Convert Text to Table and maintain formatting

[Don Edmonds]

Hi everyone

Is there a way of converting text to a table but maintaining the formatting
of the text - headings - heading levels etc? (I seem to think that it was
possible in earlier versions - but now when I convert text to table ALL the
text formatting turns in to "Table Grid".


--
Don Edmonds
7 Rankin Street
Kaikohe
New Zealand
64-9-4053030
64-27-2568290

 

[Clive Huggan]

G'day Don,

Thanks for asking this question. I had half expected that this was another
manifestation of the recent changes to Word in introducing Table Grid /
Table Normal (I'm annoyed by the table formatting *sometimes* being lost
when one copies and pastes a table -- i.e. it pastes as text, as if it had
never been in a table -- unless a paragraph mark (after the table IIRC) is
included in the selection.)

But I tried out what you describe and find that my heading styles and body
text styles are preserved in the new table when I select several paragraphs
and choose Table menu -> Convert -> Text to table, then choose 2 columns.
Same with directly applied formatting.

Hmmm...

I'm in Word 11.1.1 with SP2 applied, and OS 10.3.8. Are you in OS 10.4,
perhaps, or an earlier OS? If so, can anyone else replicate this?

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
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[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hi Don:

You are corresponding with the only person on this group who knows where
Kaikohe *is*... I grew up at Kaeo... Now that's got you, hasn't it

The problem is you have your default Table Style set to Table Grid. Table
styles are new in Word 2004: the style takes over the formatting of the
entire table, including lines, borders, rows, headings and text.

Set your default Table Style to be Table Normal, and make sure Table Normal
is set to "no formatting" and it will leave your table formatting alone when
you convert in either direction.

Unfortunately, although the new feature made it into Word, the new Help to
go with it did NOT

Use Table>Insert. Set the Formatting of the resulting blank table to None,
and check the "Set as default for new tables" box to store Table Normal as
your default format. The setting will be saved in your Normal template, and
should work OK after that.

Cheers

Hi everyone

Is there a way of converting text to a table but maintaining the formatting
of the text - headings - heading levels etc? (I seem to think that it was
possible in earlier versions - but now when I convert text to table ALL the
text formatting turns in to "Table Grid".

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Clive Huggan]

Hi Don:

You are corresponding with the only person on this group who knows where
Kaikohe *is*... I grew up at Kaeo... Now that's got you, hasn't it

Speak for yourself, McGhie! [well, he does, frequently; and he's probably
missing Oz and NZ at the moment, while he is in the US, so I will refrain
from cruelty...]

The problem is you have your default Table Style set to Table Grid. Table
styles are new in Word 2004: the style takes over the formatting of the
entire table, including lines, borders, rows, headings and text.

Set your default Table Style to be Table Normal, and make sure Table Normal
is set to "no formatting" and it will leave your table formatting alone when
you convert in either direction.

Unfortunately, although the new feature made it into Word, the new Help to
go with it did NOT

Use Table>Insert. Set the Formatting of the resulting blank table to None,
and check the "Set as default for new tables" box to store Table Normal as
your default format. The setting will be saved in your Normal template, and
should work OK after that.

Or just format ordinary heading / body text styles and bypass all this
unnecessary crud. You'll have much more control of the appearance of your
tables.

I insert tables pre-formatted to my requirements as AutoText entries, and
styled the same way as text outside of tables. If that's of interest, see
under the heading 'Example ‹ creating and inserting a pre-formatted table
via AutoText' on page 111 of some notes on the way I use Word for the Mac,
titled "Bend Word to Your Will", which are available as a free download from
the Word MVPs' website (http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/Bend/BendWord.htm).

The rest just falls into place.

CH
===

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hi Clive:

missing Oz and NZ at the moment, while he is in the US, so I will refrain
from cruelty...

Settle!! The only downside I can report from the USA is a severely positive
effect on the waistline. Since I know Hilary keeps YOU on a fairly short
leash *I* shall refrain...

Or just format ordinary heading / body text styles and bypass all this
unnecessary crud. You'll have much more control of the appearance of your
tables.

Oh, I agree. But first, Don has to get rid of the automatically applied
Table Style, otherwise nothing will make sense ...

Cheers

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

I'm in Word 11.1.1 with SP2 applied,

I think you must mean 11.2.0 then, Clive. SP 2 is 11.2. 11.1.1 is Word 2004
with 11.1.1 applied.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
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PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
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[Clive Huggan]

Ah, thank you, Paul. Prompt spotting of my deliberate error, as Captain
Mainwaring would say ...

<end bluster>

;-)

CH
===