Tables, generated by the paragraph styles, as opposed to tables generated by the table dialog box, are also known in this documentaion as "not-genuine" tables.

If you reveal the tags in the source pane for such tables, you won’t see the table structure, but just the style name (in the below example, it is >tb02b___SC3<. A consequence is that the tables, generated by the paragraph styles cannot be edited by the table editing dialog boxes (Edit Table, Edit Column, Edit Row, Edit Cell). Such tables have a ‘fixed’ structure and formatting. Moreover, in such tables you cannot change the proportion of column widths.

The fact that style-based table have a ‘fixed’ structure and formatting can be considered a drawback or an advantage. A drawback is that you cannot modify their structure and formatting in any other way than by editing the style tags. An advantage is that you cannot accidentally mess up their structure and formatting by means of an adventurous usage of the dialog boxes.

An example of the style based table:

The text of the table on page is shown on the left; the right side optionally displays the tags in the sidebar window.

What is the advantage of style-based tables?

You can generate them by just applying a paragraph style, as simple as formatting a headline or byline. You don't even need to enter the start table row marker as it is built in the style.

So, apply the table paragraph style, and then start to type the first column content. Then, press the TAB key to jump into the next table column and then type its content.

To make the process simpler, a new controls have been added to the software. They check the allowed number of columns, and prevent you to generate more columns than required by the table structure.

When you key in all the cells in a given row, press ENTER to create a new row and then repeat the content entering steps.

See also

About single-row tables