WebTable

Creating a Table

You can start a new table by clicking on the WebTable icon on the iconbar. This leads to a window allowing you to choose the starting dimensions for the table. You can insert and delete rows and columns from within the main editor, so this need only be a rough approximation to the size of table. Obviously you should choose a size which corresponds pretty closely to your final layout, as this will make the table far easier to handle.

The Toolbar

From left to right, the icons on the toolbar correspond to the following actions:

A Note on Previewing

If your table contains images, or links to ther documents, WebTable will give you the option of using an external file to preview from, stored in the same directory as the main table. This will allow the images to appear correctly, and links to function normally. An external file is used because tables may form part of a larger page. It would be unwise for WebTable to save the table automatically, in case other data was lost.

If you choose for WebTable not to use the external files, a temporary scrap file will be used as normal, but images and links won't appear/work correctly.

You can choose to set the preview method as the default for that table by clicking on the appropriate button in that window.

Selecting Cells

To select a range of cells, simply click once in the start cell, and then click once with the right mouse button in the finishing cell. The software will handle any combination of start and finishing cells, so don't worry if the start cell isn't the top left of those you are selecting! WebTable will automatically adjust the range if it includes joined cells which would otherwise protrude from the selected region, as not doing so could cause unpredictable results, especially in the case of cell joining!

Understanding Cell Size

HTML has no concept of size when it comes to table cells. With traditional DTP software, you would specify the cell size in centimetres or inches on a cell-by-cell basis. In HTML cell size is adjusted based on the length of the cell content, the surrounding cells, and the width of the viewing window. To simplify this rather complex situation, if you assume every cell to be the same size, you can't go far wrong, although obviously some colums will end up slightly wider than others (and some rows deeper).

WebTable shows all the cells with a fixed width, but obviously the content can be much greater than this, as the Web Browser will adjust the formatting to suit. The large cell below the toolbar can be used to edit a cell's content if it is larger than the standard cell size. If you click on any cell, its content will be displayed in this large editing field.

Adding Images

To add an image to your table, simply drag it into the cell you wish to include it in. Note that WebTable allows you to mix text and images in cells. If you drag in a sprite or a draw file, you will have the option of converting it into any of the WWW graphics formats supported by the ImageConv utility.

After any conversion has taken place, the Image Setup window will open with the image's details filled in. Provided you have saved your table, the correct relative path for the image will be added as well. Clicking on OK will insert the image tag into the cell you dropped it into.

Alternatively, if you wish to add an image to the current cell, simply click on the image button on the toolbar to reach the Image Setup window.

The Main Menu Structure

Most of the menu options are self explanatory. The Save Table option just saves the raw HTML for a table, whereas the Create WWW Page option actually adds all the HTML headers and footers required to turn your table into a fully fledged HTML page.

The selection menu is simple enough. Not that even if it isn't highlighted, the cell with the caret in is always regarded as being 'selected'.

Row alignment probably warrants an explanation. This is a neat HTML tabling trick which allows you to specify the alignment of all the cells in a row individually. Because of the way HTML works, with tables being defined as a series of rows each containing several bits of data, only rows can be aligned in this way. Anyway, by specifying the alignment for the whole row, the alignment is only included in the HTML once per row, producing much neater and more compact code. This is good news for people looking at your page!

Table Properties

Your HTML table can have a caption which describes its contents. You can choose its position, but bear in mind that not every browser which supports tables necessarily supports table captioning. That said, Fresco for RiscOS, and both Nestscape Navigator™ and MS Internet Explorer™ all support captioning.

You can also specify whether the table cells have a 3D border or not. This can only be set on a 'global' scale, and not for individual cells - another HTML limitation. You can only have a 3D border or none at all. If you select to have a border, but leave the width at 0, the browser will determine a suitable width itself.

Finally, by specifying the percentage width of the WWW browser display which your table will take up, it is possible to avoid the idiosyncracies of certain browsers when it comes to table formatting. If you've had problems with cells running to two lines, but the table only occupies about half the browser display, choose a percentage with here!

Loading Existing Tables

You can load existing tables by dragging them over the WebTable icon on the iconbar, but there is no gaurantee that tables not created by either WebTable or HTMLEdit will be readable. This is because HTML is such a 'fluid' language, and there are many bad examples of tables out there, which may miss important tags, or do slightly strange things to achieve certain effects. Please remember that WebTable is NOT a Web Browser, but a visual editor for tables, hence the preview options!