Cannot adjust table size - all cells two line high

English
#1

I’ve a large document that I’m converting from Word to Writer. It has many tables.
In word, when I create a table the rows are 1 line of text high. If I add extra lines the roiw resizes to fit the extra lines.
The tables in the converted document are # of lines +1 rows of text high.

If I have one line of text on a row, the row will be 2 rows high. If I have two lines of text, the row is 3 lines high.

I’ve been reading documentation for the past week, looking through various posts on multiple sites and nothing I can find offers any working suggestions on how to shrink the rows to 1 line high.

Even creating new tables the rows are at least 2 lines high.

How do I set Writer so that table rows are 1 line of text high, and only expand to the exact number of rows if I add extra lines of text?

I’ve checked my borders - there is no border padding.

I am writing in an 11pt calibri font.
Windows 10, LibreOffice 24.2.3.2, x64
Original document Word 2021.

#2

Can you upload a sample of the document that shows your problem? A couple of pages would be sufficient.

#3

I think I’ve sort of fixed it. Persistence pays off.
Select the table contents, right click, select paragraph, change the Bottom: value to 0.00cm (It was 0.35cm originally).

Tables are still being inserted with two rows, but at least I can adjust them after.

#4

Converting from DOCX to ODF (.odt) storage format is a complex process if you want it to be successful because the suites are based on different principles. In particular, Writer uses better specified primaries (it has among others character and page styles which do not exist in Word).

The conversion process may leave you with a document in a acceptable shape for immediate use (like printing) but unsuitable for long-term maintenance and review because translation could only be made with a local context (you end up in extreme cases with one page style Converted99 per physical page; all typographical variants are direct formatting because there is no character style in Word).

This means you can’t easily modify the styles so that the effect immediately propagates to all occurrences.

The first task after a conversion from Word is to fully style the document. But, ideally, to avoid keeping fossil remnants of the conversion (and possible later corruption), you should copy original contents and paste it as unformatted text. The means you must reformat (with styles!) everything. However tedious this may seem, it gives you more comfort and reliability in the end.

Also, enable View>Formatting Marks so that you have an idea about the real contents of the document.

#5

Thanks for that advice.

Sounds like too much of a good thing. If word is limited, and all I’ve had is a single style across the whole document, that was probably a blessing… I’m not a professional document writer :slight_smile:

The document is 400 pages. Is never printed, it’s used for reference purposes by the users.

Just trying to get it to an “acceptable” state has taken me 14 hours so far.

#6

This unfortunately illustrates the fact the original was not methodically structured. Styles are mainly there to tag the various paragraph significances. One style can be Question, another one Answer with the obvious intent. You get the idea.

#7

lol.True that.

To me structured is Table of contents, content and index. The content is just added progressively.
As I said, I’m not a pro at this. I’m a system builder, not a technical writer :frowning:

The only formatting marks I can find are the carriage return, the tab mark and a dot between every word. ok, it’s 400 pages and I could have missed something…

Which just reinforces your point

#8

These can be automatically generated from contents (if adequately styled). Consequently, they don’t count as primary structuring. As a system builder, you should be used to sorting things out, separating important from details, … “Structuring” a text is just the same.

Styles are just meta-information you attach to a paragraph or word. This meta-information does not print. You apply it to “comment” or annotate your text regarding the “importance” you grant it. As a by-product, you can configure styles so that they have a distinctive look (font face, size, weight, line spacing, indents, spacing above & below, and many other properties). Don’t think of styles as governing the appearance; this comes after your significance classification. Appearance should be a consequence of meaning. If you start with appearance, you won’t be able to control “comfortably” your document.

Impressum (Legal Info) | Datenschutzerklärung (Privacy Policy)   Content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license.