A Polite Tables Rant

[Hangman]

Apologies if this has been raised already, a quick search didn't highlight anything...

I have to say I've not been a big fan of the table implementation in APub to date, somehow for me, it feels very 'clumsy' but I have high hopes it will be refined in future releases. I've not played with tables a great deal to date but one thing that strikes me is the lack of ability to add a new row by simply using the tab key when you reach the last cell in the table as per any other app that uses tables, Apple Notes or Keynote, for example, it just seems totally nonsensical (unless of course, this features in the official release tomorrow) . It feels clumsy and disruptive to the workflow having to click on the row or column counter to add new rows and columns.

It would also be nice to have the option to specify the number of rows and columns you want to appear in the table prior to creating it rather than relying on the default size drag that seems to define how many rows and columns will appear by default, e.g. if I drag a new table on an A4 page to fill the page, I don't necessarily want to have 6 columns and 54 rows as a default setting, I may only want 2 columns and 10 rows and I don't really want to have to spend time deleting 44 rows and 4 columns by clicking the row and column counters.

I would personally also like to see the option to have proper column and row headers as a selectable option in the table dialogue window via checkboxes so they can be enabled and disabled.

I'm also unsure what benefit having row numbers and column letters actually achieves in this implementation. I can see these as very helpful and useful if APub offered the ability to calculate totals and add formula to tables as per Excel or Apple Numbers but in the absence of being able to reference a particular cell, e.g. A2 or C8 etc., do they really serve any useful purpose other than a method of adding additional rows and columns via the counters. I think that functionality would be better implemented by having these options in the context toolbar and/or the table dialogue window.

Of course, maybe I've missed some of the table functionality and have spoken out of turn but just my 2 cents worth... Would be keen to hear other's thoughts...

[fde101]

45 minutes ago, Hangman said:

I have to say I've not been a big fan of the table implementation in APub to date, somehow for me, it feels very 'clumsy' but I have high hopes it will be refined in future releases.

Agreed.

 

46 minutes ago, Hangman said:

I've not played with tables a great deal to date but one thing that strikes me is the lack of ability to add a new row by simply using the tab key when you reach the last cell in the table as per any other app that uses tables, Apple Notes or Keynote, for example

Hmm, I didn't even realize that programs did that...  nice.

 

47 minutes ago, Hangman said:

It would also be nice to have the option to specify the number of rows and columns you want to appear in the table prior to creating it

Agreed.

 

48 minutes ago, Hangman said:

I can see these as very helpful and useful if APub offered the ability to calculate totals and add formula to tables as per Excel or Apple Numbers

This would be a good feature request.  Even though the value of this may be somewhat questionable in a page layout application, at least they would serve to give the column/row numbers a purpose for existing (besides making it easier to count the rows).  

[Distill7]

Affinity Publisher still has a long way to add much needed features (e.g. footnotes, span tables...) and improve the user experience, don't expect it to be perfect yet.

53 minutes ago, Hangman said:

It would also be nice to have the option to specify the number of rows and columns you want to appear in the table prior to creating it rather than relying on the default size drag

Your best workaround is to create a small table, let's 2x2, then select the table and click on the double arrows at the end of the columns and rows, this will allow to enter a specific number for the total columns and rows, this is better creating a large one and then deleting the extra C/R

56 minutes ago, Hangman said:

I would personally also like to see the option to have proper column and row header

You can create a table style with different styles for C/R headers and footers, you can then save the style or even save the table with text in it to an asset and then drag and drop it.

Still, tables need a lot of features, especially:

• Spanning tables through pages
• Option to repeat the header when it spans through different pages
• Calculations inside tables
• Keyboard input of the number of rows and columns when creating a new table

[Aammppaa]

Try thinking about the Table Tool the other way around.

If you want a table that is 2 columns and 10 rows, then drag out a table that is 2 columns and 10 rows.

Then if you need that table to be 80mm by 120mm, resize it as you would any other object in Affinity (dragging with snapping, or typing into the transform panel).

 

[Hangman]

Hi Aammppaa,

Of course, it is possible to look at it this way but to me that is like using a hammer with a screw instead of a screwdriver. I just think the current tables implementation feels very much like an early first draft which can and hopefully will be radically improved. This is just my personal opinion, others may be perfectly happy with how tables are working in APub.

As TouTou has also said

• Spanning tables through pages
• Option to repeat the header when it spans through different pages
• Calculations inside tables
• Keyboard input of the number of rows and columns when creating a new table

would all be great additions and hopefully, we'll see these implemented in future releases... :-)

[Aammppaa]

I do agree that it feels odd, but I am not sure what behaviour I would prefer (assuming that Serif are trying to make it all achievable on canvas with the mouse). 

[captain_slocum]

I would just like to add my request for tables to flow across text boxes on to other pages. Quite essential. I have every confidence that Affinity listen to people like me who use InDesign everyday in the real world and would love to be free of Adobe. With the final release they are so close - but flowing tables and spanning columns are two roadblocks for me at the moment.

[AlastairW]

Yes, I agree. I’m missing these features a lot too. I used the formulas in PagePlus tables to prepare nicely formatted quotations, this also means that the spanning of tables over multiple pages is also essential for me. I’m disappointed and find it a strange omission as this functionality already exists in PagePlus, AP’s predecessor?

l’ve also found missing functionality in Affinity Designer too, such as dimensions, scaling etc.. I come from an engineering background so I found the ability to enter a scale to do a drawing very useful in Drawplus along with the dimensioning tools and the DXF import, to enable easy and accurate import of CAD drawings. I’m very surprised that these don’t seem to be included in the current version of AD?

l’m hoping as a long time user of Serifs’ software, that these functions are going to be added. Any news if/when Serif, as at the moment I’m left in the position of having purchased Affinity Publisher, but I can’t use it for a lot of the jobs I assumed it would do easily???

Another feature that would be really useful is being able to read the files from PhotoPlus into AP; DrawPlus into AD and PagePlus into AP.

Edited July 18, 2019 by AlastairW
Readability & more info. added