Create, edit, and delete table styles

Introduction

You can rename or delete a table style when designing a template. You can also rename a table style if you want to copy an entire catalog from a template and don’t want a style to be overwritten.

Deleting a style from a catalog does not affect any tables that have the same style—the tables simply have a style that isn’t stored in the catalog. If you want to change the style of these tables, you can apply a different style to them.

Create a table style

To create a table style, do the following:

1. Click in a table that has a format like the one you want to create. The more similar it is to the format you’re defining, the fewer changes you’ll have to make.

2. Set up the rows and columns by adding or deleting body, heading, and footing rows and adjusting columns as necessary.

3. Use the Table Designer to modify any of the table’s properties.

   Table styles must have all properties specified. An alert message warns you if not all settings are specified so you can go back and change any As Is properties.

4. Use the Paragraph Designer to create or change any of the following paragraph styles, which are stored as part of a table style:

   • the paragraph style of the title paragraph,

   • the first paragraph in each cell of the heading row,

   • the first paragraph in each cell in the body rows,

   • the first paragraph in each cell in the footing rows.

5. When the table looks the way you want, type a name of this new table style in the Style box.

6. Click Create Style.

Edit a table style

To edit a table style, do the following:

1. Click in a table whose format you want to edit.

2. In the Table Designer, choose the style you want to change from the table Style drop-down list.

   Make sure that you perform this step even though it means choosing the same style as the one currently displayed. Choosing a style from the drop-down list ensures that the stored format properties—not overrides—are displayed.

3. Click Update Style.

Delete a table style

To delete a table style, do the following:

1. In the Table Catalog, click Delete.

2. Select the style in the scroll list and click Delete. You can delete additional styles if you want to.

3. Click OK.

Apply a different style to a table

When you apply a different table style, only the properties associated with table styles change in the table. That is, any customizations you’ve made to the table—the column widths, the number of rows and columns, and the settings from the Table menu—are not affected.

The style for a table element suggests a particular table format, but you can apply a different style, either when you insert the table or later, and the change is not considered a format rule override. If you remove format rule overrides in the document, the table will not return to its original format. If a structured document does not have a style that meets your needs, the structured aplication developer needs to redefine a style or create a new one.

Figure 1. Table with old (left) and new (right) style; custom rotated cells retained

1. Click in the table.

2. Choose Table > Format > Table Designer.

3. Choose the style from the table Style drop-down list, and click Apply.

Apply a style to several tables

You can apply a style to all tables in the document, to all tables with a different style that occur in a selection, or to all tables that have a particular style. For example, you could apply Format B to all tables currently tagged Format A.

1. Select the tables by doing one of the following:

   • To apply a style to all tables in the document, click in any table.

   • To apply a style to several tables, but not all tables, in the document, select consecutive tables or table elements. To select multiple tables, you must select their anchor symbols.

2. Choose Table > Format > Table Designer.

3. Choose the style you want to apply from the table Style drop-down list, and choose Global Update Options from the Commands drop-down list.

4. Choose the tables you want to reformat by doing one of the following:

   • To retag all tables in the document, click All Tables And Catalog Entries.

   • To retag the tables in the selection and all tables with the same style, click All Matching Tags In Selection.

   • To retag all tables with a specific style, choose a style from the All Tagged drop-down list.

5. Click All Properties in the Use Properties in the Table Designer area, and click Update.

Redefine table styles

To change a table style, you change a table’s properties and then change the corresponding style to match the table.

The properties applied to the style include those set in the Table Designer and the defaults not set in the Table Designer—for example, the default paragraph styles.

In addition, properties set in the Table Designer (but not default properties that aren’t changed in the Table Designer) are applied to existing tables in the document that have the same style.

To redefine a table style, do the following:

1. Click in a table whose style you want to redefine, and choose Table > Format > Table Designer. If the table you clicked in has format overrides, these overrides—not the style’s definition—appear in the Table Designer.

2. If you want to base the changed format on the style, without any overrides, choose the style from the table Style drop-down list, even if the style you want is already displayed in the table Style box.

3. Do the following:

   • Use the Table Designer to change any of the settings for the Basic, Ruling, or Shading properties.

   • Change any of the default properties, such as the number of rows and columns, widths of columns, and the paragraph style of the title and of the first paragraph of each column. These properties are supplied when you first insert a new, empty table.

4. Click Update Style. If any of the tables being updated contain format overrides, an alert message asks whether you want to remove them.

Change properties in multiple table styles

You can change specified properties of multiple table styles at the same time. For example, you can change all table styles from centered to left-aligned.

To change properties in multiple table styles, do the following:

1. Select the tables whose styles you want to redefine by doing one of the following:

   • To redefine one table style or all table styles in the document, click in any table.

   • To redefine several table styles, but not all styles in the document, select consecutive tables whose styles you want to redefine. (To select multiple tables, select their anchor symbols.)

2. In the Table Designer, display the group of properties from which you want to apply one or two properties.

3. In structured documents, delete the style name from the table Style box if the box is not empty. Deleting the style name sets the box to As Is, which keeps FrameMaker from changing the styles of the formats that you update.

4. Change the properties as needed.

5. Choose Global Update Options from the Commands drop-down list.

6. Choose the table styles you want to apply the properties to.

7. Click the current property group in the Use Properties area and click Update. If any of the tables being updated contain format overrides, an alert message asks whether you want to remove them.

FrameMaker applies the properties to the Table Catalog styles you specified and to all tables in the document with the same style.