problem: table runs off page in LibreOffice

[fokoenecke]

Since I updated to version 0.7 my table cells keep spanning the whole document (and further). So the first column always covers the whole width and the rest of my cells is unreachable/invisible. In the table menu it says its width is 30,48cm. The column width says 57,80cm. I tried to use the new width attribute of table columns, but had no luck. Am I missing some new feature?

[scanny]

For some reason new tables appear differently in LibreOffice than they do in Word. This problem only appears in LibreOffice. If you're able to identify the XML that makes it show up properly I can probably put in a fix. It will probably be a month or so before I get back to focus on python-docx, but tables are next up on the backlog for some new work when I do.

I added Column.width to tables last time I was in there, either 0.6.0 or 0.7.0. It turns out not to affect display directly on Word, but might be worth a shot for this problem. The code would be something like:

from pptx.util import Inches

table = document.add_table(...)
for column in table.columns:
    column.width = Inches(1.0)

No idea whether it will work, but it's probably worth a try.

I suspect the long-term fix is to put explicit widths on each of the cells, that seems to be the dominant factor in the table layout algorithm for whatever reason. It will take a bit of experimentation to get it all sorted out I suspect, editing the XML directly and repackaging to see what the results are enough times to characterize the layout algorithm precisely enough to drive an implementation.

[fokoenecke]

Thanks! I didn't open it in Word.
I'll try a little opc-diag to locate the problem.

[fokoenecke]

I had a short look at the XML content genereted by python-docx and libre office. They seem to differ a lot when it comes to tables. But you were right, I guess. Libre saves the table dimensions per cell, not per column. Therefore it ignores/misinterpretes the information python-docx puts there.

I'll close the issue, because I don't need my .docx to be looked at in libre office. Many Thanks!

edit: opc-diag is pretty cool, btw ;)

[dwin999]

Hi,
I can confirm the suggested fix does work.

from docx import Document
from docx.shared import Inches
document = Document()
document.add_heading('Hello World', 0)
document.add_heading('Example Table', level=1)
table = document.add_table(rows=2, cols=2)
for column in table.columns:
    column.width = Inches(1.0)
cell = table.cell(0,0)
cell.text = "row 0, col 0"
cell = table.cell(0,1)
cell.text = "row 0,col 1"
cell = table.cell(1,0)
cell.text = "row 1,col 0"
cell = table.cell(1,1)
cell.text = "row 1,col 1"
table.style = "TableGrid"
document.save('helloworld.docx')

[scanny]

Hi Duncan, can you try the setting column width bit from above and let me know if that helps at all?
#75 (comment)

[dwin999]

Hi, I can confirm it works on Libre Office 3. About 3 inches works best.

But oddly enough it breaks on Libre Office 4.2.4.2.

[scanny]

I added read/write Table.autofit and _Cell.width properties in the v0.7.3 release which should give you pretty granular control over this now. If you want fixed width columns that are not automatically adjusted to best fit the text they contain, set table.autofit = False. If you like belts and suspenders, which might not be a bad idea given the rendering differences between Word and LibreOffice, then set both column.width and cell.width for each cell in the column.

I was also having this issue, thanks

[fokoenecke]

works like a charm, thank you!