Table Formatting

Tables are flexible and powerful formatting tools for Help topics and are the easiest way to create complex arrangements of text and graphics. They are particularly useful for positioning embedded windows in ways not supported by the basic Help alignment attributes.

Help lets you create left-aligned tables using any combination of rows and columns. You can place any type of topic information, including text and embedded windows, in table cells. Help wraps paragraph text inside tables, but it doesn’t change the word wrapping of table paragraphs when the window is resized. The table is a fixed object, and its width remains constant as the window is sized. If the right window border clips the right side of the table, Help displays a horizontal scroll bar to let the user scroll the hidden information into view.

Help supports the following table formatting attributes:

nLeft-aligned tables

nVariable column width and inter-column spacing

nLeft indent for the table

nInter-row spacing (using paragraph spacing attributes)

nMerged cells

Paragraphs inside tables can use any of the paragraph formatting attributes described in “Formatting Paragraphs,” earlier in this chapter.

Help does not support the following Word table features; the Help compiler displays a “Table formatting too complex” message if it encounters unsupported table features in a topic:

nCell borders (although paragraphs inside tables can use borders)

nCustom row heights

nRight-aligned and center-aligned tables

Note:

If you apply a border to a paragraph contained in a table, Help applies the border to the table cell, not the paragraph. To use paragraph borders inside tables, you must either apply the border to the paragraph style or apply the border to the paragraph before moving it into the table.