.
The following window opens:
Table frames are supposed to contain static items as well as dynamic data from the XML file. To accomplish that, several steps are necessary: arranging the frames on the sheet, filling the table and assigning the nodes.
Click the icon Table .
The following window opens:
Enter the number of columns and rows that you think you will need. Of course it is possible to add or remove columns and rows later.
Create a Table Header and/or a Table Footer with the matching checkboxes if needed.
Click "OK" to create the table or "Cancel" to abort.
Now open the table frame in the desired size on your sheet without clicking the icon Table again.
The icon bar shows you the following functions for a table:
Apart from the select box for a custom style for the table (see chapter Styles) there are: Append row, insert row before, delete row, append column, insert column before, remove column; add table header, remove table header, add table footer, remove table footer as well as add grouping and remove grouping.
You will notice that the table consists of two parts: the table rows and columns with the table cells, all colored in blue, and the table frame which may be bigger than the actual table and even extend over the boundaries of the sheet.
The bigger table frame gives you access to single table rows and table columns.
Black dotted vertical lines mark the columns; the black horizontal dotted lines mark the rows. This table has not been assigned to an XML node yet so there is no grouping visible. If the table is grouped, the name of the grouping can be seen on the top of the frame:
As you can see, this table was grouped to the node Report/ProductGroup/ Product.
It is possible to extend the table frame over the edge of the working sheet, as mentioned above. The table cells themselves, however, should not be extended over the edge because they will not be entirely visible after the generation of the document.
To select columns or rows, click the left mouse button inside the desired part. The selected parts are colored. To select the entire table, click the bottom right cell of the table frame:
You can assign your table to any of the nodes of your XML tree (except for the top node, if the page itself is already grouped to it) by double clicking it to open the grouping window:
Select the node you want to group the table to. Keep in mind that elements placed in the table afterwards will refer to the table grouping as the starting point for their path.
The check box Auto XPath Completion completes the path to the selected node from the page level on if checked. If you uncheck this function, the table will not show the complete path from the page level on but just the node it was grouped to.
The function Relative nested grouping allows you to have different groupings for rows in tables in an easy way.
Example: You want to display all product groups in a simple table and they should all list the products contained in them. Use the XML file Demo.xml. Create a simple table grouped to the node ProductGroup. Now drag the node ProductGroup/Name into the first cell, the node ProductGroup/Product/Name into the second cell.
Processing the layout now would produce the following result:
Only the first contained product is displayed with the product groups. Now right-click in the second row and add the break level Product to it. Make sure you activate the Relative nested table function and also the Auto-XPath Completion.
As the row is now grouped to the node Product, you need to alter the path in the text element. Open the editor and delete "Product/":
If you processed the layout now, this would be the result:
All product groups are displayed with their products.
You can also add the line "End of" and display the name of the product group at the end of the list. Add a break level to the third table row and group it to the node ProductGroup. Make sure to uncheck the check box Relative nested tables for this case now because the nesting would refer to its superior node in that place which would be Product.
Now drag the node ProductGroup/Name into the first cell of the third row and double click it. Enter the words "End of" in front of the node and give the entire text the color red:
Click "OK" and process the layout:
This is the final result with a nested grouping inside a table.
Conditional region (XSL:IF instead of XSL:FO) tests whether the selected node or expression exists. It does not display any data. If there is no matching node or expression, it shows nothing, except in headers and footers because the function refers to the body and tables and the grouping commonly refers to the body.
Click "OK" to go on or "Close" to abort.
Insert image fields into tables