Family Historian User Group

I've entered a source record, including the "text from source" info. It's a census, so there is a table of data entered.

Now I discover that the table is too wide to print nicely, so I'd like to modify the table.

I can slide the column widths easily enough, but I don't have the table editor controls. Can't delete a row or column, can't modify the overall table width.

Am I missing an "allow editing" option somewhere?

I believe if you right-click on the table you should see a drop-down list of table editing commands? The trick with the column widths is to drag it up to the next column which then pushes it along and then pull it back again. I don't have access to FH currently to really explain this properly but once you've worked out the 'trick' it does work reasonably well.

Just to drop in another plug for Ancestral Sources which will create these source text tables for you - an advantage being that the main editing grid in AS has columns that can be resized more easily and this automatically causes the columns to resize to match in the source text version of the table. There is a also a 'fit' button in AS which will shrink the columns down automatically (although they usually need a little bit of adjustment in the main grid).

Nick, the editing commands seem to be only available when I create the source initially. When I try to go back into the source to modify it, I can't find the commands.

Am I right in thinking AS won't edit a source record I created in FH7?

I don't have FH on this computer to confirm exactly how this looks but there's a button next to the source text which you can click to bring up the full editor.

AS is used for the creation of your source records. Once it's saved it will appear in FH. Hopefully you won't then need to edit it, but if you did you would edit in in FH.

When you go back to the source you need to click on the vertical bar at the right of the Text from Source panel (with three tiny dots halfway down it) to open it in a floating window. Then you can place the cursor in a cell, and either right-click or click on the cog icon to get the Modify Table menu.

One potential wrinkle is that tables are often displayed on screen and printed in reports with different fonts, so won’t necessarily look the same in both places. You may have to play with column widths a little to get something that looks right both on screen and when printed.

I have recently started using Ancestral Sources to enter English census data, with the Essentials CollectionTemplate. I have been using the Auto function to get a rich text table in the Text from Source box. But I've sometimes forgotten to click the "Fit" button before saving, so end up with excessively wide columns when viewing the Text from Source in FH.
The only way I've found to adjust the column widths is by clicking each one and move it to the left. I'm hoping someone can suggest a more efficient method. I tried the cog option suggested by Lorna and Nick above, but the "Modify Table" menu item is always greyed out.

Are you clicking in a table cell first before you try using the cog wheel or right clicking? I believe you have to click in a cell first before the Modify Table option becomes active.

Bill

But I've sometimes forgotten to click the "Fit" button before saving, so end up with excessively wide columns when viewing the Text from Source in FH.

Look in the General Settings - Source Text screen of AS, there is a "Warn if Fit not used" option in case you have forgotten to use the "Fit" function when saving.

Nick has thought of everything.

Thanks for the tip Bill. That got me into the Modify Table option, but sadly there are no commands to adjust the widths of all columns in a table to just fit the longest text in each column, which is what the AS Fix button does.

And thanks also to laz_gen. Having set that warning, I shouldn't have this particular problem in future.

geoffmackay wrote: ↑

27 Dec 2022 02:55

The only way I've found to adjust the column widths is by clicking each one and move it to the left. I'm hoping someone can suggest a more efficient method. I tried the cog option suggested by Lorna and Nick above, but the "Modify Table" menu item is always greyed out.

Are you aware that holding the shift key down while resizing a column moves all the following columns as well so you don't have to adjust all the columns if all you are trying to do is resize one?

jelv wrote: ↑

30 Dec 2022 18:45

...
Are you aware that holding the shift key down while resizing a column moves all the following columns as well so you don't have to adjust all the columns if all you are trying to do is resize one?

Well I certainly wasn't aware - just tried it on a table in a Rich Text Note and it certainly works there on a small table, so many, many thanks. (It's probably one of those things that I've never looked because I just thought it always worked on independent columns. It appears to work in MS Word as well. I think, based on limited testing.)

Thanks John, that is a big help.