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Table Formatting: How-To Guide

A practical guide for resolving common table formatting issues in S-Docs templates across DOC, DOC-NEW, and PDF formats.

1. Reducing Row and Cell Spacing

Applies to: DOC, DOC-NEW, PDF

Problem: Tables display excessive whitespace between rows or within cells.

Fix: Apply specific CSS and HTML attributes to the <table>, <th>, and <td> elements to collapse the default spacing.

On <th> and <td> elements:

Reduces spacing inside individual cells.

HTML

<td cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="padding: 0; margin: 0;">

On the <table> element:

Reduces spacing between rows.

HTML

<table border-spacing="0" style="padding: 0; margin: 0;">

If a width attribute is set on the table, the renderer may add spacing to fill that width. Try removing or reducing the width value if spacing persists after applying the styles above.

2. Handling Content Overflow & Dynamic Spacing

Problem: Tables don't auto-adjust when large amounts of data are pulled in, causing overflow or inconsistent gaps.

Fix: Use CSS as the primary tool for control. It offers more precision than DOCX but requires manual styling.

  • Explicit Control: Use CSS on <table>, <tr>, <td>, and <th> elements to strictly define overflow behavior.

  • Flatten Components: Avoid nesting components that contain tables inside another table. This often causes unpredictable spacing.

  • Refactor Nested Layouts: If a template uses inserted components (e.g., for Plaintiff/Defendant sections), isolate and rework those components to remove table nesting.

3. Resolving Gaps in Dynamic Tables (LineItemsSOQL)

Problem: A gap appears between columns even when padding and spacing are set to zero.

Fix: This is usually a CSS conflict. Audit your template's inline styles for conflicting width, padding, or border declarations.

Checklist for success:

  1. Ensure inner <table> elements have width: 100% and border-collapse: collapse.

  2. Confirm cellpadding="0" and cellspacing="0" are applied to both outer and inner tables.

  3. Verify no border/padding on a <td> is overriding the inner table layout.

Clean Inner Table Setup Example:

HTML

4. Fixing Overflow in PDF Documents

Problem: PDF tables do not auto-adjust cell sizes, causing text or images to bleed outside the table or page boundaries.

Text Overflow

Use the breakeverynchars attribute on your field column to force line breaks.

XML

Table Width Overflow & Missing Borders

Convert hardcoded pixel widths to percentage-based widths.

❌ Avoid

✅ Use

<table style="width: 600px;">

<table style="width: 99%;">

Alternatively, you can also add a 1px right margin to bring the table in 1px from the right with minimal impact for formatting.

Image Overflow

Locate the image tag and replace hardcoded widths with percentages:

HTML

If images are pasted into rich text fields by users, S-Docs cannot resize them automatically. You may need to use an Apex class or validation rules to enforce size limits at the point of upload.

5. Dynamic Table Solutions Summary

Use allprefix / allpostfix Instead of prefix / postfix for Nullable Fields

When a column has a render condition and the field value is null, prefix and postfix are only injected when the value is not null. This means closing tags like </td></tr> get swallowed entirely, breaking the table row structure. The fix is to use allprefix / allpostfix instead — these always render regardless of whether the field value is null, ensuring the row's HTML is always complete and valid.

Attributes like prefix/postfix only show if the column value is not null. Use allprefix/allpostfix to ensure all table code is always inserted.

Avoid Inline Font-Family Quotes in Dynamic Columns

Fonts like 'Trebuchet MS' use single quotes in CSS — and when embedded inside S-Docs prefix / postfix attribute strings (which are themselves single-quoted), this causes silent parsing issues. If border or row problems persist even after other fixes, move the font styling to a CSS class rather than embedding it inline in the column tag. This avoids quote-collision bugs that can be very hard to track down.

Transposing Data (Rows as Fields, Columns as Records) Requires a Structural Rethink

The standard LineItemsSOQL tag outputs one row per record. When the requirement is the opposite — field names as rows and each record as a column — a direct dynamic table won't achieve this out of the box. The solution is to build the static row structure in HTML first (one <tr> per field label), then use the dynamic SOQL tag to inject values into the correct column positions. With a known fixed number of records (e.g., exactly 3), this is entirely achievable by pre-defining the column layout.

Nested / Grouped Tables with Callable Apex or Related Lists

When the requirement is to group line items by a parent value (e.g., a Service SKU) and render a sub-table of child records beneath each parent, there are two approaches:

  • Callable Apex — the most flexible route for complex grouping logic, allowing you to structure data into parent/child collections before it reaches the template

  • Related List with a Formula Field — a simpler option that can work around the single-field GROUP BY limitation without requiring custom Apex, depending on the data model

Both options were validated as viable paths, with the choice depending on complexity and how far along the implementation is.

