[scribus] editing table

[John Beardmore]

John Jason Jordan wrote:
> On Sun, 26 Jul 2009 01:34:15 +0100
> John Beardmore <John at T4sLtd.co.uk> dijo:
>> John Jason Jordan wrote:

>>> ...If I need borders
>>> then I typically create the table in OpenOffice.org Writer, being
>>> careful to mimic the text styles that I am using the Scribus document.
>>> Then I print to file from Writer. In Scribus I use File > Import > Get
>>> Vector File, which imports the file as grouped vector objects. It's not
>>> editable in Scribus because printing to file converts all the text to
>>> outlines. 
>  
>> What sort of file do you print to from OO ?
> 
> First, I should have stated at the beginning that I use only 1.3.5,
> currently RC3. I have no idea if any of this stuff works in 1.3.3.x.
> 
> In the OOo print dialog box I just check the box to print to file. I
> also check the box for "Selection," since I want the file to contain
> only the table, not the rest of the document. When I click OK to start
> the print process it pops up a little window asking for the filename.
> The filename ends up with .ps appended.
> 
> Unfortunately, OOo doesn't do exactly as told. It does print the
> selected matter to file, but it includes the page number and header as
> well, if they exist on the page. And even if there are no other objects
> on the page the .ps file will have a border around it the size of the
> entire page. When Scribus imports the .ps file all the objects (e.g.,
> lines for the table borders, text as paths, etc.) will be grouped. So
> after importing the table I ungroup it (which sometimes requires several
> repeated ungroupings), delete the unwanted artifacts, then regroup.
> 
> It is important to create the page in OOo with the same margins as your
> Scribus page so the table will be the right size when you import it
> into Scribus. Also, if your table is going to span more than one page,
> be sure to create them as individual tables in OOo. In such a case I
> start with one OOo table that spans as many pages as it needs, enable
> "repeat header row" so the header appears at the top of the table on
> each page, and then use "split table" to turn my long table into
> individual tables on each page.
> 
> As an alternative to printing to .ps file you can export as PDF or
> print to CUPS-PDF, observing the same caveats as above to be sure you
> get individual tables. Scribus cannot import PDF files as vectors, but
> Inkscape can. Once you open it in Inkscape you can ungroup, delete
> unwanted objects, regroup, then save as SVG. Scribus will be delighted
> to import the SVG as a vector image file. It's faster just to print
> to .ps file in the first place, but Scribus has some bugs in its .ps
> import functions, so sometimes there will be objects that are messed
> up. In that case I might try the PDF routes to see if they improve
> matters.

Many thanks !


>>> A lot of people have been asking for real tables for a long time, but
>>> it is not going to happen for quite a while yet. I can only assume that
>>> the developers have decided it is too complex to tackle right now.
>> Which is a serious PITA for those of us doing any kind of technical
>> work !
> 
> Indeed!


Cheers, J/.
-- 
John Beardmore, MSc EDM (Open), B.A. Chem (Oxon), CMIOSH, AIEMA, MEI
Managing Director, T4 Sustainability Limited. http://www.T4sLtd.co.uk/
Energy Audit, Carbon Management, Design Advice, Sustainable Energy
Consultancy and Installation, Carbon Trust Standard Registered Assessor
Phone: 0845 4561332   Mobile: 07785 563116   Skype: t4sustainability