above or below the table.

    • Repeat If you want captions to repeat on tables that span multiple pages in print-based output, select Repeat from this field.

    • Continuation In this field, you can enter continuation text to the end of captions that repeat (other than the caption appearing on the first page where a table occurs). Typically this text would be something like "(continued)."

    Summary

    You can enter a summary for a table. This adds the "summary" attribute to the <table> tag and is used to help make your output more accessible to individuals with disabilities. See Accessibility.

    Autofit Behavior

    • AutoFit to contents Automatically sets the column widths to the same width as the table content.
    • AutoFit to window Automatically sets the table width to the same width as the output window.
    • Fixed column width Sets the column widths to the width that you specify. Select the down arrow next to this field and set the width in the popup.

    Align

    Aligns the entire table either to the left, right, or center of the topic.

    Table Style

    You can select to use either a special table stylesheet or the table style from a regular stylesheet. Whichever one you choose will control the look of the table that you insert. When you add a table stylesheet to your project, it is stored in the Content Explorer, Resources > TableStyles subfolder. For more information see Regular Stylesheets and Table Stylesheets.

    • Table Style Select this option if you want to use a table stylesheet to control the look of the table. You can then select an existing table stylesheet from the drop-down list.

    •  If you do not yet have a table stylesheet that you want to use, click the face of this button to open the Select Table Style Template dialog. This lets you create new table stylesheet. If you click the down arrow next to the button, you can select Print Style. This opens the Select Table Style dialog, which you can use to specify another table style to be used specifically for printed output. However, it is recommended that you use a medium instead of the "Print Style" option. See Mediums and Media Queries and Setting Table Styles for Print Output.

    • Style Class Select this option if you want to use a regular stylesheet to control the look of the table. You can then select the main table style from the drop-down, or you can select any class that you have added under that style. You can create classes for the table style in the Stylesheet Editor; those classes will then become available in this drop-down field.

    Text to Table

    These options are enabled if you have selected text before opening the dialog to insert the table. This lets you create the table and quickly place all of the selected text into table cells.

    • None Creates a table but does not include any of the selected text (i.e., text is removed and replaced with new table).
    • Paragraphs Converts multiple paragraphs to a table (each paragraph placed in a separate table cell).
    • Commas Converts text separated by commas to a table (each segment of text between a comma placed in a separate table cell).
    • Tabs Converts text separated by tabs to a table (each segment of text between a tab separator placed in a separate table cell).
    • Other Converts text separated by a specific text string (e.g., semicolons) to a table. After selecting this option, enter that text string in the field to the right. Each segment of text between the text string that you specify will be placed in a separate table cell.
  5. Select the Borders tab and modify the options as necessary.
    • Outer Borders Click in any of the individual fields (Left, Right, Top, Bottom) to specify the settings for the table border. If you click the down arrow to the right of all the fields, the settings will be applied to all of the border fields. When you click the down arrow or in one of the individual fields, a small popup displays. Use the lower-left area of the popup to enter a number for the thickness of the border. Use the lower-middle area to select a unit of measurement (e.g., point, pixel, centimeter) for the number you entered. Use the upper-right area to select a color for the border. And use the lower-right area to select a line type (e.g., solid, double, dashed) for the border. When you are finished, click OK in the small popup.
    • Border Radius These fields let you create rounded corners on the table (see Creating Rounded Borders on Paragraphs and Tables). Click in any of the individual fields (Top-Left, Top-Right, Bottom-Right, Bottom-Left) to specify the settings for a particular corner of the table. If you click the down arrow to the right of all the fields, the settings will be applied to all of the fields. When you click that down arrow or in one of the individual fields, a small popup displays. This popup has two halves. You can complete only the left side of the popup if you like. This will create a curve that is equal horizontally and vertically. If you want a border to have more of a curve either horizontally or vertically, you can complete the fields in the right half of the popup as well, so that you have two values (e.g., 10px 15px) instead of one. For more information on using two sets of border radius properties, see css3.info/preview/rounded-border/. Use the lower-left area of the popup to enter a number for the amount of curve. The greater the number, the more curve that is applied.Use the area to the right of the number field to select a unit of measurement (e.g., point, pixel, centimeter). If you want to provide a second value for the rounded border, complete the same fields on the right half of the popup. When you are finished, click OK in the small popup.
    • Cell Border Collapse Select whether you want to collapse the cell borders in the table. If you collapse the cell borders, the row and cell borders of a table are joined in a single border. If you do not collapse the cell borders, the row and cell borders of a table are detached. If you use the border radius properties to create rounded borders, this must be set to "Do not collapse cell borders."
    • Cell Border Spacing Use to increase or decrease the cell border spacing (in pixels).
    • Hide bottom ruling when table crosses a page break Set this field to True if you want to hide the bottom border when the table continues on another page. See Hiding the Bottom Border on Tables When Crossing Page Breaks.
    • Overflow This determines what happens if content overflows the table.
      • Visible The overflow is not clipped. It renders outside the table. This is default.
      • Hidden The overflow is clipped, and the rest of the content is invisible. If using border-radius properties, select this option for the rounded corners to be seen.
      • Scroll The overflow is clipped, but a scroll-bar is added to see the rest of the content.
      • Auto If overflow is clipped, a scroll-bar is added to see the rest of the content.
      • Inherit The value of the overflow property is inherited from the parent element.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Click Save the active file. to save your work.

Note To make other changes to the table (such as background color, repeating patterns of rows,cell padding and spacing, etc.), you can edit the table stylesheet. You can also edit individual cells in a table using the Cell Properties dialog. See Editing Styles in a Regular Stylesheet and Editing Table Cell Properties.

Note Because you can often control the look of a table in multiple ways—(1) local formatting tools, (2) local table properties, (3) a table stylesheet, (4) a regular stylesheet, or (5) branding stylesheet—it's possible that you might encounter conflicting settings from time to time. When this happens, the settings closest to the content typically has precedence. So precedence works like this: Local Formatting > Table Stylesheet > Regular Stylesheet > Branding Stylesheet.

You open a regular stylesheet and specify that the outer borders of the table should be green. Then you open the table stylesheet and specify that the outer borders should be red. And then you open the Table Properties dialog and specify that the outer borders should be blue. You've told Flare to do three different things to the same table. So in this case, the table would display blue borders, because the local properties rule over the other settings. But if you remove that setting from the Table Properties dialog and use the default setting, the table would then display red borders, because the table stylesheet has precedence over the regular stylesheet. And finally, if you remove the settings from both the Table Properties dialog and table stylesheet, using the default setting in both, the table would take its command from the regular stylesheet and display green borders.