Word 97 Tables

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 New Table Tools   Moving Around in Tables   Table Menu - Table Toolbar   Formatting Cell Borders 
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You'll find a dozen different ways to use Word's tables in business applications, and the 1997 version contains valuable new features. You can use tables like spreadsheets, perform some basic math in them, and use logical operators. Tables simplify formatting data in columns; let you add captions (which Word will automatically number and update) when you want them, and format tables with or without lines, borders, shadows, and 3-D effects. The best part: Word 97 tables are a very powerful feature and are easy to create and manipulate.

Tables Toolbar ButtonCreate a table either by choosing Insert Table from the Table menu, or by clicking on the Insert Table button on the standard toolbar.

Opened Create Table ButtonTo use the Insert Table button, drag the mouse from the upper left to lower right to specify the number of columns and rows you want your table to contain (the grid drops down when you click the button). Don't worry if the numbers are somewhat limited - it's an easy matter to add to the table's size later. The button does not have an option for formatting the table; you'll do that separately.

If you create a table from the menu, type in the number of columns and rows the table should contain. If you don't know exactly, make your best guess. You can add or delete columns and rows as needed. When you create a table from the menu, you have the option of selecting an AutoFormat at the same time. See the section on Table AutoFormat for information on how to use this feature.

New in Word 97

Word 97's newest table function makes designing forms a snap, because you can draw a form just the way you want it to be, erase line segments where appropriate to merge cells, and split cells however you want to.

To use the new table feature, click on the Tables and Borders button Draw Table button to open the Tables and Borders toolbar, or right click on any toolbar and select Tables and Borders from the context menu. The toolbar contains several buttons which are useful for working in tables. The two buttons that you'll need for the new table feature are on the top left: the little pencil icon and the eraser icon (the illustration below shows the toolbar and a simple little form drawn with the 'pencil').

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Tables Toolbar Form

To create a table using the new tools, click on the pencil icon and first, draw a rectangle (the outside of the table) by clicking the left mouse button and dragging. Then draw in the interior lines where you want them.

There are some restrictions: you won't be able to draw diagonal lines or lines that don't connect to something on each end (to do that, you'll have to use the Line tool on the Drawing toolbar).

The eraser will delete whole line segments - for example, the vertical line between Quantity and Item No. in the above table; it won't erase a portion of a line. Experiment a little to see just what you can and cannot do.

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Moving Around In Tables

To move: Key Combination:
To the next cell Tab
To the preceding cell Shift + Tab
Forward one character Right Arrow
Backward one character Left Arrow
To the previous or next row Up Arrow or Down Arrow
To the first cell in the row Alt + Home
To the last cell in the row Alt + End
To the first cell in the column Alt + Page Up
To the last cell in the column Alt + Page Down
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Tables Menu/Tables and Borders Toolbar

The Tables and Borders toolbar contains most of the options you'll need to create and format tables. There are tools to insert and delete columns and rows, split or merge cells, sort data, or add up the numbers in a row or a column. You can also use the toolbar buttons to align text vertically in cells, to distribute rows or columns evenly, and even to change the text direction.

The Tables menu contains a few options not available on the toolbar, including inserting formulas and converting text to tables. Show Gridlines displays the non-printing lines in your table - they are useful for reference while you're designing forms.

Adding Borders

To format borders that do print, make sure that you select the whole table (or all of the parts that you want to have borders). If the Tables and Borders toolbar is not open, open it. Select a Line Style and Line Weight, then use the Border button to specify where you want lines to appear.

You can select different line weights for the border and the inside lines, if you wish by first selecting a line style and weight for the border and applying it, then selecting a different style and applying it to the inside grid. This is one possible result:

Table Borders

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