Tabs dialog box

[Bill Gruener]

The Tabs dialog box contains a drop-down list box labeled “Tab stop
position.†Immediately below the Tab stop position box is an area that
displays a list of the manual tabs associated with the document.
My questions:

* Are all stops in the list active?
* If not active, is the list displayed as a history?
* To make active, must I ensure move a stop into the Tab stop position box?

The options in the Alignment and Leader areas: do the options selected apply
only to the stop that appears in the Tab stop position box?

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi Bill,

The first thing to understand is that every paragraph in a document can have
a different set of tab stops. If you're typing and hit Enter to make a new
paragraph, it "inherits" the tab settings of the paragraph you came from,
but then you can change the settings in the new paragraph without affecting
the previoius paragraph (or any other paragraph).

The second thing is that whenever you open the Tabs dialog, it shows you
whatever tab stops are currently defined *in the paragraph that contains the
cursor* and not in any other paragraph.

There is no "history". There are no "inactive" tab stops. It's just whatever
is in the current paragraph right now. If you change the tab stops of the
current paragraph -- maybe by dragging or double-clicking the tab markers on
the horizontal ruler -- and then reopen the Tabs dialog, it will show the
new positions.

The only significance of the "Tab stop position" box is (a) you can type
into the box a position that doesn't exist yet and press the Set button to
create a new tab stop in the current paragraph, and (b) you can click an
existing entry in the list (which puts that measurement in the "Tab stop
position" box) and choose a different alignment or leader, and click the Set
button to apply the choice; or click the Clear button to remove that tab
stop.

And yes, the alignment and leader options apply only to the one tab stop
that appears in the "Tab stop position" box, and only if you remember to
click the Set button. If you want to apply the same option to another tab
stop, you have to click on that one in the list and then apply the option.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Yes, all the tab stops listed are the ones that are active for the selected
paragraph. You will see them represented on the ruler by Ls and other
symbols. In addition, there is a default tab stop every half inch (not
represented on the ruler) to the right of the rightmost tab stop (whenever
you explicitly set a tab stop, you clear all the default half-inch ones to
the left of it).

And yes, to set the leader or alignment for a specific position, you must
select that position. Moreover, if you are changing more than one setting in
a single visit to the Tabs dialog, you must click Set for each one (OK
suffices for a single setting or the last setting of multiples).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Stefan Blom]

The custom tab stops listed are in the current paragraph; you can see them
if you display the horizontal ruler. When you select a tab stop in the list,
you can see its properties in the dialog box (try it out!).

To set a new tab stop, type a value in the "Tab stop position" box, set its
properties, and then click Set.

For more on tab stops, see
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/formatting/SettingTabs.htm.

 

[Bill Gruener]

Thank you Jay, Suzanne, and Stefan for insightful answers. Here's a follow-up.

Secnario:
A document contains 100 paragraphs, each paragraph contains varying amount
of text. 90 paragraphs had the Body Text style applied. The tab stops for the
Body Text style were applied using the Modify Style dialog box > Format >
Tabs > Tabs dialog box?*

Question:
Wouldn't those 90 share the same tab stops?
Wouldn't a change in the Modify Style dialog box apply to all 90 paragraphs?

*I'm using Word 2007, SP2, which should not invoke the error in SP1.

 

[Stefan Blom]

If you modify the style, the changes will be applied to all paragraphs using
that style, yes. Do note that any tab stops applied as direct formatting
(that is, NOT via the Modify Style dialog) will override the settings of the
style. To clear direct paragraph formatting, select the text and press
Ctrl+Q.