Formatting a Table
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Download the text file for this activity by clicking the link below.
Open this document in word.
Save the document with the name Formatting a Table.
Exercise 1: Sort Data
This data was entered without any specific order. In this exercise, you can sort by name and then by organization. You will need to indicate that the table has header rows to get the choice of sorting by names or organizations, rather by column number.
Move the pointer over the table until the table move handle appears
.
Click the table move handle to select the table.
Under Table Tools, on the Layout tab, in the Data group, click Sort:
Indicate that the table has a heading row. In the Sort box, find My list has, and click Header row.
If necessary, change the Sort by options to:
Sort by Last Name
Type Text
Using Paragraphs
Ascending
Click OK. The results should show Abola as the first name in the first non-heading row.
Now sort the table again by company name. Click Sort again. When the Sort box opens, click Header row to indicate that the table has a heading row. Then, change the
Sort by selection to Company Name.
Ascending
Then click OK. The results should show Coho Vineyard as the company name in the first non-heading row.Save your document. You are going to use the newly sorted table in the next exercise.
Exercise 2: Merge Cells
In this exercise, you will add a new row to the table and then merge two cells in the first table in the Practice document.
Select the first row of the table. This is the heading row.
Click the Layout tab, find the Rows and Columns group, and select Insert Above:
Select the left two cells in the new row.
Click the Layout tab, find the Merge group, and select Merge Cells:
Select the right two cells in the new row.
Click the Layout tab, find the Merge group, and select Merge Cells.
Check the first row. There should be only two cells in the new heading. Enter text in this new heading. In the first cell, type: Name. In the second cell, type: Company.
Exercise 3: Align Heading Text and Repeat the Headings
Remember you can have more than one row be a heading row. This table now has two heading rows. In this exercise, you will change the cell alignment for the heading rows and then have the headings repeat on the top of the row on subsequent pages.
Select the first two rows in the table.
Click the Layout tab, find the Align group, and select the Align Bottom Center button
. Your table should now look like this:
Making sure that the top two rows are still selected, click the Layout tab, find the Data group, and select Repeat Header Rows:
Scroll down to the second page. Is the heading row at the top? If so, you're done. If not, check whether Repeat Header Rows is highlighted. If not, select it again.
Exercise 4: Split a Cell
There is one cell in the last name column that contains two last names. You will split the cell and then put one of the names into the new cell.
Scroll down the page until you see the entries with Wingtip Toys in the Company Name column.
In the Last Name column, find the name Javier Castrejón and highlight that cell.
Click the Layout tab, find the Merge group, and select Split Cells:
In the Split Cell box, enter 2 for the number of columns and 1 for the number of rows. The cell will split, with the name Javier Castrejón being in the left cell.
Highlight Javier and cut it (CTRL + x). Then move your cursor into the empty cell and then paste (CTRL + v) the name. Now Castrejón is in the left cell and Javier is in the middle cell.
In this exercise, you will split the table to make a separate table for one of the different companies that in the table. That's why you sorted the table by company name in Exercise 1.
Look for the rows with Wingtip Toys in the Company Name column.
Highlight the first row of this group.
Click the Layout tab, find the Merge group, and select Split Table
:
You now have two tables. The first one keeps the header rows from the original table. The second does not have a header row.
Exercise 6: Adjust Borders and Backgrounds
In this exercise, you will adjust the formatting of the first table. First, you will change the outside borders. Then, you'll add a vertical line to separate names from company information.
Select the first table.
Click the Design tab, find the Table Styles group and click the arrow beside Borders
:
At the bottom of the Borders menu, click Borders and Shading. The Borders and Shading box opens.
Click Box from the Settings group of the Borders tab.
Select 1 1/2 pt from the Width list.
Select OK.
The table now has a thick border. Next you are going to add a vertical line after the First Name column.
Select the First Name column by clicking in the top cell and dragging down..
Click the Design tab and click the arrow beside Borders from the Table Styles group.
Select Right Border from the Borders menu.
A right border should now appear all the way down the first table as shown below:
Exercise 7: Change Table to Text
In this exercise, you will change the second table to formatted text. Word replaces the columns with a special character.
Select the second table. This is the table that lists Wingtip Toys in the Company name column.
Click the Layout tab, find the Data group, and select Convert to Text:
Now, select which character to use instead of a column. In the Convert Table to Text box, confirm that Tabs is selected.
Click OK.
Exercise 8: Change Text to Table
Now, change the text back to table again. When Word changes text to a table, it looks for a special character that marks where to insert a new column. In this exercise, you'll use tabs for the special character.
Select the text to convert to table.
Tip Click Show/Hide
in the Paragraph group of the Home tab to see tabs and paragraph marks.
Click the Insert tab and select Table from the Tables group.
From the Tables menu, select Convert Text to Table:
In the Convert Text to Table box, select:
Table size: Number of columns: 5
AutoFit behavior: Fixed column width: Auto
Separate Text at: Tabs
Click OK.
Exercise 9: Delete a Table
Select the second table.
Click the Layout tab,
Select Delete from the Rows and Columns group.
From the Delete menu, select Delete Table:
Resave your document.
