Note these features:

• Each column can have a different background colour.

• The tables don't all contain the same columns. CatBase creates them dynamically according to which fields have been populated with data for each product.

• Even though the tables have a varying number of columns, they are all a consistent overall width.

• Formatting can be specified for individual columns, For example, some columns are left-aligned and some are centre-aligned. Some are set in bold and others are not.

How does it do that?

You can create Table Styles to specify the basic characteristics of a table: whether it has a header row, borders, row and column fills, etc. But the Table Styles options are limited to what you can do with InDesign tables. However, with CatBase you can also choose the styling for each column:

• Choose a different background colour for each column

• Set a different style for each column

• Set a specific width or let CatBase calculate the width based on the contents of a column

• Specify a static column header or use a field from the database

Images in Table Cells!

With CatBase and InDesign working together, it's simple to include pictures in table cells. Here's an example: