While we have done this, use snippets to form table rows (although not officially a table row, which is why I am here) it is not for the faint of heart.
Steps:
1. Create EXCEL file with the data/parameters we want.
2. Create XML code to embed in the EXCEL table to be used by the VBA macro to generate the snippets.
3. Run the macros and then copy the snippets to the correct directories in FLARE.
4. Generate another TABLE snippet that has links to the above snippets in XML. Again generated by VBA macros in EXCEL.
5. Once setup it makes a reasonable table.
BUT, I can find no way to make the header appear on the top of all pages. Basically it is not a TABLE but a listing of snippets.
Examples Below:
Code like this inside of EXCEL Cell. ( this method and code was modified from The Techwriting Engineer by Mattias Sander)
<tbody>
<tr MadCap:conditions="&CHAR(34)&"Manuals.Appendix Table"&CHAR(34)&">
<td class="&CHAR(34)&"Parameters"&CHAR(34)&">"&B2&"</td>
<td class="&CHAR(34)&"Parameters"&CHAR(34)&"><![CDATA["&D2&"]]></td>
<td class="&CHAR(34)&"Parameters"&CHAR(34)&">"&E2&"</td>
<td class="&CHAR(34)&"Parameters"&CHAR(34)&">"&F2&"</td>
<td class="&CHAR(34)&"Parameters"&CHAR(34)&">"&G2&"</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
Read his/her BLOG for details.
VBA code then generates snippets that look like: Notice the use of [CDATA[... this eliminates one of the issues Nita had with invalid code.
<tbody>
<tr MadCap:conditions="Manuals.Appendix Table">
<td class="Parameters">Adaptive_Derivative_Deadband</td>
<td class="Parameters">REAL</td>
<td class="Parameters"><![CDATA[Surge Adapter - Deadband to eliminate process noise in derivative calculation ]]></td>
<td class="Parameters">PV units</td>
<td class="Parameters">20</td>
<td class="Parameters"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
Then the TABLE. fsnp code looks like this: With each snippet being called out on a line.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<html xmlns:MadCap="
http://www.madcapsoftware.com/Schemas/MadCap.xsd" MadCap:lastBlockDepth="2" MadCap:lastHeight="43" MadCap:lastWidth="878">
<head>
</head>
<body>
<table style="margin-left: 0">
<col style="width: 1.75in;" />
<col style="width: .5in;" />
<col style="width: 3.5in;"/>
<col style="width: 0.75in;" />
<col style="width: 2.0in;" />
<col style="width: .5in;" />
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="Parameters" style="border-top-style: solid;">Name</td>
<td class="Parameters" style="border-top-style: solid;">Data Type</td>
<td class="Parameters" style="border-top-style: solid;">Description</td>
<td class="Parameters" style="border-top-style: solid;">Units</td>
<td class="Parameters" style="border-top-style: solid;">Typical Values</td>
<td class="Parameters" style="border-top-style: solid;">Version</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<MadCap:snippetBlock src="../../PACView Parameters/Config_AS/Adaptive_Derivative_Deadband.flsnp" />
<MadCap:snippetBlock src="../../PACView Parameters/Config_AS/Adaptive_Derivative_Gain.flsnp" />
<MadCap:snippetBlock src="../../PACView Parameters/Config_AS/Adaptive_Derivative_Max.flsnp" />
<MadCap:snippetBlock src="../../PACView Parameters/Config_AS/Adaptive_Gain.flsnp" />
Then you simply insert the TABLE.fsnp code into a flare sheet like this: There are three tables because of some limit to the number of snippets allowed. (60 maybe?)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<html xml:lang="en-us" MadCap:conditionTagExpression="include["Manuals.Appendix Table"]" xmlns:MadCap="
http://www.madcapsoftware.com/Schemas/MadCap.xsd">
<head><title></title>
<link href="../Resources/Stylesheets/ECTDoc_Styles.css" rel="stylesheet" />
</head>
<body>
<h1 class="Appendix_H1"><a name="_Toc323731709"></a>SpeedPAC Configuration Parameters</h1>
<MadCap:snippetBlock src="../PACView Parameters/Config_ST/Table1.flsnp" />
<MadCap:snippetBlock src="../PACView Parameters/Config_ST/Table2.flsnp" />
<MadCap:snippetBlock src="../PACView Parameters/Config_ST/Table3.flsnp" />
</body>
</html>