changing the appearance of the ruler when working in a table

[Ina]

When I am working within a table cell, I want the horizontal ruler to
show measurements relative to the cell border of the current cell (and
not relative to the page margins, as is default). So in every column
the ruler has to start at 0 again. I don’t know how to achieve this. I
can vaguely remember it is possible, I think by using a certain
keystroke combination.
In the Word 2003 help file the is a picture of a ruler of the type
that I want: please view the ruler in the Help topic “Indent text or
numbers in a table cell”.

How do I get my ruler to look this way?

(I am using Word 2003.)

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Well, Help is not always terribly helpful. To begin with, if I type "Indent
text or numbers in a table cell" into the "Type a question" box, I get two
hits: "Position a table on a page" (somewhat useful) and "Insert a tab in a
table cell" (the title of the Help topic is longer than the content: "Press
CTRL + TAB.").

If I search for just "tables," I get quite a few hits, but none seem likely
to contain the information you refer to. Ditto if I search for "indent."

Aha, I see I am searching just the offline Help. If I search Microsoft
Office Online, I do find the topic you refer to
(http://office.microsoft.com/assista...C010227171033&QueryID=aXuGlCnzC&respos=1&rt=2).
The top illustration actually represents the ruler in a table, and it is
continuous. The second illustration, regarding setting tab stops, is a
generic ruler illustration used for topics concerning setting tabs. I don't
believe there is any way to achieve what you ask in a table, even when it is
wrapped.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

When I am working within a table cell, I want the horizontal ruler to
show measurements relative to the cell border of the current cell (and
not relative to the page margins, as is default). So in every column
the ruler has to start at 0 again. I don’t know how to achieve this. I
can vaguely remember it is possible, I think by using a certain
keystroke combination.
In the Word 2003 help file the is a picture of a ruler of the type
that I want: please view the ruler in the Help topic “Indent text or
numbers in a table cell”.

How do I get my ruler to look this way?

(I am using Word 2003.)

 

[Ina]

Thank you for your answer. I was hoping there was a way. I think the
default ruler is particularly confusing, when you are working with tab
stops in tables. In the ruler I see all measurements, including the
tab stop positions, relative to the page margin. And in the Format-
Tabs dialog the tab stop positions are given relative to the cell
border. These are totally different numbers. I think this is very
confusing and awkward.

Thanks,
Ina

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I totally agree. FWIW, I usually just set the tab stops on the ruler,
avoiding the Tabs dialog. If I want tabs in multiple cells/columns to match,
I use Ctrl+Shift+C and Ctrl+Shift+V to copy/paste the formatting. Do note
that you can see the exact position of tabs on the ruler (even in table
cells) if you press Alt while clicking or dragging the tab marker. The
measurement given there will match the one in the Tabs dialog.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

Thank you for your answer. I was hoping there was a way. I think the
default ruler is particularly confusing, when you are working with tab
stops in tables. In the ruler I see all measurements, including the
tab stop positions, relative to the page margin. And in the Format-
Tabs dialog the tab stop positions are given relative to the cell
border. These are totally different numbers. I think this is very
confusing and awkward.

Thanks,
Ina