10 Minute Guide to Lotus Notes 4.0

Lesson 19

Using Tables

In this lesson, you learn to create, edit, and format tables in your documents.

Creating Tables

You can create tables to organize the data in a document. After you create a table in Notes, you enter data into cells, which are the intersections of the table’s columns a nd rows. The data in a table might be words, phrases, or numbers.

Table

One or more organized list of data presented in columns and rows. A table can only appear in a rich text field (see Lesson 17).

To create a table, follow these steps:

In the document, position the insertion point in a rich text field and choose Create, Table. The Create Table dialog box appears (see Figure 19.1).

Figure 19.1 Enter the number of rows and columns.

In Rows, enter the number of rows you want in your table. In Columns, enter the number of columns. (You can change these numbers later if necessary.)
Click OK to create the table. In your document, Notes inserts a grid with the number of columns and rows you specified. In addition, it adds the Table menu to your menu bar, as shown in Figure 19.2.

Figure 19.2 A table grid helps you organize your data.

Entering Data in a Table

To enter data in a table, you place your insertion point in any cell and begin typing. If you continue to type past the end of the cell, Notes wraps the text within the cell as you type, adjusting the cell height to accommodate the text. Use the Backspace and Delete keys to edit the text in the table, just as you would any other text in a document.

To move around a table, you can click in any cell you want to move to. If you prefer, you can also use any of the following keyboard keys:

Tab Moves the insertion point to the next cell to the right. At the end of a row, the insertion point moves to the first cell in the next row.
Shift+Tab Moves the insertion point to the previous cell.
Arrow keys If the cells are empty, the left and right arrow keys move the insertion point to the next cell in that direction. If the cells contain data, the left and right arrow keys move through the data one character at a time and then to th e next cell. The up and down arrow keys always move from row to row.

Selecting Table Text

You select text in a table just as you would any text in a document—by dragging the mouse across the text.

Editing Tables

You can edit the table, and you can edit the text within a table. You edit text in a table as you would any text. For example, you can select the text and then delete it, you can insert new text, and you can copy and paste the text.

Another important feature enables you to edit the table itself by adding and deleting rows and columns. To add rows or columns, follow these ste ps:

Position the insertion point in the row above which you want to insert a new row, or in the column immediately to the right of where you want to insert a new column.
Choose Table, Insert Row or Insert Column. Notes inserts the row or col umn in the table. Figure 19.3 shows a table with an added row and column.

Figure 19.3 Notes inserts the row or column in front of the insertion point.

Add More Rows?

You can even add more than one row at a time. To do so, position the insertion point and choose Table, Insert Special. Enter the numb er of rows or columns you want to add to the table, choose Row or Column, and choose Insert.

The following steps show you how to delete a row or column:

Position the insertion point in the row or column you want to delete.
Choose Table, Delete Selected Row[s] or Delete Selected Column[s]. A confirmation dialog box appears.
Click Yes to delete the row or column.

Delete More

To delete more than one row or column, choose Table, Delete Special. Then enter the number of rows or columns, choose Row< or Column, and click the Delete button. Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

To quickly add one row or column at the end of the table, choose Table, Append Row or Appe nd Column. Or you can simply place your insertion point in the last cell in the table (the intersection of the last column and the last row) and press the Tab key.

Formatting Tables

After you enter your data, you can format both the text within a table and the table itself. To format text in a table, select the text and apply formatting using the Text menu commands or the Status bar buttons. (Lesson 18 covers formatting text in a document.)

By default, the table itself is formatted with a single line outlining the table and separating the columns and rows. To modify that, you can select certain cells or the entire table, and you can remove all borders or add a double border.

To format the table, follow these steps:

Double-click the table to put it in edit mode. Then right-click in the table and choose Table Properties from the shortcut menu. The Properties for Table InfoBox appears (see Figure 19.4).

Edit Mode

Edit mode means the document is ready to accept text.

Select the cells to which you want to apply a border.

Select the type of border you want to apply to the top, left, right, and bottom of the selected cell(s). The Outline option applies a line around the outer border of the table only—not the cells within the table.

Figure 19.4 Use the Properties InfoBox to apply cell borders.

Figure 19.5 shows a table with a double border around the outline and single border lines within.

Figure 19.5 Apply a heavy outline to make the table stand out.

In this lesson, you learned to create a table, enter text in the table cells, edit data, and format the table and its cells. In the next lesson, you will learn to find and replace text in a document. After reading the next lesson, you will also be able to find specific text in a database.