20 Table Information
What is a Table?
You learned that tabulations allow information to be put in organized columns. Tables are similar to tabulations but allow for more creativity. With a table, forms, invoices, and lists can be manipulated with color, shape, font changes, rotated 180 degrees. Rows and columns can be added or deleted quickly. Additionally, a table can also be set up to calculate totals.
What is a Row? A Column?
If you think of boxes in a post office lobby or a desk or dresser with many drawers, the horizontal boxes or drawers are rows. Rows are always the horizontal part of a table.
Columns would be the vertical boxes or rows. In this illustration to the right There are two rows and three columns. It is important to understand what is a row and what is a column.
How to Create a Table
From the INSERT TAB, find the Tables Group and the Table icon. Click on the Table icon. A dialog box appears called “Insert Table.” The top portion of this dialog box contains a number of squares arranged in columns and rows. There are also choices listed below the squares.
Inserting a table – Method 1 Select Size.
Using your mouse like a highlighter, select the number of rows and columns you want
for your table by continuing the hold down the left mouse button until you get the number of rows and columns you want. Release your mouse. A table appears on the screen.
Inserting a table – Method 2. Use a Form.
Instead of selecting the rows and columns desired, click on “Insert Table…”, the first choice on the list underneath the column/rows diagram. An ‘Insert Table’ dialog box appears. (a dialog box is a way to tell the computer what you want, you have a ‘dialog’ with the computer!). Under the heading ‘Table Size,’ you can choose the number of columns and rows by either typing a number in the box or by using the arrow keys to select numbers up or down.
Inserting a table – Method 3 Draw Table. This method is a bit more difficult and is not recommended to students just learning how to create tables. You can try this feature if you want an extra challenge. How to use this feature is not covered in this document.
You have the table, now what?
Cell. A cell is the place that the row and column converge. It is a box shape (see the illustration above.) A cell has four sides – top, bottom, left side, right side.
How do I add a row to an existing table?
Add a row at the end of an existing table. Rows can be quickly added to the end of an existing table simply by placing the insertion point in the last row, the last cell. Press the TAB key and an entire row with the same number of columns appears.
Add a Row in the middle of an existing table. It may be necessary to add a row to a table. Rows can be added above or below a current row in your table. There are two methods to do this.
First Method to add a row.
- Click the insertion point of the mouse in the position where you want to add a new row. A row can be added either above or below the cursor position.
- A ne