Can't set width of tables or columns

[Guest]

I'm sure I'm missing something obvious, but...I want to set a point width for my tables then specify the column width as points. I tried Table Properties => Preferred Width - no effect. I tried modifying the HTML, but it only allows me to set the column width for a single column table, or reproduces the table width across columns (e.g., if I set table width to 456, I will get a table with each column to 456). I tried creating a narrow single column table and adding columns, but that didn't work either (RoboHelp totally changed the settings, unpredictably).

Also, if I change the HTML from <table width=100%> to <table width=456>, RoboHelp will change this to 456%. If I try <table width=456pt> nothing happens. There's also a "width" in the table style and another "width" setting in the table tag. RoboHelp also doesn't seem to accept changes to col width.

Oh, and I can't drag the table edges or columns either. I can pull the upper and lower edges up and down, but I cannot change the column width or table width using the mouse. When I try to move a column width or the table left or right, it doesn't respond at all.

Any suggestions? This is driving me crazy. Thanks for your help.

[MergeThis]

You might have created the table in an unorthodox manner. Did you select Table > Insert > Table, and then choose from one of the provided formats? Let us know that, and we can start narrowing our focus.


Good luck,
Leon

[Guest]

Yes, I tried creating tables using Table => Insert => Table, accepting the 3 by 3 table, and using the "none" format.

Once the table is inserted, I am unable to alter the width of the table and its columns. I try dragging and dropping the edge of the table, nothing happens. I also tried selecting the table, right-clicking, selecting Table Properties, and in the preferred Table Width field, entering a width. Nothing happens. The table is unchanged.

I also tried creating tables directly in HTML, that also did not work.

[Guest]

It's a bit convoluted, because while you're changing values, you can have incorrect values. I like working with pixel values rather than percentages. The default is percentage, so for pixels just enter in px after the value (no space).

In table properties in the Table tab, set the preferred width to a new value. The columns will automatically resize. Then, in the Column tab, set new values for EACH column.

[Guest]

Word Wiz: I tried that, it didn't work.

What's strange is that I can change the vertical size of the table (up and down), but I cannot change the horizontal size (left and right). I had a coworker try, just in case its me, and she couldn't change the table either.

I'm trying attaching some HTML code...please note that the table is not the size specified in the code (300px). It doesn't matter what it is - 10px, 10pt, 10%, the table stays extremely wide, and not the mouse, not the Table Properties, not changing the HTML has any effect.

Could this be a problem with WYSIWYG, where maybe the generated table in help will be fine, but it is displaying it incorrectly in RoboHelp?

[Guest]

New question: I do not have write permission to my local installation of RoboHelp. Could this be the cause?

[Peter Grainge]

What do you mean by not having write permission to your local installation of RH?

[Chicago_HPT]

I'm having the same issue for WebHelp output for RH6. After inserting a table, with a style of "none," no matter what values I place in the table width and column width fields of the Table Properties dialog box, the table remains stubbornly 100% width, columns evenly spaced. I've tried percentages and I've tried pixels (e.g. 400px). I've also tried dragging the table handles and the row and column separators in the WYSIWYG editor, but it has no effect. Nothing seems to work -- the tables simply span the page, in both FF 3.5 and IE7. It's very frustrating.

Just to be sure, I also checked the CSS files to make sure there were no styles to the table elements, and there are none.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks

[Willam van Weelden]

Hi,

Can you post a HTML file with such a table?

Greet,

Willam

[Chicago_HPT]

Thanks for interest Willem. I've attached a sample of such a page here.

Testing the file link here on the forum, the HTML page looks fine if opened by itself in a browser. But when it is part of a WebHelp project it is a mess and editing the table through RoboHelp 6's HTML editor results in the problems described above.

Thanks,

-chi

[Willam van Weelden]

Hi,

This table works fine on my computer in IE8 and FF3.5. There is no style that prescribes the width, so the browers falls back to the default value of auto, unless it is defined differently. This is a source file, do you only have this problem with output files, or also with source files?

The only thing is that your table is centered with a DIV element. What happens when you delete the DIV element and add 'margin-left: auto;' and 'margin-right: auto;' to the style element of the table tag?

Greet,

Willam

[Chicago_HPT]

Thanks very much for looking at this for me Willam. I found the culprit -- in my CSS. I set the Body width to 600px but I also apparently set the P width to 600px!  So, naturally, the table cells could not be resized. Happily, this had an easy solution -- I removed the width property from the P selector and now the tables behave properly.

Thanks again!

~Chi

[BonnieM]

I was having a similar problem with column sizing, but my CSS did not have any width parameters, neither for columns nor for paragraphs.

The table in question had five columns and 1230 rows. The table originated in an Access database, which I exported to Excel, which I pasted to DreamWeaver, where I stripped out all tags except for the very basic: valign, p, td, tr. Then I pasted the code into the HTML view of RH10, applied a style to the table, then styled the text (p and a).

Of the five columns, only the first would consent to have its width altered.

So while troubleshooting, I gradually stripped out everything: table style, paragraph and character styles, alignment...

Guess what finally got the columns "unstuck"?

I deleted the br line breaks, which were present in all but the first column.

In the center column, some cells had as many as 5 line breaks, which is why that column stayed the widest. It was as if the br tags had fused the text together in a solid line that propped the columns open. On both the WYSIWYG and HTML views, the text broke across the line.

Just not in RoboHelp's secret imagination.

Technology is our friend.

[Peter Grainge]

Try right clicking in the table and selecting Table Style. You will then see an option to Clean Inline Formatting. Your table style should be selected but if not, reselect it before you click OK.

Hopefully that will remove whatever is getting in the way.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge