• Content Overview
• Sample Docx View
• Document
• Paragraphs
  • Overview
  • Properties
    • Horizontal Alignment
    • Borders
    • Breaks
    • Indentation
    • Shading and Background
    • Spacing
    • Styles
    • Tabs
    • Vertical Alignment
• Text Frames
• Text
  • Overview
  • Properties
    • Borders
    • Fonts
    • Shading
    • Spacing
    • Special Content
      • Breaks
      • Symbols
    • Styles
• Tables
  • Structure
    • Overview
    • Defining Columns or Table Grid
    • Rows
    • Cells
  • Table Properties
    • Alignment
    • Borders
    • Border Conflicts
    • Captions
    • Indentation
    • Shading
    • Width
    • Styles
    • Cell Margins
    • Cell Spacing
    • Autofit/Width Layout
    • Absolute Positioning or Floating Tables
    • Conditional Formatting
  • Table Property Exceptions
  • Row Properties
  • Cell Properties
    • Borders
    • Cell Border Conflicts
    • Margins
    • Shading
    • Vertical Alignment
    • Width
    • Hide End of Cell Mark
• Numbering, Levels and Lists
  • Overview
  • Defining a Numbering Scheme
  • Defining a Particular Level
    • Numbering Level Text
    • Numbering Format
    • Displaying as Numerals Only
    • Restart Numbering
    • Picture or Image as Numbering Symbol
    • Justification
  • Overriding a Numbering Definition
• Sections
  • Overview
  • Columns
  • Footers
  • Headers
  • Borders
  • Page Margins
  • Page Numbers
  • Line Numbers
• Styles
  • Overview
  • Defining Default Formats
  • Defining a Style
    • General Style Properties
    • Character Styles
    • Paragraph Styles
    • Table Styles
      • Conditional Formatting
    • Numbering Styles
• Fonts
• Headers
• Footers
• Page Numbers
• Links
  • Overview
  • Bookmarks
• Fields
  • Overview
  • Field Instructions
  • Field Definitions
  • General Field Formatting
  • Date and Time Field Formatting
  • Numeric Field Formatting
• Table of Contents

Wordprocessing Tables

When a table or a table row (table-level exception) specifies a border and individual cells also specify borders, there is a possiblity for conflict. The OOXML specification specifies how such conflicts are to be resolved.

Note first that if cell spacing is non-zero, then both the cell border and the table border can be displayed without conflict.

Conflicts between cell borders and table and table-level exception borders

If the cell spacing is zero, then there is a conflict. The following rules apply as between cell borders and table and table-level exception (row) borders:

• If there is a cell border, then the cell border is displayed.
• If there is no cell border but there is a table-level exception border on the row, then that table-level exception border is displayed.
• If there is no cell or table-level exception border, then the table border is displayed.

Conflicts between adjacent cells

Conflicts between borders of adjacent cells are resolved by first assigning weights to each according to their style; the cell border with the greatest weight prevails. If the weights are equal, then the borders are compared by brightness values; the border with the the smaller brightness value wins. If brightness factors are equal, then the first border in reading order is displayed.

Related CSS property:

If borders are not collapsed and there is sufficient spacing between cells, there is no conflict between borders. (Note that HTML rows cannot have borders--only tables and cells.)