Manage Table

A table in PowerPoint is an efficient way of displaying and portraying information. The information in a grid of cells (arranged in rows and columns) is straightforward and easy to understand.

Aspose.Slides provides the Table class, Table class, Cell class, Cell class, and other types to allow you to create, update, and manage tables in all kinds of presentations.

Create Table from Scratch

  1. Create an instance of the Presentation class.
  2. Get a slide’s reference through its index.
  3. Define an array of columnWidth.
  4. Define an array of rowHeight.
  5. Add an Table object to the slide through the addTable method.
  6. Iterate through each Cell to apply formatting to the top, bottom, right, and left borders.
  7. Merge the first two cells of the table’s first row.
  8. Access an Cell’s TextFrame.
  9. Add some text to the TextFrame.
  10. Save the modified presentation.

This JavaScript code shows you how to create a table in a presentation:

// Instantiates a Presentation class that represents a PPTX file
var pres = new aspose.slides.Presentation();
try {
    // Accesses the first slide
    var sld = pres.getSlides().get_Item(0);
    // Defines columns with widths and rows with heights
    var dblCols = java.newArray("double", [50, 50, 50]);
    var dblRows = java.newArray("double", [50, 30, 30, 30, 30]);
    // Adds a table shape to slide
    var tbl = sld.getShapes().addTable(100, 50, dblCols, dblRows);
    // Sets the border format for each cell
    for (var row = 0; row < tbl.getRows().size(); row++) {
        for (var cell = 0; cell < tbl.getRows().get_Item(row).size(); cell++) {
            var cellFormat = tbl.getRows().get_Item(row).get_Item(cell).getCellFormat();
            cellFormat.getBorderTop().getFillFormat().setFillType(java.newByte(aspose.slides.FillType.Solid));
            cellFormat.getBorderTop().getFillFormat().getSolidFillColor().setColor(java.getStaticFieldValue("java.awt.Color", "RED"));
            cellFormat.getBorderTop().setWidth(5);
            cellFormat.getBorderBottom().getFillFormat().setFillType(java.newByte(aspose.slides.FillType.Solid));
            cellFormat.getBorderBottom().getFillFormat().getSolidFillColor().setColor(java.getStaticFieldValue("java.awt.Color", "RED"));
            cellFormat.getBorderBottom().setWidth(5);
            cellFormat.getBorderLeft().getFillFormat().setFillType(java.newByte(aspose.slides.FillType.Solid));
            cellFormat.getBorderLeft().getFillFormat().getSolidFillColor().setColor(java.getStaticFieldValue("java.awt.Color", "RED"));
            cellFormat.getBorderLeft().setWidth(5);
            cellFormat.getBorderRight().getFillFormat().setFillType(java.newByte(aspose.slides.FillType.Solid));
            cellFormat.getBorderRight().getFillFormat().getSolidFillColor().setColor(java.getStaticFieldValue("java.awt.Color", "RED"));
            cellFormat.getBorderRight().setWidth(5);
        }
    }
    // Merges cells 1 & 2 of row 1
    tbl.mergeCells(tbl.getRows().get_Item(0).get_Item(0), tbl.getRows().get_Item(1).get_Item(1), false);
    // Adds some text to the merged cell
    tbl.getRows().get_Item(0).get_Item(0).getTextFrame().setText("Merged Cells");
    // Saves the presentation to Disk
    pres.save("table.pptx", aspose.slides.SaveFormat.Pptx);
} finally {
    if (pres != null) {
        pres.dispose();
    }
}

Numbering in Standard Table

In a standard table, the numeration of cells is straightforward and zero-based. The first cell in a table is indexed as 0,0 (column 0, row 0).

For example, the cells in a table with 4 columns and 4 rows are numbered this way:

(0, 0) (1, 0) (2, 0) (3, 0)
(0, 1) (1, 1) (2, 1) (3, 1)
(0, 2) (1, 2) (2, 2) (3, 2)
(0, 3) (1, 3) (2, 3) (3, 3)

This JavaScript code shows you how to specify the numbering for cells in a table:

