4D Write Pro: Make Hidden Table Borders Visible (Temporarily)

Working on 4D Write Pro tables with hidden lines can be tricky! You can’t tell where each cell ends, especially with merged ones. But 4D 20 R7 is shipped with a cool feature to show you those hidden lines, even if they’re normally invisible.

This makes working with tables much easier! Let’s see how this new view property works.

HDI View options

View properties

A quick reminder: the view properties are used to show or hide elements (such as rulers or invisible characters) without affecting the final 4D Write Pro document.

A new property

The visibleTableBorders property displays internal and external table borders as dotted lines when these borders are partially or totally invisible.

This will facilitate page layout (more accessible, more visual resizing) and data entry (convenient in the case of merged cells, for example).

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Interface

This new property is of course present in the 4D Write Pro interface. Both in the toolbar and in the sidebar.

Tool bar

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Side bar

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Conclusion

With visibleTableBorders, you get the best of both worlds: beautiful tables that are also easy to edit. No more sacrificing looks for functionality!

Head to our forum and tell us how this new feature makes table magic for you!

Roland Lannuzel
• Product Owner & 4D Expert •After studying electronics, Roland went into industrial IT as a developer and consultant, building solutions for customers with a variety of databases and technologies. In the late 80’s he fell in love with 4D and has used it in writing business applications that include accounting, billing and email systems.Eventually joining the company in 1997, Roland’s valuable contributions include designing specifications, testing tools, demos as well as training and speaking to the 4D community at many conferences. He continues to actively shape the future of 4D by defining new features and database development tools.