Help removing leading blank line before paragraph.run text in table cells

[drkpasngr]

I have some code that outputs the below table.

The table contains data that is added using:
add_paragraph().add_run('Some text here...')

The issue I am having is that each cell contains a leading blank line before text is inserted.

I have done some research and managed to find a few different approaches none of which have managed to resolve my issue.

_Among the things I have tried is:

1. Setting space_before and space_after to PT(0)
   Also found this post https://github.com/python-openxml/python-docx/issues/305 by @scanny and was able to print the xml values and they are set to zero both before and after.
2. Using the cell.text method does not include the leading blank line but removes the ability to control formatting such as bolding text.
   I tried different variations of adding the cell.text = '' and then setting paragraph[0] to a run and then trying to set formatting but this either ended with no text being written to the table at all or none of the formatting such as bolding being recognized.
3. Also made an attempt at parsing the XML and using regex to set xml:space = preserve to default but this failed hard._

I would greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can offer with removing the leading blank lines.

The code that draws the table is below:

`document = report
document.add_page_break()
table = document.add_table(rows=14, cols=4)
style = document.styles['Normal']
font = style.font
table.width = '100%'
table.style = document.styles['GridTable4-Accent3']

def set_column_width(column, width):
column.width = width
for cell in column.cells:
cell.width = width
set_column_width(table.columns[0], Inches(1.25))
set_column_width(table.columns[1], Inches(0.5))
set_column_width(table.columns[2], Inches(0.5))
set_column_width(table.columns[3], Inches(4.75))

font.name = 'Calibri'
font.size = Pt(11)
font.bold = False
row = table.rows[2]
row.height = Inches(0.75)

a = table.cell(0, 0)
b = table.cell(0, 3)
a.merge(b)

x = 3
while x < 14:
a = table.cell(x, 0)
b = table.cell(x, 3)
a.merge(b)
x = x + 1

if fields[2] == 'WWWWW':
cell0color = parse_xml(r'<w:shd {} w:fill="800000"/>'.format(nsdecls('w')))
table.rows[2].cells[0]._tc.get_or_add_tcPr().append(cell0color)
cell1color = parse_xml(r'<w:shd {} w:fill="800000"/>'.format(nsdecls('w')))
table.rows[2].cells[1]._tc.get_or_add_tcPr().append(cell1color)
cell2color = parse_xml(r'<w:shd {} w:fill="800000"/>'.format(nsdecls('w')))
table.rows[2].cells[2]._tc.get_or_add_tcPr().append(cell2color)
elif fields[2] == 'XXXXX':
cell0color = parse_xml(r'<w:shd {} w:fill="ff0000"/>'.format(nsdecls('w')))
table.rows[2].cells[0]._tc.get_or_add_tcPr().append(cell0color)
cell1color = parse_xml(r'<w:shd {} w:fill="ff0000"/>'.format(nsdecls('w')))
table.rows[2].cells[1]._tc.get_or_add_tcPr().append(cell1color)
cell2color = parse_xml(r'<w:shd {} w:fill="ff0000"/>'.format(nsdecls('w')))
table.rows[2].cells[2]._tc.get_or_add_tcPr().append(cell2color)
elif fields[2] == 'YYYYY':
cell0color = parse_xml(r'<w:shd {} w:fill="ffc000"/>'.format(nsdecls('w')))
table.rows[2].cells[0]._tc.get_or_add_tcPr().append(cell0color)
cell1color = parse_xml(r'<w:shd {} w:fill="ffc000"/>'.format(nsdecls('w')))
table.rows[2].cells[1]._tc.get_or_add_tcPr().append(cell1color)
cell2color = parse_xml(r'<w:shd {} w:fill="ffc000"/>'.format(nsdecls('w')))
table.rows[2].cells[2]._tc.get_or_add_tcPr().append(cell2color)
elif fields[2] == 'ZZZZZ':
cell0color = parse_xml(r'<w:shd {} w:fill="00b050"/>'.format(nsdecls('w')))
table.rows[2].cells[0]._tc.get_or_add_tcPr().append(cell0color)
cell1color = parse_xml(r'<w:shd {} w:fill="00b050"/>'.format(nsdecls('w')))
table.rows[2].cells[1]._tc.get_or_add_tcPr().append(cell1color)
cell2color = parse_xml(r'<w:shd {} w:fill="00b050"/>'.format(nsdecls('w')))
table.rows[2].cells[2]._tc.get_or_add_tcPr().append(cell2color)
else:
cell0color = parse_xml(r'<w:shd {} w:fill="00bfff"/>'.format(nsdecls('w')))
table.rows[2].cells[0]._tc.get_or_add_tcPr().append(cell0color)
cell1color = parse_xml(r'<w:shd {} w:fill="00bfff"/>'.format(nsdecls('w')))
table.rows[2].cells[1]._tc.get_or_add_tcPr().append(cell1color)
cell2color = parse_xml(r'<w:shd {} w:fill="00bfff"/>'.format(nsdecls('w')))
table.rows[2].cells[2]._tc.get_or_add_tcPr().append(cell2color)

for table in report.tables:
for row in table.rows:
for cell in row.cells:
for paragraph in cell.paragraphs:
paragraph_format = paragraph.paragraph_format
paragraph_format.space_before = Pt(0)
paragraph_format.space_after = Pt(0)

