24. Create a Table  BEFORE YOU BEGIN 23 About Writer Tables
 SEE ALSO 25 Format a Table 26 Manage a Table
Writer gives you many ways to create, edit, and format tables. Not surprisingly, the simplest ways are usually the most preferred ways. -
Use the Table button on the Standard toolbar. -
Use the Insert Table dialog box to designate rows and columns . -
Select existing text and then use either the Table button or the Insert Table dialog box. | 1. | Insert a Table Using the Table Toolbar Button
Open a new document to practice creating tables. Click the Table button list arrow on the Standard toolbar. A palette of rows and columns opens, allowing you to select the number of rows and columns you want in the table.
| | 2. | Determine the Layout Hover the mouse down to the fourth row, and then across to the fifth column. As you hover the mouse over the palette, the cells are highlighted, indicating the number of rows and columns that will be created. A status area at the bottom of the palette displays the current number of rows and columns selected. 24. Create a Table  | | 3. | Complete the Table
Click the cell in the fourth row, fifth column. Writer creates a table that is four rows long and five columns wide.
| | 4. | Add Data Once Writer creates the table, it places your text cursor in the leftmost cell so you can type the table's data. When you finish typing the data, press Tab to move to the next cell to the right. If you find you need additional rows after you reach the end of the last row, press Tab again and Writer will create another row for you. If you press Enter instead of Tab at the end of a row, Writer will not add an additional row but simply adds a paragraph return within the cell.  NOTE If your cell is not wide enough to hold what you type, Writer increases the cell height to hold more data. Writer does not widen the cell. To widen the cell, see 26 Manage a Table . TIPS If you prefer, you can drag instead of clicking to create a table. Instead of clicking the Table button list arrow, press and hold the mouse button, drag in the palette to the table layout you want, and then release the mouse button. You can request that Writer format the numbers you type in cells as numbers instead of text if you want them to be right aligned. Select Tools, Options , open the OpenOffice.org Writer category, click the Table tab, and then click to enable the Number recognition check box. If this check box is not enabled, numbers you type will be left aligned and saved in text format. | | 5. | Insert a Table Using the Insert Table Dialog Box Using the Insert Table dialog box gives you more control than when you use the Table button. Using this dialog box to generate a table, you can request that Writer format the new table using one of several available AutoFormats, and you can set additional options such as whether to include a heading or add a border. On a blank line (not inside another table), select Table from the Insert submenu of the Table menu to display the Insert Table dialog box. Select the number of columns and rows you want in your table. If you don't know exactly how many columns and rows you need, guess as closely as you can. (See 26 Manage a Table to learn how to add or remove extra rows and columns.) Click the Heading option if you want the first row of your table to be separated from the rest of the table with a bold line. You can use this row for your heading information, such as titles across the top of the table if you wish. Click the Repeat heading option if you want the first row to be repeated on every page, assuming your table will span multiple pages. If you click Don't split table , Writer will not begin the table toward the bottom of the page if the page break would split the table; rather, Writer begins the table at the top of the next page. NOTE Some tables will be so long, the Don't split table option will not work. If a table is longer than one page, Writer has to split the table. | | 6. | Automatically Format the Table
Click the AutoFormat button to select an initial format for your table. You learn how to apply other kinds of formatting changes to your table in 25 Format a Table , but you can select an initial format from the list you get when you click AutoFormat .
| | 7. | Select the Look
Select a format from the list, and when you do, Writer displays a preview of such a table. You can keep selecting from the various formats until you find a format you want to use. Once you've selected a table format, click OK to close the AutoFormat dialog box. Then click OK to close the Insert Table dialog box.
| | 8. | Fill In the Resulting Table
Writer creates your table and displays its empty cells for you to fill in with data. Be sure to put titles in the first row if you chose an initial first-row heading for your table.
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