Setting the table

Life is just one big list. Or maybe it’s just a lot of small ones. So here’s an unsung hero of the modern age: tables.

No, I’m not talking about a slab of wood on four legs. I’m talking about an often-overlooked feature in word processors that helps manage lists.

A table is just a grid, consisting of cells in which you put data. You’ve got columns. And you’ve got rows.

Spreadsheets, which are really just very evolved tables, can do more than plain old tables can. But the crowning virtue of tables is this: simplicity.

Because tables are integrated into word processors, they are easy to print, easy to integrate with text, and easy to use. The limitation is that they’re only handy for a few columns. If you have any more than that, you’re in spreadsheet territory.

The most important tool for a table is its sorting ability. They have other features, too, such as being able to add up a stack of numbers.

Let’s make up a scenario here. Let’s say we’re studying a foreign language. We want to build a list of the foreign words that we’re learning.

We could just as easily use customer data, aircraft specifications, checklists, an address book, or other such stuff as an example. It doesn’t matter. Lists are lists.

For our theoretical vocabulary list, in the first column, we’ll put the foreign word. In the second column, we’ll put its definition in English. Easy, right? Each new word will be put on a new row. Thus, if we have 100 foreign words on our list, our list will have 100 rows, and each row will have two columns. This is entirely intuitive, so it soaks up more explanation than it really deserves.

After we’ve made some entries, we will want to sort the list. After all, it doesn’t do us much good if it’s random order. Would you want a randomly arranged phone book? Actually, that would be pretty cool. But it wouldn’t be very useful.

We can sort the list so it’s arranged in alphabetical order of the foreign words (first column). Or, we can sort it so that it’s arranged in alphabetical order of the English definitions (second column). The big idea here is that any column can be used as the sorting criteria.

Now, you don’t have to know this, since it’s always listed in a menu, but I’ll tell you anyway:

Generically speaking, the basic sort functions are ascending alphabetical order (“A” comes before “B”), descending alphabetical order (“B” comes before “A”), ascending numerical order (1 comes before 2) or descending numerical order (2 comes before 1).

Let’s take this a step further. This is the juicy part, the thing that separates table amateurs from table maestros.

We’ll add a third column to our vocabulary list. Here, we’ll invent a number that corresponds to the importance of each word. The most important words (e.g. car, restaurant, lunch) will get, say, a code of 1. The slightly less important words (e.g. appointment, shoe, key) will get a 2. The really esoteric stuff (e.g. servo, wisp, grommet) will get a 3.

Having done that, when we want to study from the list, we can sort it in order of importance, so we encounter the most important words first. Or, if we want to play “stump the chump” with our pals, we can sort the list so the esoteric words come first.

Likewise, for an address list, we might make up a number code to distinguish between close friends, acquaintances, and business contacts. For an employee list, we might want to distinguish who is authorized to handle cash, and who isn’t. For a manager list, we might want to have an order of preference for who to call in an emergency.

In tables, you can add, delete, or move columns or rows at will. You can make the rows taller or shorter, or the columns fatter or skinnier. You can blanket-format text in entire rows or columns. You can insert photos or graphics in the cells. You can sort as many times as you want; sort it one way, then resort it another way. Yes, you can run wild, like the free spirit that you are.

Heck, for a lot of situations, the question isn’t why you’d use a table. It’s why you wouldn’t use a table.

A little bit of trial and error is the best way to learn this. Just peel open the table function in a word processor and mess around with it. It’s easier done than said, which is the cruel paradox of writing about this stuff.

What can possibly go wrong? Nothing that I can see. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to drive my servo to the wisp to have a bit of grommet.