// Instantiates a Presentation class that represents a PPTX file
var pres = new aspose.slides.Presentation();
try {
    // Accesses first slide
    var sld = pres.getSlides().get_Item(0);
    // Defines columns with widths and rows with heights
    var dblCols = java.newArray("double", [70, 70, 70, 70]);
    var dblRows = java.newArray("double", [70, 70, 70, 70]);
    // Adds a table shape to slide
    var tbl = sld.getShapes().addTable(100, 50, dblCols, dblRows);
    // Sets the border format for each cell
    for (let i = 0; i < tbl.getRows().size(); i++) {
        const row = tbl.getRows().get_Item(i);
        for (let j = 0; j < row.size(); j++) {
            const cell = row.get_Item(j);
            cell.getCellFormat().getBorderTop().getFillFormat().setFillType(java.newByte(aspose.slides.FillType.Solid));
            cell.getCellFormat().getBorderTop().getFillFormat().getSolidFillColor().setColor(java.getStaticFieldValue("java.awt.Color", "RED"));
            cell.getCellFormat().getBorderTop().setWidth(5);
            cell.getCellFormat().getBorderBottom().getFillFormat().setFillType(java.newByte(aspose.slides.FillType.Solid));
            cell.getCellFormat().getBorderBottom().getFillFormat().getSolidFillColor().setColor(java.getStaticFieldValue("java.awt.Color", "RED"));
            cell.getCellFormat().getBorderBottom().setWidth(5);
            cell.getCellFormat().getBorderLeft().getFillFormat().setFillType(java.newByte(aspose.slides.FillType.Solid));
            cell.getCellFormat().getBorderLeft().getFillFormat().getSolidFillColor().setColor(java.getStaticFieldValue("java.awt.Color", "RED"));
            cell.getCellFormat().getBorderLeft().setWidth(5);
            cell.getCellFormat().getBorderRight().getFillFormat().setFillType(java.newByte(aspose.slides.FillType.Solid));
            cell.getCellFormat().getBorderRight().getFillFormat().getSolidFillColor().setColor(java.getStaticFieldValue("java.awt.Color", "RED"));
            cell.getCellFormat().getBorderRight().setWidth(5);
        }
    }
    // Saves presentation to disk
    pres.save("StandardTables_out.pptx", aspose.slides.SaveFormat.Pptx);
} finally {
    if (pres != null) {
        pres.dispose();
    }
}

Access Existing Table

  1. Create an instance of the Presentation class.

  2. Get a reference to the slide containing the table through its index.

  3. Create an Table object and set it to null.

  4. Iterate through all Shape objects till the table is found.

    If you suspect the slide you are dealing with contains a single table, you can simply check all the shapes it contains. When a shape is identified as a table, you can typecast it as a Table object. But if the slide you are dealing with contains several tables, then you are better off searching for the table you need through its setAlternativeText(String value).

  5. Use the Table object to work with the table. In the example below, we added a new row to the table.

  6. Save the modified presentation.

This JavaScript code shows you how to access and work with an existing table:

// Instantiates the Presentation class that represents a PPTX file
var pres = new aspose.slides.Presentation("UpdateExistingTable.pptx");
try {
    // Accesses the first slide
    var sld = pres.getSlides().get_Item(0);
    // Initializes null TableEx
    var tbl = null;
    // Iterates through the shapes and sets a reference to the table found
    for (let i = 0; i < sld.getShapes().size(); i++) {
        let shp = sld.getShapes().get_Item(i);
        if (java.instanceOf(shp, "com.aspose.slides.ITable")) {
            tbl = shp;
            // Sets the text for the first column of the second row
            tbl.get_Item(0, 1).getTextFrame().setText("New");
        }
    }
    // Saves the modified presentation to disk
    pres.save("table1_out.pptx", aspose.slides.SaveFormat.Pptx);
} finally {
    if (pres != null) {
        pres.dispose();
    }
}

Align Text in Table

  1. Create an instance of the Presentation class.
  2. Get a slide’s reference through its index.
  3. Add an Table object to the slide.
  4. Access an TextFrame object from the table.
  5. Access the TextFrame Paragraph.
  6. Align the text vertically.
  7. Save the modified presentation.