Dynamic Page-per-Item Layout with Conditional Section Display

For templates where each queried record needs its own page, the approach involves combining a component-based SOQL query with page break styling and careful use of static vs. dynamic sections:

  • Elements that should appear only once (e.g., a header with spec number and revision) are placed outside the repeating block

  • For dynamic item counts (e.g., total pages), a Salesforce formula field counting related records is the most reliable approach, as S-Docs doesn't natively expose a record count variable

6. Managing Table Page Breaks in S-Docs

This guide covers common issues and solutions for controlling how tables break across pages, specifically when dealing with borders, headers, and Callable Apex.

Basic Page Break Prevention

Issue: Prevent page breaks from splitting rows within a specific table.

Solution: Apply page-break-inside: avoid directly to the <table> tag.

HTML

Caveat: This works best when the table is small enough to fit on a single page. If the table is larger than one page, the entire element may be pushed to the next page, creating large gaps in your document.

Related List Flow & Repeating Headers

Issue: Ensuring related list rows flow naturally to the next page and headers repeat for readability.

Solution:

  • Automatic Flow: S-Docs automatically breaks related list tables across pages by default—no special configuration is required.

  • Repeating Headers: To repeat headers on every page, you must modify the template using the sd:repeatheader attribute.

  • Manual Breaks: If you need to force a break for the entire table (rather than just repeating headers), apply the property to the <table> or <tbody> tags.

Complex Tables with Borders (Callable Apex)

Issue: Maintaining clean borders when a table spans multiple pages (e.g., ensuring a bottom border on Page 1 and a top border on Page 2).

Tested Solutions & Results

Approach

Result

Avoid on <table>

Pushes entire table; loses bottom border on Page 1.

Avoid on <tbody>

Content still pushes rather than breaking cleanly.

Avoid on <tr> and <td>

Success! Rows are pushed to the next page only if they would break in the middle, preserving individual cell borders.

CSS Classes

Failed when using Callable Apex. The CSS was ignored.

LIMIT/OFFSET

Impractical for dynamic or user-driven row counts.

Final Recommendations for Borders

  1. Inline Styling: For tables generated via Callable Apex, avoid CSS classes. Apply style="page-break-inside: avoid" directly to the <tr> or <td> tags.

  2. sd:repeatheader: This is the best workaround for top borders. By repeating the <thead>, you ensure a top border exists on every new page.

    • Note: The missing bottom border on the preceding page remains a known limitation.

  3. Component Templates (Method 2): Use Component Templates so each row renders independently. This allows row-level "avoid" logic to function most reliably.

💡 TL;DR: Summary of What Works

  • Small Tables: Use page-break-inside: avoid on the <table> or <tbody>.

  • Row-Level Control: Apply page-break-inside: avoid directly to <tr> and <td> tags.

  • Headers/Top Borders: Use the sd:repeatheader pattern from the KB.

  • Callable Apex: Use inline styles or Method 2 components, as external/global CSS classes may not render correctly.

Reference: For detailed implementation of headers, see the KB article: Configure a Multi-Page Table to Repeat Its Header on Every Page.

Negative Currencies & RTF Table Layouts

This page covers formatting issues within S-Docs tables, specifically regarding negative currency notation and layout disruptions caused by Rich Text fields.

Formatting Negative Currency Values

Issue: Negative values render in accounting notation—e.g., ($500)—instead of the standard negative sign format—e.g., -$500.

Solution: Add a hyphen (-) to the beginning of the format-number mask within the <column> tag. S-Docs recognizes this character as the indicator for negative sign formatting and will only apply it when the value is less than zero.

Correct Syntax:

HTML

Layout Breaks with type="rtf"

Issue: When type="rtf" is applied to a table column (to handle Rich Text Area fields), the layout often breaks or postfix attributes (like %) fail to render correctly.

Cause:

S-Docs injects <p> (paragraph) tags when processing RTF content. These tags create block-level elements that push the postfix content to a new line or disrupt the table cell alignment.

Solution:

Use the strip-html="true" attribute on the column. This removes the injected <p> tags before the postfix is applied, allowing the data and the postfix to sit on the same line.

Correct Syntax:

XML

💡 Summary Table

Issue

Cause

Fix

($100) vs -$100

Default accounting format

Use format-number="-#,###.##"

Broken Postfix (%)

Injected <p> tags from RTF

Use strip-html="true"

Layout Misalignment

Block-level HTML in cells

Use strip-html="true"

When dealing with Rich Text fields, strip-html="true" is often more reliable than type="rtf" if you only need the text content without the original HTML styling.

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