gridSpan (Grid Columns Spanned by Current Table Cell)

This element specifies the number of grid columns in the parent table's table grid which shall be spanned by the current cell. This property allows cells to have the appearance of being merged, as they span vertical boundaries of other cells in the table.

If this element is omitted, then the number of grid units spanned by this cell shall be assumed to be one. If the number of grid units specified by the val attribute exceeds the size of the table grid, then the table grid shall be augmented as needed to create the number of grid columns required.

[Example: Consider the following table that has two rows and two columns where the columns are not aligned:

This table is represented by laying out the cells on a table grid consisting of three table grid columns, each grid column representing a logical vertical column in the table:

The first table cell in the first row spans two grid column units. The second cell in the second row also consumes two grid column units (see the grid lines represented using dotted lines in the example above). This table is represented using the following WordprocessingML:

<w:tbl>
…
<w:tr>
<w:tc>
<w:tcPr>
…
<w:gridSpan w:val="2" />
</w:tcPr>
…
</w:tc>
…
</w:tr>

<w:tr>
<w:tc>
…
</w:tc>
<w:tc>
<w:tcPr>
…
<w:gridSpan w:val="2" />
</w:tcPr>
…
</w:tc>
</w:tr>
</w:tbl>

The gridSpan element indicates the number of columns spanned by each cell with respect to the table grid (in the case of R1C1 and TR2C2, two. end example]

Parent Elements

tcPr (§2.7.5.8); tcPr (§2.4.66); tcPr (§2.7.5.9); tcPr (§2.4.67)

Attributes

Description

val (Decimal Number Value)

Specifies that the contents of this attribute will contain a decimal number.

The contents of this decimal number are interpreted based on the context of the parent XML element.

[Example: Consider the following numeric WordprocessingML property of type ST_DecimalNumber:

<w:… w:val="1512645511" />

The value of the val attribute is a decimal number whose value must be interpreted in the context of the parent element. end example]

The possible values for this attribute are defined by the ST_DecimalNumber simple type (§2.18.16).

The following XML Schema fragment defines the contents of this element:

</complexType>