APPLICATION NOTE #102: USING XYWRITE'S COLUMN TABLES FEATURE Rev. 02 Among XyWrite III's many features is its ability to create tables that contain text entries instead of just numbers. The text entries can be any length you want, and you can edit the entries within a column without affecting the other columns in your table. The XyWrite III Reference Guide gives a complete description of the column tables feature, along with an example. This application note provides some supplementary information for using column tables. WHEN TO USE A COLUMN TABLE You might want to use column tables when you are creating: * Tables of numbers with text notes in the table * Multi-column action/dialog screen plays * Catalogs with multiple columns of descriptive text * A document with margin notes Column tables are not appropriate for every situation. For example, if you are creating a table of numbers only, we recommend that you use regular tab stops rather than column tables. And to create multicolumn newsletters or long lists of many columns, you should use XyWrite's snaking feature. USING COLUMN TABLES Below is a list of things you should keep in mind when you are using column tables: * A column table can have up to ten columns. * Each column can have its own style, but styles must be defined before you issue the CT command. (Refer to Chapter 4 of the XyWrite III Reference Manual for more information on styles.) * The CT triangle marks the beginning of the first column of the first row. * A CO triangle marks the beginning of all other columns. * The EC triangle marks the end of the column table. ADDING A MARGIN NOTE COLUMN TO AN EXISTING DOCUMENT XyWrite lets you take a document that contains straight text and convert it into a multi-column format suitable for margin notes. First, make sure the document has two carriage returns before each paragraph, including the first one. Then you can use the following procedure to turn the paragraphs into entries of one column while adding a second column for notes. 1. Go to expanded display (press Ctrl-F9). 2. Move the cursor to the beginning of the document (press Ctrl-Home). 3. Type in the following as text: <> (you get << and >> by pressing Ctrl-< and Ctrl->). 4. Go to the command line and type: CI //<></ 5. Delete the first occurrence of <>. 6. Go to the end of the file (press Ctrl-End). 7. Type in the following as text: <> 8. Return to the beginning of the file (press Ctrl-Home). 9. Return to normal display (press Ctrl-F9). You now have a two-column table that you can edit. ADDING A COLUMN TO AN EXISTING COLUMN TABLE Sometimes you discover you need to add a column to an existing column table to make your information more complete. The following procedure demonstrates how you can turn a 4-column table into a 5-column table. 1. Go to expanded display (press Ctrl-F9). 2. Move the cursor to the CT command. 3. Insert the width of the column you are adding in the appropriate sequence in the CT command. For example, if the command is <> you may want to change it to <>. 4. Go to the command line and type: CI /<>/<>>>CO5>>/ 5. Return to the beginning of the column table. 6. Return to normal display (press Ctrl-F9). You now have a new column that is 10 spaces wide and is the fourth column in a 5-column table. To add such a column to a six-column table, you have to perform two additional steps before starting step 4. First, change all occurrences of <> to <>; then change all occurrences of <> to <>. You can adapt this procedure to any column table to which you need to add a column. ADDING A ROW TO A COLUMN TABLE Whether you want to add to the bottom of your table or insert a new row within it, you add rows by pressing Shift-Ins. The new row appears immediately below the current row. If you are writing a document, such as a script, that contains very long cells, you should press Shift Ins to insert a new row at least once per page. It is not necessary to type text in other columns, and the "extra" rows will not interfere with your display or printed document. If you want to use text from an existing column entry in the new row, just define the portion that you want with F1, move the cursor to the correct column in the new row, and press F8.