Question On Creating A Table ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Robert11
  • Start date Start date
R

Robert11

Hello,

Have a document with many lines of text in it.

Each line starts with a number, and then some text.

I would like to copy all of this into another WORD document, but into a
Table (having 2 columns) in that document.

The numbers would go in one column, and then the text in the other column.

I would then be able, I believe, to copy each column individually such that
I can then Paste it into a spreadsheet.
Am I correct in believing I could copy just a single column from the two
columns in the Table I created ?

If so, I have never used Tables in WORD.

Not too sharp with this stuff.

How (exacxtly please) would I do this ?

Thanks,
B.
 
The may be several ways to achieve this but it depends on how the rows are
formatted and set out. For instance, if there is a stop or tab following
each number, then you can simply select the rows of text and use the Table,
Convert Text to Table command using the Stop or Tab as the column separator.

Alternatively, if all the numbers are in a neat vertical column on the left,
you can make a vertical selection using the mouse and cut the numbers
leaving rows of text. The rows of text can then be entered into a single
column table using the Convert Text to Table command. Then simply add a new
column to the left and AutoFill the column to number the rows.

Other methods (that I am sure others will advise) would be to copy and paste
into Excel (very easy to get the desired table then and copy it to the new
document), use Edit Find and Replace to insert a tab after the numbers to
make the convert text to table easier and a whole load of other methods. It
all depends on how your rows are set out.
 
Hi Robert,

Yes, Word can do what you want.

First, it's important to have a unique character between the number
and its text in each line. For example, if they're already separated
by a tab character, that's ideal. If the number is followed by a
period, and there are no periods in the text part, that would work
too. If it's just a space, it's possible to use the Edit > Replace
dialog to change it to a tab, so post back if you need instructions.

After you determine that there is a unique character separating each
number from its text, you can change the whole thing into a table in
one step. Select all the lines. Then click the Table menu, select
Convert, and select Text To Table. In the dialog that appears, click
the option to tell Word what character separates the two columns
(click "Tabs" if there is a tab character; if it's a period, click
"Other" and type a period in the box next to it). Look at the "Number
of columns" box at the top to make sure it says 2. Then click OK. Word
will change the text into a table.

To select a single column, move the mouse cursor just above the top
cell of the column. When it's in the right place, the cursor will
change to a black downward arrow. Click the left mouse button to
select the column. Copy that to the clipboard, go to the spreadsheet,
and paste.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
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