First, note how NewLeaf handles a table by default, and how each step of the procedure corresponds to a function call:

 leaf.Init

 leaf.Use''

© Change any table properties here

 leaf.table.List salesQ1

 doc„leaf.Close

 View doc

Note that NewLeaf initialises the table properties automatically when it runs leaf.Init, and when it closes a document. It is not necessary to initialise the table properties explicitly except to return to a known starting point, as in the case of writing several differently formatted tables to the same document.

In general, you can change as few or as many table properties as you want; only when a matrix is put on a page by table.List are the values of the properties used. As the preceding code segments set no properties, you can see the effects of their default values on a table:

• Formatting. No special formatting is applied to the data.
• Horizontal Alignment. The content of each cell is left-aligned within the cell.
• Table Font. The table appears in 12-point Times font with a line spacing of 14.4 points.
• Column WidthAll of the columns in the table have the same width, and the table extends from the left edge of the frame to the right edge.
• Table Border and Rules. A solid 1 point line forms a border around the outer edge. Solid lines, known as vertical rules, 0.8 point thick separate adjacent columns. Solid lines, or horizontal rules, 0.01 point thick separate adjacent rows.
• Row Height and Spacing. The contents of each cell are set three points below the top of the cell and three points above the bottom. The height of each row is 20.4 (14.4 + 3 + 3) points.

In the remainder of this tutorial, you will learn how to change these default settings individually and to combine them to achieve different effects. At the end of the tutorial, you will have a firm grounding in the options available to you through NewLeaf to manipulate the appearance of an individual table.