Lesson 4: Cell widths in the same column can vary

In this lesson, you generate a table with cells that are in the same column and that have different widths.

About this task

With the table property combination in this lesson:
  • The row height adjusts for cells with more content in them.
  • Cell width values that are entered by the user are adhered to when the output is generated.
  • Cells in the same column can have the different widths.

Procedure

  1. Save a copy of the base template you created. Example: C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\table_sizing_tutorial\table_sizing_tutorial-lesson4-table3.dta
  2. Open the new template in the Document Studio application.
  3. Enter a heading name:
    1. Double-click the text element contained in the paragraph element.
    2. Enter Table 3.
    3. Click OK.
  4. Select the table element.
  5. In the Properties view, expand formatting > specific.
  6. For the table autofit property, leave the value empty.
  7. For the resize to fit contents property, enter false.
  8. For the fixed cell width in column property, enter false.
  9. Save the template.

Test the output

Procedure

  1. Click the Preview current document-style report icon Preview current document-style report icon.
  2. Click Yes to continue without configuring the other outputs.
  3. In the Results window, click the link to the PDF.

Results

Result:
Table 3

Example

If I were to specify different cell widths in cells of the same column, what would the table output look like?:
To create different cell width values:
  1. In the Document Studio application, select the Row element icon Row element and drag it into the table element after the existing row.
  2. Select the first cell in the second row.
  3. In the Properties view, expand formatting > specific.
  4. For the cell width property, enter 75.
  5. Select the second cell in the second row.
  6. In the Properties view, expand formatting > specific.
  7. For the cell width property, enter 75.
  8. Select the third cell in the second row.
  9. In the Properties view, expand formatting > specific.
  10. For the cell width property, enter 100.
  11. Rename the heading:
    1. Double-click the text element contained in the paragraph element.
    2. Enter Table 3: Different cell widths in a column.
    3. Click OK.
  12. Save the changes.
  13. Test the output.
If you changed the cell widths for the second row and the total equals that of the first row, the cells adjust, but the table itself is the same size:
Example of table three where different cell widths are specified.
If I were to remove cell widths, what would the table output look like?:
To remove the cell width values:
  1. In the Document Studio application, select Cell 1.
  2. In the Properties view, expand formatting > specific.
  3. For the cell width property, delete the value.
  4. Repeat step 3 to remove the cell width values for Cell 2 and Cell 3.
  5. Rename the heading:
    1. Double-click the text element contained in the paragraph element.
    2. Enter Table 3: No cell widths specified.
    3. Click OK.
  6. Delete the second row from the previous example, if it is still in the template.
  7. Save the changes.
  8. Test the output.
If you removed the cell widths from each cell element, all column widths are the same in the table. The row height is adjusted to allow for the content in them:
Example of table three where no cell widths are specified.

Lesson checkpoint

You generated a table with cell widths that vary.