Format_table

A table style is a compound style made up a many elements. You can apply a single format for the entire table or format certain elements for a different appearance.

After creating a table style, you can select and format each table element by first selecting the element name from the Apply To list in the Style Editor - Table and List toolbar and then applying the desired formatting attributes from the other toolbars. The sample in the table style preview displays your formatting choices. To use the same attributes for all table elements, format the Whole Table and Table Position elements only, as the other elements inherit those settings. Note that setting an attribute for some table elements overwrites the same attribute setting in another element.

Table Position: Select this element to set the horizontal position on the web page, the spacing around the table and the minimum size of the table.

Horizontal Alignment: Select a left (default), center, or right horizontal placement of the table on the web page. Setting a Left or Right alignment for a table allows you to wrap adjacent text around a table.
Spacing: Set the spacing above and below the table. You can also set a left and right indent from the page margins for tables that are left and right aligned. To use the same setting for all sides, select the Use Same for All option and enter a value and unit for the first side.
Width and Height: Sets the minimum size (width and height) for the table.

Whole Table: This element affects all of the text in all cells in the table and the table caption.

Vertical Alignment: Select a vertical alignment for cell text from the Style Editor - Table and List toolbar. Align Middle is the default setting.

Align Top: Aligns the text in the selected table element with the top of the cell.

Align Middle: Aligns the text in the selected table element with the middle of the cell.

Align Bottom: Aligns the text in the selected table element with the bottom of the cell.

Align Baseline: Aligns the text in the selected table element with the baseline of the cell. This is the default vertical alignment setting for tables.
Font Attributes: These attributes affect the text in all cells, including the caption, unless overwritten by other table elements. Attributes include font family, size and unit, and character formats (such as bold, italics, and text color).
Background Color: Sets the text background color for all table cells.
Horizontal Alignment: Sets the horizontal alignment of text in the cells in the body of the table. This setting does not affect header cells.
Border: Formats the border around the table; border width (line thickness), unit, and color. Select the Apply to All Table Elements option to apply the border setting to all exterior and interior border lines.

The display of table and cell borders is controlled by several elements. The Whole Table element controls the border lines around the table; the Header element controls the cell borders for the top Header Column row and the left Header Row column; and the Cell element controls the interior border lines for all table cells except headers. Where there are overlapping lines of the same width, the Cell element overrides the adjoining Whole Table outside border and the Header element overrides the adjoining Cell and Whole Table border. If you set separate line colors of the same width for Cell, Header, and Whole Table, the Whole Table setting is overwritten by the other elements. However, a larger width setting changes the priority of border settings; in other words, the thicker line wins. In the example where all borders are set for different colors at the same line width, you can force the appearance of the border around the table in its designated color by increasing the line width for the Whole Table element.

A border width of 0 removes the border for the element.

Tip: To create a table style with no exterior or interior borders, change the border width for the Whole Table element to 0 and select the Apply to All Table Elements option. If necessary, delete the border width values and select No Color as the border color for the other elements.

Note: Table borders may look different in print output. Microsoft Word may not interpret the border settings of the style as they appear in the web page. You can check table appearance in print by previewing the web page in a document style that includes web pages, such as a System Process or Training Guide.

Table Caption: Use this element to format the text and horizontal alignment for the caption.

Caption position: Sets the caption position to appear above or below the table using Caption Bottom or Caption Top on the Style Editor - Table and List toolbar.
Font Attributes: Attributes include font family, size and unit, and character formats (such as bold, italics, and text color).
Background Color: Creates a background color behind the caption that extends the width of the table.
Horizontal Alignment: Sets the horizontal alignment of caption text. Align Center is the default setting.
Spacing: Sets the spacing around the caption. Depending on the caption position, use the Before or After settings to create more spacing between the caption and the table. The Left and Right Indentation settings are mainly used to indent left or right aligned captions.

Header: Use this element to apply the same format to text and borders for both the Header Row and Header Column elements at the same time. This setting affects the cells in the heading rows and columns only.

Note: Header formatting is not applied to a table if the Header option for the table in the web page is set to None in Table Properties.

Vertical alignment: Select a vertical alignment for the text. Align Middle is the default setting.
Font Attributes: Attributes include font family, size and unit, and character formats (such as bold, italics, and text color).
Background Color: Creates a background color for the header cells.
Horizontal Alignment: Sets the horizontal alignment of text in the header cells. Align Center is the default setting.
Border: Sets the border width and color for header cells.
Padding: Sets the spacing between the text and the cell borders in header cells.

Header Row: Use this element to apply a format to the cells in the first column of the table only.

Header Row formatting is only applied to a table if either the First Column or Both option for Headers is selected for the table in Table Properties in the web page.

Header Column: Use this element to apply a format to the cells in the first row of the table only. Formatting includes the font and font size, text color and text (cell) background color, character formats, and horizontal text alignment.

Header Column formatting is only applied to a table if either the First Row or Both option for Headers is selected for the table in Table Properties in the web page.

Table Rows: Use this element to apply formatting that affects all table rows except for the Header Column row.

Note: The Header, Header Row, and Header Column element settings overwrite the Table Row, Even Rows, and Odd Rows settings for row and column heading cells. The Cell element settings overwrite all Table Row, Even Rows, and Odd Rows settings for non-heading cells.

Vertical alignment: Select a vertical alignment for the text. Align Middle is the default setting.
Font Attributes: Attributes include font family, size and unit, and character formats (such as bold, italics, and text color).
Background Color: Creates a background color for the table rows, excluding the Header Row.
Horizontal Alignment: Sets the horizontal alignment of text in the table rows, excluding Header cells. A left alignment is the default setting.
Border: Sets the border width and color.
Padding: Sets the spacing between the text and the cell borders.

Even Rows; Odd Rows: Use these elements to apply formatting that affects even or odd rows only. For example, you may want to assign separate background colors for odd and even rows so that the table data is easier to read. The Border setting is not available for even and odd row elements. Even and odd rows inherit the single border setting from the Table Rows element.

Note: When you select the Even Row or Odd Row element, a message informs you that alternating formats for rows in tables are not supported in Internet Explorer 8 or earlier. If your organization uses these browsers, authors and end users do not see the formatting, but they do see the table and its data.

Cell: This element applies formatting to all cells in the table, excluding the Header Row, Header Column, and Table Caption.

Vertical alignment: Select a vertical alignment for the text. Align Middle is the default setting.
Font Attributes: Attributes include font family, size and unit, and character formats (such as bold, italics, and text color). These settings override Table Row settings.
Background Color: Creates a background color for cells. This setting overrides Table Row settings.
Horizontal Alignment: Sets the horizontal alignment of text in the table rows. A left alignment is the default setting. This setting overrides Table Row settings.
Border: Sets the border width and color for non-header cells.
Padding: Sets the spacing between the text and the cell borders in table rows.

Procedure To create a table style:

From the Style Editor - Styles toolbar, click Add Style and select Table.
Type a name for the style, replacing the <Enter style name here> placeholder text.
On the Style Editor - Table and List toolbar, select Apply to and choose the table element you want to format.
For each element, select the formatting attributes you want to apply.

Format the Whole Table element first to apply the same font formatting and cell background color to the entire table. To apply the same border style to all elements, select the Apply to All Table Elements option in the Border dialog box.

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Format_table_styles