Table Styles

[pirkko]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: intel

I used to use Word 2007 on a PC before switching to mac.

The documents I made with word 2007 used table styles for a great deal of formatting within documents, but I have run into problems doing this in Word 2008 (not the same documents, so it's not a compatibility issue or anything).

I'm not sure if the process is different and I just can't figure it out, or if Word 2008 is just not capable of doing this (help would be appreciated).

I'll go into the formatting palette, and within "styles" create a new table style. There I'll go through and customize the table to have a "Header row", "Last row", and alternating bands of "Odd rows" and "Even rows".

Whenever I use this style, it ALWAYS applies the header and alternating rows, but NEVER applies the last row.

In Word 2007 this wasn't a big deal, I could change the "auto format" options to select which parts of the style to use (apply the last row but not the header on this particular table, etc).

However, when I do this, Word 2008 ditches my style for one of about 20 "AutoFormat" styles (a list that I don't appear to be able to edit or append to).

I've tried many things to get the formatting the way I want it, but long story short, nothing I do will get the "Last row" formatting to be used. Even in the preview within the table style editor, the "Last row" style never changes ... even while I'm changing it.

I tried formatting a table in PowerPoint (real easy to choose to use last row and not header row), and copying it into word. This works for one table, but it doesn't copy the "style" into word so that I can apply the style to the many tables I have in this document.

any ideas?

 

[John McGhie]

I am impressed that you managed to make Table Styles work in Word 2007. I
thought they are an invention of the devil, and I refuse to use them

The mechanism is exactly the same in Word 2008. You can use Format>Style to
change a Table Style to your desire, or you can make a NEW table style, give
it a name, and use it instead. In Word 2008, it is a lot easier to click
the Toolbox button and use the Formatting Palette to make changes to Table
Styles. Format>Style doesn't seem to be properly aware of Table Styles
(that's a bug...)

Bu remember: a Table Style applies to the WHOLE table. You can't apply a
table style to only "part" of the table.

So if you want alternating rows, you have to edit a Table Style, format the
Odd Rows, and format the Even Rows, and save both changes in the same Table
Style.

When you do modify a Table style (or any other style) you must check the
"Add to template" checkbox each time, otherwise your changes will be saved
only in the current document.

If you do check Add To Template, the changes to the Table Style will be
saved in the template currently attached to the document. Those changes
will appear only in documents created NEW from the same template AFTER you
make the changes.

A Word document basically makes no further reference to the template styles
after the document is created. At the instant of creation, the formatting
styles table is copied into the new document, and the document then
determines its formatting from the local copy of the styles, not the one in
the template.

Hope this helps

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: intel

I used to use Word 2007 on a PC before switching to mac.

The documents I made with word 2007 used table styles for a great deal of
formatting within documents, but I have run into problems doing this in Word
2008 (not the same documents, so it's not a compatibility issue or anything).

I'm not sure if the process is different and I just can't figure it out, or if
Word 2008 is just not capable of doing this (help would be appreciated).

I'll go into the formatting palette, and within "styles" create a new table
style. There I'll go through and customize the table to have a "Header row",
"Last row", and alternating bands of "Odd rows" and "Even rows".

Whenever I use this style, it ALWAYS applies the header and alternating rows,
but NEVER applies the last row.

In Word 2007 this wasn't a big deal, I could change the "auto format" options
to select which parts of the style to use (apply the last row but not the
header on this particular table, etc).

However, when I do this, Word 2008 ditches my style for one of about 20
"AutoFormat" styles (a list that I don't appear to be able to edit or append
to).

I've tried many things to get the formatting the way I want it, but long story
short, nothing I do will get the "Last row" formatting to be used. Even in the
preview within the table style editor, the "Last row" style never changes ...
even while I'm changing it.

I tried formatting a table in PowerPoint (real easy to choose to use last row
and not header row), and copying it into word. This works for one table, but
it doesn't copy the "style" into word so that I can apply the style to the
many tables I have in this document.

any ideas?

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[pirkko]

My problem is less with getting the table styles to work in general, as it is with getting the formatting for the last row's style to apply (or selecting whether or not to use special formatting for the first column).

Everything else for the style I create seems to work perfectly, but the last row's format is not what I set when creating the style (word formats it as if it was just the next row down and not the last row with special formatting).

Even when I'm in the "new style" making tool, changing the formatting for the last row never even changes the table being previewed.
So if I were to change the last row's format to be bold, the text describing the style changes to "Table Normal + Font:Bold", but the preview doesn't reflect this change.

Anybody else observing the same behavior?

 

[John McGhie]

Oh, OK: Nice pick-up!

Yes, that's a repro bug in Word 2008 12.0.1.

I will put it in for you!

Cheers

My problem is less with getting the table styles to work in general, as it is
with getting the formatting for the last row's style to apply (or selecting
whether or not to use special formatting for the first column).

Everything else for the style I create seems to work perfectly, but the last
row's format is not what I set when creating the style (word formats it as if
it was just the next row down and not the last row with special formatting).

Even when I'm in the "new style" making tool, changing the formatting for the
last row never even changes the table being previewed.
So if I were to change the last row's format to be bold, the text describing
the style changes to "Table Normal + Font:Bold", but the preview doesn't
reflect this change.

Anybody else observing the same behavior?

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]