Objective
Working with tables.
Tables are a very important feature of a word processing package. They can be used not only to produce an actual table but also to help format a document without displaying the table borders. Tables are made up of rows and columns. The individual rectangles they form are called CELLS. The possibilities with tables in Word â are almost endless: you have full control over the number of rows and columns, the size of each cell, the borders, the cell fill not to mention the font style, colour alignment etc of the text within the cells.
Task 6
The table below shows retail price index information for the period August 1998 to August 1999. This information can be very important when formulating a pay claim on behalf of your members.
|
Retail Price Index (Jan 1987=100) |
% Increase on year ago |
Tax and price index |
|
|
August 1998 |
163.7 |
3.3 |
3.3 |
|
September 1998 |
164.4 |
3.2 |
3.1 |
|
October 1998 |
164.5 |
3.1 |
3.1 |
|
November 1998 |
164.4 |
3.0 |
2.9 |
|
December 1998 |
164.4 |
2.8 |
2.6 |
|
January 1999 |
163.4 |
2.4 |
2.3 |
|
February 1999 |
163.7 |
2.1 |
2.0 |
|
March 1999 |
164.1 |
2.1 |
1.9 |
|
April 1999 |
165.2 |
1.6 |
1.0 |
|
May 1999 |
165.6 |
1.3 |
0.7 |
|
June 1999 |
165.6 |
1.3 |
0.8 |
|
July 1999 |
165.1 |
1.3 |
0.7 |
|
August 1999 |
165.5 |
1.1 |
0.3 |
Open a document and re-produce this table. Add your headers and footers and save it to your disk as Task 6.
Methodology Task 6:-
There are two ways to create a table. You can select Table + Insert Table to display this panel:-
Here you can specify how many rows and columns you require in your table. You can also specify the width of the columns. This box defaults to Auto. Auto makes the table the full width of your document and divides the space equally for each column. You can adjust the column widths and insert or delete rows and columns later so don't worry if you don't know exactly how many cells you need at first.
Alternatively you can click on the Insert Table icon on the tool bar. When you do this a box will appear as shown below. You can then drag across to show the number of columns you want, and down for the number of rows. Tables defined in this way adopt the Auto column width.
You should now have a basic table defined in your document. You can now begin to enter all of your data. At this stage don't worry about the final appearance of the table, you can sort that out later when all the data is entered. To move around the table use the cursor keys.
When you have entered all your data your table should look something like this:-
|
Retail Price Index (Jan 1987=100) |
% Increase on year ago |
Tax and price index |
|
|
August 1998 |
163.7 |
3.3 |
3.3 |
|
September 1998 |
164.4 |
3.2 |
3.1 |
|
October 1998 |
164.5 |
3.1 |
3.1 |
|
November 1998 |
164.4 |
3.0 |
2.9 |
|
December 1998 |
164.4 |
2.8 |
2.6 |
|
January 1999 |
163.4 |
2.4 |
2.3 |
|
February 1999 |
163.7 |
2.1 |
2.0 |
|
March 1999 |
164.1 |
2.1 |
1.9 |
|
April 1999 |
165.2 |
1.6 |
1.0 |
|
May 1999 |
165.6 |
1.3 |
0.7 |
|
June 1999 |
165.6 |
1.3 |
0.8 |
|
July 1999 |
165.1 |
1.3 |
0.7 |
|
August 1999 |
165.5 |
1.1 |
0.3 |
Click in the August 1998 RPI figure (163.7) and drag down and right to select all the text down to the August 1999 Tax and price index figure (0.3). Now click on the italic icon and the centre justify icon. Click in the margin to the left of the top row - this will select the full row. Name this row bold type and centre justified. Now move the cursor to the top of the first column - notice how the cursor changes shape to a small black arrow pointing downwards. Click once to select the full column and make it bold type.
Your table should now look like this:-
|
Retail Price Index (Jan 1987=100) |
% Increase on year ago |
Tax and price index |
|
|
August 1998 |
163.7 |
3.3 |
3.3 |
|
September 1998 |
164.4 |
3.2 |
3.1 |
|
October 1998 |
164.5 |
3.1 |
3.1 |
|
November 1998 |
164.4 |
3.0 |
2.9 |
|
December 1998 |
164.4 |
2.8 |
2.6 |
|
January 1999 |
163.4 |
2.4 |
2.3 |
|
February 1999 |
163.7 |
2.1 |
2.0 |
|
March 1999 |
164.1 |
2.1 |
1.9 |
|
April 1999 |
165.2 |
1.6 |
1.0 |
|
May 1999 |
165.6 |
1.3 |
0.7 |
|
June 1999 |
165.6 |
1.3 |
0.8 |
|
July 1999 |
165.1 |
1.3 |
0.7 |
|
August 1999 |
165.5 |
1.1 |
0.3 |
Next you need to format the border of the table. Notice how the outline of the table on the worksheet is thicker than the rest of the lines. To do this first select the full table; click on any cell in your table then select Table + Select Table. Now select Format + Borders and Shading to display this panel:-
Click on the Grid box. Now click on the down arrow to the right of the Width box and select 2¼ pt width. Notice how the preview box on the right has changed to show the thicker border. Now click OK.
Finally you can adjust the column widths of your table. To do this click on a cell in the column you want to change and then moving the cursor over the edge of that column. Notice how the cursor changes shape to show two small arrows pointing in opposite directions. Simply drag the column to the width you require.