Using Tables in RTF

Question

I need to create a table in an RTF file. However I am not familiar with RΤF. Here is an example of a text file that these RTF files are supposed to replace:

                               GENERAL JOURNAL
                                                                        Page 1

Date     Description                              Post Ref   Debit      Credit  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011
Dec 1    Utilities Expense                          512      250.00
            Cash                                    111                 250.00
               Paid electric bill for November,
               Check No. 1234

    2    Cash                                       111       35.00
            Accounts Receivable / Customer Name     115/√                30.00
            Interest Income                         412                   5.00
               Receipt of payment on account
               from Customer, Check No. 5678

         . . .

The table is supposed to have borders, but I don't know how to do this either. Some cells have to have special borders on the bottom as in this file:

                                 Company Name
                        Schedule of Accounts Receivable
                               December 31, 2011

Name                                                                   Balance
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adams, John                                                             354.24
Jefferson, Thomas                                                        58.35
Washington, George                                                      754.58
                                                                      --------
                                                                       1167.17
                                                                      ========

I am aware of the \cell, \row etc., but I cannot figure out how to use them properly as the documentation that I have found is not very good. Please help.

Answer 1

This site is useful: http://www.pindari.com/rtf3.html

{\rtf1\ansi\deff0
\trowd
\cellx1000
\cellx2000
\cellx3000
\intbl cell 1\cell
\intbl cell 2\cell
\intbl cell 3\cell
\row
} 

This will give:

---------------------------
|cell 1 | cell 2 | cell 3 |  
---------------------------

A row is delimted with \trowd ... \row

Each cell ends with \cell

\cellx determines the right side of the corresponding cell in twips

Answer 2

Editing directly in RTF becomes quickly unreadable. Pehaps this practical approach works better: - Create an example mock-up ( in Excel or Word ) using unique identifiers as placeholders ( example "(P1)" ) - Then save as RTF - Open the RTF in notepad - copy the RTF codes "as is" and replace the placeholders with actual values in your program