The fight against table widths!

[CATERAF]

Hi,

I have to use many tables for my manuals but they vary in width depending on what I'm trying to show with them. I.e., some have a picture that needs to display next to the table so it's smaller etc.

The problem is that I clearly haven't got a grasp on table widths.. When I generate my table 'style' I put in the width of the columns that I want (for example, all columns add up to a table width total of 80%). That part is fine.

The part that is a problem is when I insert a table or change an existing table to use that style. Flare seems to have a mind of its own (a.k.a. I don't know what the css and xml is doing) and makes the table a totally different width... generally auto (which is 100%).
Why does it do this??

If I try and insert the table using the 'Insert Table' window, which of the three options for table width am I supposed to use when inserting the table? "Autofit to contents", "Autofit to window", or 'Fixed column width'. According to Flare's manual I thought I should pick the 'column width' but then every column is the same width which is not what I specified (i.e., they all came out as 80%.. so my table was 160% wide).. I just want to use the column widths I put in my tablestyle. I also want it to automatically update my table width if I am to change my table style!

Can anyone help please? The deadline is looming and the tables are rebelling

Thanks,
Avril

[Psider]

I just tried changing the column width of a column in one of my tables, and that updated my topic using that style. Unless you customise the column widths for that specific table - you'll have to right-click on each column and select Reset Width to get a customised table to use the TableStyle widths.

Regarding the settings in the Table Properties dialog box:
AutoFit to Contents should make the table "auto" width. This is not the same as 100% - it means the table will be as wide as needed by the content. (scoll the image to see the "actual" table size.)

FitToContent1.gif

AutoFit to window should make the entire table 100% by default.
Even if your content is very small, the table will be 100% of the window width.

FiToWindow1.gif

If you only want your table to be 80% of the window, enter 80% into this setting.

FitToWindow.gif

Fixed column width should make all columns the same width (or the column widths defined in your tablestyle if you leave it as <not set>)

HTH,
Amber

[CATERAF]

Thanks for your comment Amber!

Unfortunately I'm still not sure which of the AutoFit Behaviour settings to pick.. I don't want the table to only be matching the contents because if I have one table with less words, the table will be smaller. I tried to select that option and then changed my styles to see if they'd update. Now the table is 100% wide and all out of whack.
As for the other two methods you explained, my autofit to window could be 80% if I changed that manually so I don't think that always goes to 100%.. so confused.

Unfortunately right-clicking and resetting the style doesn't work either
I think there are some settings hidden somewhere that are doing the damage. I tried going to view the source in firefox though and it said that the column width should be the percentage I set; I couldn't see it being overridden with anything else.

I can also get it to do *something* (meaning, i don't know what it's doing!) and suddenly my table gets smaller but it looks like 70%, not 80% like I wanted it too.

I'd be happy to just start my table styles again if need be.. but I have no idea what I'm supposed to do first time around (when creating style and when inserting a table) to stop this happening!

[Psider]

The only way to set a width for the table in your TableStyle, as far as I know, is to edit the stylesheet in a text editor and it's possible that the change would be removed if you edited then the TableStyle using Flare's interface (I haven't tried that). I can go into that detail if you'd like.

Otherwise you need to set the width of the table on each individual table, using AutoFit To Contents and specify a value, like the 80% I mention in my previous post.

However, I think maybe I'm misunderstanding what you want to achieve. If you could post a screenshot of what you want to do, that would help.

[sdcinvan]

The only way to set a width for the table in your TableStyle, as far as I know, is to edit the stylesheet in a text editor and it's possible that the change would be removed if you edited then the TableStyle using Flare's interface (I haven't tried that). I can go into that detail if you'd like.

Otherwise you need to set the width of the table on each individual table, using AutoFit To Contents and specify a value, like the 80% I mention in my previous post.

However, I think maybe I'm misunderstanding what you want to achieve. If you could post a screenshot of what you want to do, that would help.

Absolutely agree!

I'm a Flare veteran of five weeks and once I learned to not fight with the Flare GUI and learn to love my NotePad ++ (text editor extraordinaire - you need it, get it here: http://www.notepad-plus-plus.org/) and love editing HTML, css, and XML... once you realize this, Flare will bend to your will and you will love Flare!

Seriously!

Also, get NotePad ++'s compare plugin to do side-by-side comparisons of code.

This is the plugins that I find useful:

NotePadPLUS-plugins.png

[sdcinvan]

Sorry, went a bit OT... but seriously... love the editor. It will be your friend and it will make Flare do just about anything.

[CATERAF]

haha, thanks.
I do use the internal editor inside Flare -- does Notepad++ trump this? If so, why's that?

I'm new to css coding (have been trying to learn it to use Flare better) so it's all much of a muchness to me at the moment..

[sdcinvan]

haha, thanks.
I do use the internal editor inside Flare -- does Notepad++ trump this? If so, why's that?

I'm new to css coding (have been trying to learn it to use Flare better) so it's all much of a muchness to me at the moment..

Trumps it? Yes in many ways. But the Flare editor is still useful.

NotePad ++
- Bypasses Flare's undo bug
- More stable. You can have many project files open in multiple tabs in NotePad ++ without fear of crashing your Flare project.
- integrates well with Flare (especially if you have a second monitor - edit in NotePad ++ on one monitor - instantly see the saved changes in Flare)
- plugins!! The code compare plugin alone is a fantastic tool.
- NotePad ++ can edit any Flare file

Note: The one thing that NotePad ++ cannot do is error check like Flare's text editor.