How to page break when a table is too large?

[Former Community Member]

HI gentlemens,

      I am trying to do a simple table. My problem is that my table has some columns that are sometime hidden and sometime visible

This means that my table happen to have too many columns to fit into one page, i was wondering if there was a way to "page break"
when the columns goes beyond the border.

     The solution I have found so far was to add all my columns on the first page and hide those that i don't need while putting visible those that i need. I am manually calculating how many columns will fit in my page (they don't all have the same width) and i hide those that goes bwyond the border. Then, i add all the columns on page 2 that has a chance to be off border of page 1. This way, when i put a column visible on first page, i put it hidden on second page.

     I was wondering if there was a better way (or an already implemented way) of doing this. Anyone has seen this before?

Thanks alot!
Max

[Former Community Member]

Any idea anybody?

[Former Community Member]

Still no better ideas?

[jasotastic81]

Some quick thoughts:

1. Is your page already set to landscape orientation to give you more space to maybe eliminate this problem?
2. Could you change the x and y-axes to give yourself the room you need? (You can put a header on each page automatically.)
3. Would a different structure be better? e.g., you can put text fields in a subform and repeat the subform for your entries. Of course, this wouldn't work if you need to quickly compare values.

[Former Community Member]

Hi Jasotastic81,

Thank you for your answer.

     1. My page is already to landscape

     2. The table contains alot of rows AND alot of columns so it would not change much.

     3. Can you please detail this idea? It seems very interesting.

Thanks.

Max

[jasotastic81]

Well, start with what you're putting in your table. If it's a lot of short answers like numbers, then a table is probably best. However, if you have a lot of sentences or phrases as answers, then a subform with text fields inside may be best.

For example, if you are taking applications for a college, your answers will likely be phrases like names, addresses, parents' names, contact information. Those take a lot of space and make a column very wide. A subform with text fields can better handle something like this. Each "row" is a new instance of your subform.

If you're tracking results of an experiment with different variables, then short numbers are probably filling your fields, and a table is better suited for that task. You actually want to be able to easily compare the results based on one variable changing at a time.

[Former Community Member]

Well in my case i have both. I have sentences and short numbers. So i suppose my best solution would be to do the textfields inside the subform. But how can i make it to break page when it is too large?

[jasotastic81]

The container that holds your repeated subforms has an option to allow page breaks.

Select the container. On the Object tab > Subform subtab, check the box for "Allow Page Breaks within Content." I would recommend not allowing them in the repeated subform itself, if you have the room.

Here's the steps for making a subform repeatable (which you'll have to do).

To create a repeating subform

1. In the Hierarchy palette, select the parent subform of the subform you want to repeat. (See About subforms).
2. In the Object palette, click the Subform tab, and in the Content list, select Flowed.
3. Select the subform to repeat.
4. In the Object palette, click the Subform tab and, in the Content list, select either Positioned or Flowed.
5. Click the Binding tab and select Repeat Subform For Each Data Item.
6. To specify the minimum number of repetitions, select Min Count and type a number in the associated box. If this option is set to 0 and no data is provided for the objects in the subform at data-merge time, the subform is not placed when the form is rendered.
7. To specify the maximum number of subform repetitions, select Max and type a number in the associated box. If you do not specify a value in the Max box, the number of subform repetitions will be unlimited.
8. To specify a set number of subform repetitions, regardless of the quantity of data, select Initial Count and type a number in the associated box. If you select this option and either no data is available or fewer data entries exist than the specified Initial Count value, empty instances of the subform are still placed on the form.

You can use the action builder to generate the new subforms for you, to save coding work.

Here's an example of a form's design view with the action builder open for you to see. I used a job application as my example. It has long and short fields to fill in, and that should give you an idea of what will work best for you.

[Former Community Member]

Hi jasotastic81,

Thanks for your awesome answer full of information!

But i think we are heading in the wrong direction. Let me re-explain my problem i think something was not clear enought.

I have a Form that has a table. This table is data bound to something i'm sending in parameter to the form. I am not manually filling it or manually adding lines. This table is getting filled without any problem with the data binding. My problem is that the table is too large to fit on one page. And this table also have dynamical columns so i cannot say "put the first 10 columns on page 1, the 10 next on page 2 etc.".

I would want the columns that doesn't fit on this page to go on the next page, and so on. Here is a screenshot of what's hapenning :

Thanks!
Max

[srujank18846508]

Hi,

Any answer? I am also facing the same issue.

Thanks,

Srujan