bar tab

  • Thread starter Thread starter tcebob
  • Start date Start date
They're almost entirely undocumented but useful in specific situations. I
gather that they are a holdover from DOS versions of Word that didn't have
the ability to create true tables. To see how they work, you have to set
one. When you do this, you create a vertical line in the paragraph that is
always there (you don't have to insert a tab character to display it). It
extends the height of the paragraph (including line spacing), so that if you
have the same bar tab in several subsequent paragraphs, you have a
continuous vertical line through the paragraphs. This can be useful in
situations where you want the appearance of a ruled table but don't want to
use a table.

Here's an example: I create an attendance sheet for my Rotary club (rarely
used now that we've gone to club management software but still useful in a
pinch). I have defined a style with a bottom border and bar tabs at
intervals. The member's name is on the left side of the paragraph and the
bar tabs create vertical lines defining columns for the four or five
meetings in a month. The sheet is formatted in three columns. When I want to
add or delete a member, it's a simple matter of pressing Enter (to insert a
new paragraph) or Delete; I don't have to fool with using Insert Rows/Delete
Rows. If the roll were to be filled out online, I'd use a table, but because
it's for hand entry, the bar tabs work well for me (I might add that I
constructed this before I knew you could flow tables into newspaper-style
columns, so that was undoubtedly one reason for choosing the bar tabs).

If you don't have any reason for using bar tabs, you may consider them
useless and puzzling, but if you experiment to find out what they do, you
may someday find yourself in a situation where they would be useful, and
this knowledge will be helpful.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

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Aha. I might have noticed that but I had Show Tabs
configured full time. So I assumed the vertical line was
just another tab symbol. Now that I know I will seek out a
reason to use them -- and impress and befuddle my
associates.

Thanks,

rs

Suzanne S. Barnhill wrote:
: They're almost entirely undocumented but useful in
specific
: situations. I gather that they are a holdover from DOS
versions of
: Word that didn't have the ability to create true tables.
To see how
: they work, you have to set one. When you do this, you
create a
: vertical line in the paragraph that is always there (you
don't have
: to insert a tab character to display it). It extends the
height of
: the paragraph (including line spacing), so that if you
have the same
: bar tab in several subsequent paragraphs, you have a
continuous
: vertical line through the paragraphs. This can be useful
in
: situations where you want the appearance of a ruled table
but don't
: want to use a table.
:
: Here's an example: I create an attendance sheet for my
Rotary club
: (rarely used now that we've gone to club management
software but
: still useful in a pinch). I have defined a style with a
bottom border
: and bar tabs at intervals. The member's name is on the
left side of
: the paragraph and the bar tabs create vertical lines
defining columns
: for the four or five meetings in a month. The sheet is
formatted in
: three columns. When I want to add or delete a member, it's
a simple
: matter of pressing Enter (to insert a new paragraph) or
Delete; I
: don't have to fool with using Insert Rows/Delete Rows. If
the roll
: were to be filled out online, I'd use a table, but because
it's for
: hand entry, the bar tabs work well for me (I might add
that I
: constructed this before I knew you could flow tables into
: newspaper-style columns, so that was undoubtedly one
reason for
: choosing the bar tabs).
:
: If you don't have any reason for using bar tabs, you may
consider them
: useless and puzzling, but if you experiment to find out
what they do,
: you may someday find yourself in a situation where they
would be
: useful, and this knowledge will be helpful.
:
:
: :: What is it? Can't find in help. Doesn't seem to do
:: anything.
::
:: rs
 
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