TIP: Fixed columns

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kibatme
Posts: 1485
Joined: Fri May 07, 2004 8:47 pm
Real Name: Mike Kibat
Location: Bloomington, MN

TIP: Fixed columns

Post by kibatme »

When posting columns of data don't enter them directly into the posting screen's data entry field. Use a text-only editor (Windows Notepad, for example) and create your table using a fixed-width font (Courier, for example). Adjust the spacing between columns using spaces and not tabs.

Copy the result and paste it into the data entry field. Select the newly pasted table and click on the Code button found on the posting screen's menu. (The Code button wraps the table in markup tags that tell the software to output the data using a fixed width font.)

For example, the following was typed directly into the data entry field, adjusting the spacing for proper alignment, yet not how the data doesn't line up in the final result:

Column 1 Column 2 Column 3
123 456 789
987 654 321

Here is the same data, using the above-described procedure:

Code: Select all

Column 1   Column 2   Column 3
   123        456        789
   987        654        321
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Dale Smith
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Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2006 1:11 pm
Location: Plymouth, MN

Post by Dale Smith »

I was wondering who fixed my 'repair'. Thank you.
And thank you for the explanation of how to do it in the future.
User avatar
kibatme
Posts: 1485
Joined: Fri May 07, 2004 8:47 pm
Real Name: Mike Kibat
Location: Bloomington, MN

Post by kibatme »

Dale Smith wrote:I was wondering who fixed my 'repair'. Thank you.
And thank you for the explanation of how to do it in the future.
No problem -- after all the work you did to assemble and publish the data it seemed a shame to let the formatting problem confuse the reader.
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