Editing tables
Amaya does not contain a separate table editor. To Amaya, a table is
simply a structure described by the (X)HTML document type definition (DTD),
like any other element, and it is edited as such. The same commands apply to
tables as to other HTML structures. However, a few specific commands have
been added for more convenient manipulations.
Creating a new table
To create a new table:
- Move the cursor to the location in the document where you want to
create the table.
- Click the Table button in the
Elements tool, or choose Table from the
Insert menu.The Table dialog
displays.
- Enter the initial number of rows and columns for the new table, and
specify the border width, etc.
- Click the Confirm button. Amaya generates a graphical
representation of the table.
- The cursor is automatically placed in the first cell.
- To insert content into other cells, click inside a cell and then insert
the appropriate text, image, etc. Use the arrow keys to navigate from one
cell to another.
- You can also edit the text of the table caption, add it if not already
there, or remove it if it is not needed.
Adding a new column
To add a new column to a table:
- To create a new column to the left of an existing cell, select the
Insert a column entry in the Tools/Edit
table submenu, or use the corresponding button in the
Elements tool , or type Ctrl-t Ctrl-b.
- To create a new column to the right of an existing cell, select the
Append a column entry in the Tools/Edit
table submenu, or use the corresponding button in the
Elements tool , or type Ctrl-t Ctrl-a.
In XML mode, a new column can also be added to
a table using the Enter key. When a whole cell is selected (use
F2), pressing the Enter key creates a new cell and its
corresponding column to the right of the selected cell.
Removing, copying, pasting a column
When a whole column is selected, you can delete it, copy it, cut it and
paste it before or after another column, in the same or in another table.
To select a column:
- Use the Select column entry in the Tools/Edit
table submenu (Ctrl-t Ctrl-c).
- You can also start the selection in a cell and extend to another cell
in the same column (for example start in Cell 1.2 and stop in Cell 2.2).
Amaya changes to column selection mode. Hitting the F2 key
extends the selection to the whole column.
Cell 1.1 |
Cell 1.2 |
Cell 1.3 |
Cell 2.1 |
Cell 2.2 |
Cell 2.3 |
Cell 3.1 |
Cell 3.2 |
Cell 3.3 |
When a whole column is selected, use the usual commands to copy, delete or
cut it.
Two specific commands are available to paste a column:
- To paste a column before an existing column, click at the beginning of
a cell in the existing column and use item Paste before
of the Tools/Edit table submenu (Ctrl-t
Ctrl-p).
- To paste a column after an existing column, move the cursor to the end
of a cell in the existing column and use item Paste
after of the Tools/Edit table submenu
(Ctrl-t Ctrl-v).
Adding a new row
There are two specific commands to create new rows in a table:
- To create a new row above an existing row, select Insert a
row from the Tools/Edit table submenu
(Ctrl-t Ctrl-i), or the corresponding button in the
Elements tool .
- To create a new row below an existing row, select Append a
row from the Tools/Edit table submenu
(Ctrl t Ctrl n), or the corresponding button in the
Elements tool .
In XML mode, a new row can also be easily
added to a table using the Enter key. When a whole row is selected
(use key F2 for that), pressing the Enter key create a
new row after the selected row.
Removing, copying, pasting a row
When a whole row is selected, it is possible to delete it, to copy it, to
cut it and to paste it.
To select a row:
- Use the Select row entry in the Tools/Edit
table submenu (Ctrl-t Ctrl-r).
- You can also start the selection in a cell. Hitting the F2
key extends the selection to the enclosing row.
When a whole row is selected, you can delete it, copy it, or cut it with
the usual commands.
Two specific commands are available to paste a row:
- To paste a row before an existing row, use the Paste
before item of the Tools/Edit table submenu
(Ctrl-t Ctrl-p).
- To paste a row after an existing row, use the Paste
after item of the Tools/Edit table submenu
(Ctrl-t Ctrl-v).
Extending a cell
To extend a cell, the simplest method is to select the set of cells to be
merged by dragging and to call the Merge cells command in
the Tools/Edit table submenu, or to click the corresponding
button in the Elements tool .
Four other specific commands allow you to extend or shrink a cell:
- To extend a cell to the next cell at the right, select Join
with the cell at the right in the Tools/Edit
table submenu (Ctrl-t Ctrl-e).
- To extend a cell to the next cell below, select Join with the
cell below in the Tools/Edit table submenu
(Ctrl-t Ctrl-j).
- To shrink an horizontally extended cell by one column, select
Shrink horizontal extend in the Tools/Edit
table submenu (Ctrl-t Ctrl-s), or click the
corresponding button in the Elements tool .
- To shrink a vertically extended cell by one position, select
Shrink vertical extend in the Tools/Edit
table submenu (Ctrl-t Ctrl-m), or click the
corresponding button in the Elements tool .
Cell extensions can be also changed by editing the colspan
and rowspan
attributes.
Adding a new table body (tbody)
Function not available in the Amaya Lite profile.
- To create a new table body above an existing table body, click at the
beginning of the first cell in the first row of the table body and select
the tbody item in the Insert/Table
submenu.
- To create a new table body below an existing table body, move the
cursor to the end of the last cell in the last row of the table body and
select the tbody item in the
Insert/Table submenu.
In XML mode, new table bodies can also be
easily added to a table using the Enter key. When a whole table
body is selected (use F2), pressing the Enter key
creates a new table body after the selected table body.
Note: Amaya implements HTML 4.0 tables. A table may
include several table bodies (tbody
), table headings
(thead
), and table footers (tfoot
).
Adding something after a table
Many element types may be inserted within table cells. When you click a
button in the Elements tool or you select an entry in the
Insert menu, Amaya will try to insert the selected element
into the cell that contains the insert point.
To solve that problem in XML mode, you can
select the table element (use F2) and press the Enter
key. Amaya creates a new paragraph after the selected table. This paragraph
may be replaced by another element.
Another method is to select the table element (use F2) and use
the Append command in the Edit menu or in
the contextual menu.