Table Style

[Cassiano359491465s95]

Hello, I would like to know if I can create a format for this table type (this is from Word). With independent cells.

I tried to do it as in the image below, but I don't think the cells are independent. Is it possible? 

[frameexpert]

What do you mean by "independent" cells?

[Cassiano359491465s95]

Hi, I'm talking about the ruling of the cells, can I do this? 

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Keep going - "the ruling of the cells" - what do you mean?

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

What do you mean by "independent"? What are you trying to accomplish?

[Bob_Niland]

Looks like what's desired is no table ruling,
but with cell borders,
and cell spacing (not padding).
I'm not sure that FM can do this, short of faking it with empty rows and columns.
It also looks like rounded corners might be desired, another challenge.

[Winfried Reng]

What I did in similar situations is to create a background graphics file with only the ruling. And then in FrameMaker text frames with the text for the single keys.

This text can be edited easily.

[Bob_Niland]

WR: …background graphics file with only the ruling.

It could also be a borderless table with cell borders provided by an SVG in each cell. If square corners are acceptable, a single SVG could be used, re-sized to cover all the straddles. It would be a lot of work.

re: This text can be edited easily.

That's a key factor in choice of solutions. If the text does not need editing in FM (and is not Variables, or Xrefs either), then composing in an external app, such as a spreadsheet, and importing as a vector object (SVG, PDF, maybe EPS), can work (depending on output targets).

[Winfried Reng]

Hi,

This looks like you want to merge some table cells.

No problem. Just select several adjacent table cells and click on the Straddle icon. Or in the Table menu click Straddle.

Best regards, Winfried

[frameexpert]

The look and feel could be accomplished with various methods that might require scripting. I am curious about how the data is structured before it comes into FrameMaker. For example, if you have XML data that describes the cells (their content, width, shading, etc.) then this may be able to be automated through scripting. Post some data if you can.

[Matt S - Tech Comm Tools]

Perhaps if you're happy with the Word representation, you should save it as a PDF and place it in your Fm document...

[Matt S - Tech Comm Tools]

Is this tabular data, or a page layout representing a keyboard or something similar?

If it's graphic representing some sort of hardware, use a drawing package like Illustrator to create the image. You'll have much more control over its creation.