row = table.rows[1].cells
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run('Minor Header 1')
font = p.font
font.small_caps = True
font.size = Pt(10)
font.bold = True
font.color.rgb = RGBColor(204, 204, 204)
p.alignment = WD_PARAGRAPH_ALIGNMENT.CENTER
p.space_before = Inches(0)
p = row[1].add_paragraph().add_run('MH 2')
font = p.font
font.small_caps = True
font.size = Pt(10)
font.bold = True
font.color.rgb = RGBColor(204, 204, 204)
p.alignment = WD_PARAGRAPH_ALIGNMENT.CENTER
p.space_before = Pt(0)
p = row[2].add_paragraph().add_run('MH 3')
font = p.font
font.small_caps = True
font.size = Pt(10)
font.bold = True
font.color.rgb = RGBColor(204, 204, 204)
p.alignment = WD_PARAGRAPH_ALIGNMENT.CENTER
p.space_before = Pt(0)
p = row[3].add_paragraph().add_run('Minor Header 4')
font = p.font
font.small_caps = True
font.size = Pt(10)
font.bold = True
font.color.rgb = RGBColor(204, 204, 204)
p.alignment = WD_PARAGRAPH_ALIGNMENT.CENTER
p.space_before = Pt(0)

row = table.rows[2].cells
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run('Minor Header 1')
font = p.font
font.size = Pt(12.5)
font.bold = True
font.color.rgb = RGBColor(255, 255, 255)
p.alignment = WD_PARAGRAPH_ALIGNMENT.CENTER
p.space_before = Pt(0)
p = row[1].add_paragraph().add_run('MH 2')
font = p.font
font.size = Pt(12.5)
font.bold = True
font.color.rgb = RGBColor(255, 255, 255)
p.alignment = WD_PARAGRAPH_ALIGNMENT.CENTER
p.space_before = Pt(0)
p = row[2].add_paragraph().add_run(MH 3)
font = p.font
font.size = Pt(12.5)
font.bold = True
font.color.rgb = RGBColor(255, 255, 255)
p.alignment = WD_PARAGRAPH_ALIGNMENT.CENTER
p.space_before = Pt(0)
p = row[3].add_paragraph().add_run('Minor Header 4')
p.base_style = 'Heading2'
font = p.font
font.size = Pt(12.5)
font.bold = True
font.color.rgb = RGBColor(0, 0, 0)
p.alignment = WD_PARAGRAPH_ALIGNMENT.CENTER
p.space_before = Pt(0)

row = table.rows[3].cells
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run('Section Header')
font = p.font
font.bold = True
p.space_before = Pt(0)
row = table.rows[4].cells
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run('Section Data')
font = p.font
font.bold = False
row = table.rows[5].cells
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run('Section Header')
font = p.font
font.bold = True
p.space_before = Pt(0)
row = table.rows[6].cells
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run('Section Data')
font = p.font
font.bold = False
row = table.rows[7].cells
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run('Section Header')
font = p.font
font.bold = True
p.space_before = Pt(0)
row = table.rows[8].cells
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run('Section Data')
font = p.font
font.bold = False
row = table.rows[9].cells
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run('Section Header')
font = p.font
font.bold = True
p.space_before = Pt(0)
row = table.rows[10].cells
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run('Section Data')
font = p.font
font.bold = False
row = table.rows[11].cells
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run('Section Header')
font = p.font
font.bold = True
p.space_before = Pt(0)
row = table.rows[12].cells
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run('Section Data')
font = p.font
font.bold = False
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run()
p.add_picture('Section Data')
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run('Section Data')
font = p.font
font.bold = False
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run()
p.add_picture('Section Data')
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run('Section Data')
font = p.font
font.bold = False
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run('Section Data')
p.add_picture(('Section Data')
p = row[0].add_paragraph().add_run(' ')
font = p.font
font.bold = False
row = table.rows[13]
row.cells[0].text = ''

for table in report.tables:
for row in table.rows:
for cell in row.cells:
for paragraph in cell.paragraphs:
# paragraph_format = document.styles['GridTable4-Accent3'].paragraph_format
paragraph_format = paragraph.paragraph_format
paragraph_format.space_before = Pt(0)
paragraph_format.space_after = Pt(0)

document.save(report)`

[scanny]

Unfortunately adding paragraphs to a table cell is not symmetric. A "new" table cell contains a single paragraph. Per the specification, it can not be completely empty. Consequently, the first paragraph must be populated in a different way then the second and later paragraphs; something like this:

para_text = sequence_of_lines_each_representing_a_paragraph = ('Foo', 'Bar', ...)
cell.paragraphs[0].text = para_text[0]
for text in para_text[1:]:
    cell.add_paragraph(text)

[drkpasngr]

That worked! Really appreciate the help.
Needed a bit of tweaking to still allow controlling formatting but leading blank lines no longer show up.

Code now looks like this:

row = table.rows[1].cells
para_text = 'Section Header'
cell = row[0]
pt = cell.paragraphs[0]
t = pt.text = ''
p = pt.add_run(para_text)
font = p.font
font.bold = True
p.space_before = Pt(0)

[drkpasngr]

@scanny :

If I may add to my issue, once the above table is created and populated, I am using a modified version of your move_table_after function, such as the one below, to move the table to a specific location within the document. I then have a loop that creates similar tables and repeats the move process.

def move_table_after(table, paragraph):
    tbl, p = table._tbl, paragraph._p
    p_break = OxmlElement('w:br')
    p.addnext(p_break)
    p.addnext(tbl)

The issue I am having with that is that once all the tables have been moved, there is no space between then and the tables become joined together.

To rectify this, I have tried various ways off adding page breaks before and after the moved table to try and separate them however the page breaks are always added to the end of the document.

Would you happen to have any solutions for this issue?

Thanks again.

[scanny]

This is a separate question @drkpasngr, and one that's probably best asked on StackOverflow. This issues list is for suspected bugs and feature requests, not support questions.

[drkpasngr]

Will hit StackOverflow. Thanks for the help.