This element specifies that this cell is part of a vertically merged set of cells in a table. The val attribute on this element determines how this cell is defined with respect to the previous cell in the table (i.e. does this cell continue the vertical merge or start a new merged group of cells).

If this element is omitted, then this cell shall not be part of any vertically merged grouping of cells, and any vertically merged group of preceding cells shall be closed. If a vertically merged group of cells do not span the same set of grid columns, then this vertical merge is invalid.

[Example: Consider a table with three rows and two columns with the last column completely vertically merged:

The second cell in the first row starts a vertical merge that is completed in the last cell, resulting in the following WordprocessingML:

<w:tbl>
…
<w:tr>
<w:tc>
…
</w:tc>
<w:tc>
…
</w:tc>
<w:tc>
<w:tcPr>
<w:vmerge w:val="restart"/>
</w:tcPr>
…
</w:tc>
</w:tr>

<w:tr>
<w:tc>
…
</w:tc>
<w:tc>
…
</w:tc>
<w:tc>
<w:tcPr>
<w:vmerge w:val="continue"/>
</w:tcPr>
…
</w:tc>
</w:tr>

<w:tr>
<w:tc>
…
</w:tc>
<w:tc>
…
</w:tc>
<w:tc>
<w:tcPr>
<w:vmerge w:val="continue"/>
</w:tcPr>
…
</w:tc>
</w:tr>
</w:tbl>

The vmerge element defines the cells which are vertically merged, and how each cell is merged together. 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 (Vertical Merge Type)

Specifies how the table cell is part of a vertically merged region. This determines whether the cell should join onto an existing grouping of merged cells if any exist, or start a new group of merged cells. Refer to the simple type definition for a full description of each type.

If this attribute is omitted, its value shall be assumed to be continue.

[Example: Consider a table cell where a vertical cell merge begins . This setting is represented as the following WordprocessingML:

<w:tcPr>

<w:vmerge w:val="restart"/>

</w:tcPr>

The attribute value of restart specifies that this element shall start a new vertically merged region in this table. end example]

The possible values for this attribute are defined by the ST_Merge simple type (§2.18.64).

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

</complexType>