This JavaScript code shows you how to align the text in a table:

// Creates an instance of the Presentation class
var pres = new aspose.slides.Presentation();
try {
    // Gets the first slide
    var slide = pres.getSlides().get_Item(0);
    // Defines columns with widths and rows with heights
    var dblCols = java.newArray("double", [120, 120, 120, 120]);
    var dblRows = java.newArray("double", [100, 100, 100, 100]);
    // Adds the table shape to the slide
    var tbl = slide.getShapes().addTable(100, 50, dblCols, dblRows);
    tbl.get_Item(1, 0).getTextFrame().setText("10");
    tbl.get_Item(2, 0).getTextFrame().setText("20");
    tbl.get_Item(3, 0).getTextFrame().setText("30");
    // Accesses the text frame
    var txtFrame = tbl.get_Item(0, 0).getTextFrame();
    // Creates the Paragraph object for the text frame
    var paragraph = txtFrame.getParagraphs().get_Item(0);
    // Creates the Portion object for paragraph
    var portion = paragraph.getPortions().get_Item(0);
    portion.setText("Text here");
    portion.getPortionFormat().getFillFormat().setFillType(java.newByte(aspose.slides.FillType.Solid));
    portion.getPortionFormat().getFillFormat().getSolidFillColor().setColor(java.getStaticFieldValue("java.awt.Color", "BLACK"));
    // Aligns the text vertically
    var cell = tbl.get_Item(0, 0);
    cell.setTextAnchorType(aspose.slides.TextAnchorType.Center);
    cell.setTextVerticalType(aspose.slides.TextVerticalType.Vertical270);
    // Saves the presentation to disk
    pres.save("Vertical_Align_Text_out.pptx", aspose.slides.SaveFormat.Pptx);
} finally {
    if (pres != null) {
        pres.dispose();
    }
}

Set Text Formatting on Table Level

  1. Create an instance of the Presentation class.
  2. Get a slide’s reference through its index.
  3. Access an Table object from the Slide.
  4. Set the setFontHeight(float value) for the text.
  5. Set the setAlignment(int value) and setMarginRight(float value).
  6. Set the setTextVerticalType(byte value).
  7. Save the modified presentation.

This JavaScript code shows you how to apply your preferred formatting options to the text in a table:

// Creates an instance of the Presentation class
var pres = new aspose.slides.Presentation("simpletable.pptx");
try {
    // Let's assume that the first shape on the first slide is a table
    var someTable = pres.getSlides().get_Item(0).getShapes().get_Item(0);
    // Sets the table cells' font height
    var portionFormat = new aspose.slides.PortionFormat();
    portionFormat.setFontHeight(25);
    someTable.setTextFormat(portionFormat);
    // Sets the table cells' text alignment and right margin in one call
    var paragraphFormat = new aspose.slides.ParagraphFormat();
    paragraphFormat.setAlignment(aspose.slides.TextAlignment.Right);
    paragraphFormat.setMarginRight(20);
    someTable.setTextFormat(paragraphFormat);
    // Sets the table cells' text vertical type
    var textFrameFormat = new aspose.slides.TextFrameFormat();
    textFrameFormat.setTextVerticalType(aspose.slides.TextVerticalType.Vertical);
    someTable.setTextFormat(textFrameFormat);
    pres.save("result.pptx", aspose.slides.SaveFormat.Pptx);
} finally {
    if (pres != null) {
        pres.dispose();
    }
}

Get Table Style Properties

Aspose.Slides allows you to retrieve the style properties for a table so that you can use those details for another table or somewhere else. This JavaScript code shows you how to get the style properties from a table preset style:

var pres = new aspose.slides.Presentation();
try {
    var table = pres.getSlides().get_Item(0).getShapes().addTable(10, 10, java.newArray("double", [100, 150]), java.newArray("double", [5, 5, 5]));
    table.setStylePreset(aspose.slides.TableStylePreset.DarkStyle1);// change the default style preset theme
    pres.save("table.pptx", aspose.slides.SaveFormat.Pptx);
} finally {
    if (pres != null) {
        pres.dispose();
    }
}

Lock Aspect Ratio of Table

The aspect ratio of a geometric shape is the ratio of its sizes in different dimensions. Aspose.Slides provided the setAspectRatioLocked property to allow you to lock the aspect ratio setting for tables and other shapes.

This JavaScript code shows you how to lock the aspect ratio for a table:

var pres = new aspose.slides.Presentation("pres.pptx");
try {
    var table = pres.getSlides().get_Item(0).getShapes().get_Item(0);
    console.log("Lock aspect ratio set: " + table.getGraphicalObjectLock().getAspectRatioLocked());
    table.getGraphicalObjectLock().setAspectRatioLocked(!table.getGraphicalObjectLock().getAspectRatioLocked());// invert
    console.log("Lock aspect ratio set: " + table.getGraphicalObjectLock().getAspectRatioLocked());
    pres.save("pres-out.pptx", aspose.slides.SaveFormat.Pptx);
} finally {
    if (pres != null) {
        pres.dispose();
    }
}
Manage Rows and Columns