Creating Table Styles

Creating Table Styles
If you find that you’re creating the same table layout over and over, you can set up predefined tablestyles. You can set up the properties of the title, column headings, and data in advance so you don’t haveto set them up each time you create a table. For example, if you prefer to use Arial bold at 0.25˝ for thetitle and standard Arial at 0.125˝ for the column headings, you can create a table style with those settings.
The next time you need to create a table, you can select your custom table style and specify the
number of columns and rows; then, you’ll be ready to add the data without having to format the text.
To create a table style, follow these steps:
1. Choose Format  Table Style from the menu bar to open the Table Style dialog box. You see
the Standard table style in the list box. This is the one you used in the previous exercises.


2. Click the New button to open the Create New Table Style dialog box. This is where you give
your new table style a name.

3. Enter My Table Style, and click Continue to open the New Table Style dialog box (see Figure 11.5).


4. You’ll learn more about the options in this dialog box next. For now, click OK to close the
dialog box.
5. Your new table style now appears in the Styles list of the Table Style dialog box. If you want
to edit an existing table style, you can select the style from the list and click the Modify button.
The Modify Table Style dialog box will appear, enabling you to edit the existing style.
The Modify Table Style dialog box is identical to the New Table Style dialog box shown in
Figure 11.5.
6. Click Close to exit the dialog box.
After you’ve created a style, you can select it from the Table Style Settings group of the Insert
Table dialog box that you used to create the sample table (choose Draw  Table).



You can also open the New Table Style dialog box by clicking the Table Style Dialog button just
to the right of the Table Style Name drop-down list in the Insert Table dialog box.
The Table Style Options
Let’s take a closer look at the New Table Style dialog box shown earlier in Figure 11.5. It may seema bit bewildering at first, but once you take the time to explore the parts of this dialog box, it’s fairlystraightforward. The following offers a description of the parts of the New Table Style dialog boxby group:Starting Table Typically, you can set up a new table style using the settings in the othergroups of this dialog box, but the Starting Table group gives you the ability to use an existingtable in the drawing as the basis for your new table style. This can be helpful if you’ve alreadydone some work formatting a table in your drawing. This group includes two buttons. The oneon the left lets you select an existing table in the drawing for your new style. If you click this button,the dialog box closes temporarily to allow you to select a table in your drawing. The buttonon the right removes your in-drawing table selection and reverts to the settings in the dialog box.
General The General group offers only one setting: the direction for the table. Typically, you’ll
use the Down option, which means the table reads from top to bottom. If for some reason you
need a table with titles at the bottom, choose the Up option.
Cell Styles You have a high degree of control over the appearance of individual cells through
the cell styles. By default, your new table style will have three cell styles called Data, Header,
and Title. You can select these cell styles from the drop-down list at the top of the Cell Styles
group. You can then edit the selected style using the three tabs below the drop-down list. Here
is a brief description of the function of each tab:
◆ General give you control over the background color, alignment, format, and type of
information presented in the cell. The Margins options control the margins in the cell.
The Merge Cells On Row/Column Creation option at the bottom of the General tab
causes the cells to merge into a single cell for the selected cell style.
◆ Text gives you control over the default text style, height, and color, and the angle of the
text in the cell.
◆ Borders lets you control the lineweight for the borders of the cell.
You can also create your own cell style using the two buttons to the right of the Cell Styles dropdownlist. The left button lets you create a new cell style. The button on the right lets you create,rename, or delete a cell style through the Manage Cell Style dialog box.
Cell Style Preview This window gives you a preview of what the cell style will look like with
the settings you make in the tabs of the Cell Styles group. This preview changes in real time as
you change the settings in the General, Text, or Borders tab.

The Bottom Line
Using Fields to Associate Text with Drawing Properties Fields are a special type of text object
that can be linked to object properties. They can help to automate certain text-related tasks.
Master It Name two uses for fields that you learned about in the first part of this chapter.
Solution Fields can be used to update text that labels a block. They can also be used to
update text and report the area enclosed by a polyline.
Adding Tables to Your Drawing The Tables feature can help you make quick work of
schedules and other tabular data that you want to include in a drawing.
Master It What is the name of the dialog box that appears when you click the Table tool
from the Tables control panel?
Solution Insert Table.Editing the Table Line Work Because tables include line work to delineate their differentcells, AutoCAD gives you control over table borders and lines.
Master It How do you get to the Cell Border Properties dialog box?
Solution Select the cell or cells in the table, right-click, and choose Borders.
Adding Formulas to Cells Tables can also function like a spreadsheet by allowing you to add
formulas to cells.
Master It What type of text object lets you add formulas to cells?
Solution Field.
Importing and Exporting Tables The Table feature allows you to import Microsoft Excel
spreadsheets into AutoCAD.
Master It Describe how to import a spreadsheet from Excel into AutoCAD.
Solution Open the spreadsheet, and select the cells you want to import. Choose Edit  Copy
to copy the spreadsheet data into the Clipboard. In AutoCAD, choose Edit  Paste Special. In
the Paste Special dialog box, select AutoCAD Entities, and click OK.