To simplify the table alignment and spanning macro key combinations, some of the default key combinations are overridden by the macro files included in HoTMetaL PRO 4.0.
Key combinations for Change Element (CTRL-SHIFT-L) and Toggle Rules Checking On/Off (CTRL-SHIFT-K) have been moved to Function Keys F11 (Change Element) and F12 (Rules On/Off)
By popular demand F5 will refresh all images in your document. If you've been editing images, HoTMetaL PRO will not automatically reload and display the changes to your images. Press F5 to cause HoTMetaL PRO to redraw (NOT reload!) your document.
Due to the increased WYSIWYG functionality of HoTMetaL PRO 4.0 over previous versions, the "Contract Cell" functionality was dropped from the Edit Table toolbar, in favour of a "Split Cell" metaphor.
We have maintained the Contract Cell functionality in the application. It is available through the macros, with powerful, easy-to-use keyboard shortcuts.
A printable template version of this page (without all this text) is available. Print this page and keep it as a handy reference of the required keystrokes. They provide both table cell spanning and contracting, and cell content alignment.
A hardware limitation of PC compatible computers with 101 key keyboards prohibits using modifiers, like CTRL, ALT or SHIFT, in combination with the numeric keypad. Instead of sending, for example "CTRL-SHIFT-7", the keyboard sends "CTRL-SHIFT-HOME", as though NUMLOCK was off. These keystrokes are reserved by Windows for cursor movement and selection, so we can not assign macros to the numeric keypad.
We must use a different set of keystrokes to control alignment and indicate direction. Using the layout of the top row of numeric keys from the numeric keypad as a guide, we retain the numerals for the top row of keys. So, instead of using the numeric keypad layout
| 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
we will use the alpha-numeric keyboard keys
| 7 | 8 | 9 |
| U | I | O |
| J | K | L |
Press and hold CTRL and ALT together, then press the following keys
| 7 | 8 | 9 | ||
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| U | |
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O |
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| J | K | L |
and the i key will center the content both vertically and horizontally.
Press and hold CTRL and SHIFT together, then press the following keys
| 8 | ||||
| U |  |
O | ||
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| K | ||||
Contracting cells may appear backward, but think of it this way; if you want to contract a spanned cell, so the new cell appears on the left of the current cell, what you'll be doing is pulling the cell border from the left, towards the right. Since the direction the cell border moves is left to right, we want to use the right directional key, the "o"
Press and hold CTRL, ALT and SHIFT together, then press the following keys
| 8 | ||||
| U |  |
O | ||
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| K | ||||
If you would like to print a template, we have included a version of this page that without the text. View this page in a browser, and select Print... from the File Menu. Keep it handy when you're doing table editing and you'll find that they become second nature in no time.
All the macros described above are also included in the macros file TABLES.MCR. This file also includes the ability to span cells "diagonally", turning a 1 x 1 cell into a 2 x 2 cell. The content of the spanned cells will be appended to the current cell.
Press and hold SHIFT and ALT together, then use the "diagonal" alignment keys