Mac Forum / Applications / Word / February 2007

OK - try going to the first row of a table that starts on something other
than page 1, then go into Format>Paragraph & remove the Page Break Before
for just the one table at a time. Sometimes trying to make a 'wholesale'
change when there is a mixture of the same attributes in the same selection
can be ineffective.

Another thought - although it sounds like you're on the right track - click
in one of the table then go to Table>Table Properties - Table & see if
"Around" is selected in Text Wrapping. If so click the Positioning button &
see if that sheds any light on the matter.

This one's a *Long* long shot - make sure that Table>Gridlines is active &
see if the creator may have simply kept inserting empty rows to get to the
next page after completing content on the previous.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

On 2/27/07 12:28 AM, in article C2091DA1.AD0C%martin@MartinNelson.com,

Hi Martin:

Instead of being dismissive, please add more information in your follow-up.

We've been doing this for years: we can solve your problem.  But currently,
we are not entirely sure what it IS :-)

I need to know whether these are multiple single tables, or one long table
extending over multiple pages.  I also know whether they are single tables
or nested tables (tables within tables).  Check for cells straddling columns
or cells straddling rows.

So rather than "That didn't do it either", I need you to tell me what
happened when you tried it.

For example:  When you see a "Dashed" indication in a property such as Page
Break Before, that means "Some of them".  So some of the paragraphs in your
selection have the property, and some do not.  You may need to work along
the row paragraph by paragraph, checking the properties of each.

Professional documenters would normally use styles to format the text in a
table: if that's what has been done in this document, you need to check the
styles to see what properties have been set (and adjust them to your
requirements).

Really, there are three properties that can  produce this problem:  Keep
With Next and Page Break Before on any of the paragraphs in a row, or "<Not>
Allow Row to Break Over Pages" on any of the rows.

Cheers

On 27/2/07 4:23 PM, in article C2091C59.AD0B%martin@MartinNelson.com,

Hi Martin:

Yes, the three settings interact, providing a fine degree of flexibility at
the expense of a certain degree of bloody-mindedness :-)

*  If you allow rows to break across pages, then you get a compact document.
The danger is that you will have an entry in Column 2 that needs to line up
with an entry in Column 3.  If you allow the row to break, it won't.

If you can persuade your users to put only ONE paragraph in each table cell,
then things will line up perfectly.  That's what I do.  OK, sometimes you
have to hit them fairly hard with the Clue Stick, but "No pain, no gain," I
always say :-)

If the users are using one row per shot, things get more difficult. You need
to control WHERE the row is allowed to break.

You can try setting the whole of Column 3 to "Keep With Next".  Then run
through and turn that OFF for paragraphs that form the bottom of logical
break-points in the text.

If that won't work for you, you have to futz around with nested tables and
row straddles.  You set up an "outer" two-column table containing Column 1
(the Shot Title) and allow that to break.  In the second column of that, you
nest a two-column table containing columns 2 and 3, and do NOT allow its
rows to break.  That means Word can split, but only at the row division in
the second table.

Too much effort?  That's what I thought :-)

Cheers

On 28/2/07 4:59 AM, in article C209CD9A.AE64%martin@MartinNelson.com,