Ambitus

Tables

A table in Ambitus sits in the note, among your text, and works much like a small spreadsheet. It can add up columns, take tick boxes and colours, and go out to Numbers or Excel.

A cost table in a note on a Mac. The Total cell is selected, so it shows its formula, =B6+B7.

Making a table

The table button in the tool bar above the text offers 2 to 6 columns. On a Mac, or an iPad with a keyboard, ⌥⌘T makes one with 3 columns.

A new table has a header row and two rows, and typing starts in its first cell.

Moving around

Key	Does
Tab	Next cell
⇧Tab	Cell before
Return	Cell below
⇧Return	Cell above
⌥Return	New line inside the cell

On an iPhone or iPad, Tab and ⇧Tab need a keyboard attached. On the on-screen keyboard, Return is a new line, and the bar above the keyboard has → (next cell) and ↓ (cell below).

A tap or click outside the table goes back to the note's text.

Typing in a table on an iPhone: **→** and **↓** above the keyboard move to the next cell. — Typing in a table on an iPhone: → and ↓ above the keyboard move to the next cell.

Rows and columns

Key	Does
⌥↑	Adds a row above
⌥↓	Adds a row below
⌥←	Adds a column to the left
⌥→	Adds a column to the right

On an iPhone or iPad, these keys need a keyboard attached. Everyone can use the table's menu instead.

To make a column wider, drag the line between two columns, or between two of the letters above them. In a long table the letters stay at the top, so a column can be widened anywhere in it.

Selecting cells

Mac: click a cell to select it. Shift-click selects everything in between. ⌘-click adds a cell or takes it out.
iPhone and iPad: tap a cell to type in it. Once cells are selected, a tap on another cell adds it to the selection or takes it out. Two taps on a cell go back to typing there.

To open it:

Mac: right-click any cell, the corner, a row number or a column letter.
iPhone and iPad: touch and hold any of these.
Everywhere: use the table button that appears in the tool bar while you are in a table.

All of these give the same menu, in three parts.

First, what is selected, shown by name (Cell, 6 Cells, 2 Rows):

Copy, Paste, Clear
Fill Colour…, Text Colour…
Copy Style, Paste Style
Number Format…
Borders…
the alignments
Checkbox
Merge Cells, Unmerge Cells
for whole rows or columns, adding and deleting them

Then the table:

Add Row Above / Below, Add Column Left / Right
Delete Row, Delete Column
Header Row, Header Column
Equal Column Widths, Automatic Row Heights
Table Name…, Show Name

Last, the whole table:

Cut Table, Copy Table, Duplicate Table
Export Table, Save Table as Template…
Delete Table

The table's menu on an iPad, opened on four selected cells.

Formulas

A cell that starts with = shows its result, for example =B2+B3 or =SUM(B2:B10).

You can use + − × ÷ and brackets, and SUM, AVERAGE, MIN, MAX and COUNT.
While typing a formula, tap or click another cell to put it in.
Formulas follow when rows or columns are added or deleted.
A ticked box counts as 1.

If a cell shows one of these, this is what it means:

Shows	Means
#ERR	A mistake, or text used as a number
#REF	Its cell was deleted
#DIV/0	A division by zero
#LOOP	The formula needs its own result

Totals from another table

Give a table a name with Table Name…. Another table in the same note can then use it: =Food::C10. Show Name shows or hides the name above the table.

Number formats

Number Format… for the selected cells offers Automatic, Number, Euro (€), US Dollar ($) or Australian Dollar (A$), with the number of decimals and a thousands separator.

Borders

Borders… in the table's menu draws lines on cells, for forms and invoices.

Mac: select the cells, then choose Borders…. The window can be moved, so you can see the table beside it.
iPhone and iPad: for one cell, touch and hold it and choose Borders…, with no need to select it first. For several cells, select them first.
iPad: the panel can be dragged anywhere in the note. With the note in full screen, it can go anywhere on the screen.
iPhone: the panel opens at the top, over the tools.

In the window:

Tap or click the lines in the small picture to choose them, in any mix, or use All, Outside or Inside.
Choose a Thickness (None takes the lines away) and a colour.
The table shows the result as you choose. Apply keeps it, Cancel leaves the table as it was.
Normal Lines puts back the table's usual thin grey lines.
One Undo takes it all back.

Borders go into a Word export, a PDF, a picture and printing. An older version of Ambitus opens a note with borders to read only, until it is updated.

Tick boxes in cells

Checkbox in the table's menu turns the selected cells into tick boxes.

Mac: double-click a box to tick it, or press Space. One click only selects the cell.
iPhone and iPad: double-tap a box to tick it. One tap only selects the cell.

The list button's Checkbox is for lines of text. Inside a table it's greyed out.

Moving and copying a table

Cut Table or Copy Table, then Paste anywhere in a note, the same one or another, moves or copies the whole table with its formulas and look.

You can also drag it to another place in the note:

Mac: press on the table and drag it. A click without dragging opens it for typing, as before.
iPhone and iPad: touch and hold the table, then drag it.

Tables from other apps

Cells copied from Numbers or Excel, or a table copied as Markdown, can be pasted into a cell. Each value lands in its own cell, and the table grows to fit. Only the text comes over.

Several places at once

Cells copied from scattered places and pasted onto cells in the same pattern land one value each.
Several whole rows or columns picked one by one are deleted together (Delete 3 Rows). One Undo brings them all back.

Exporting a table

Export Table in the table's menu gives CSV (for Numbers or Excel), PDF, a picture (PNG) or tab-separated text. Formulas are exported as their results.

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