RTF Examples for Controlling Text and Paragraph Details

This vignette documents how to use rtf_text and rtf_paragraph to customize text and paragraph in details. All output tables are saved in the vignettes/rtf folder and assembled in vignettes/r2rtf_examples.docx document.

text <- paste(rep("Sample Text", 20), collapse = " ")

text <- rep(text, 5)

Paragraph

Paragraph Alignment

Paragraph alignment supports four types.

r2rtf:::justification() %>% subset(type %in% c("l", "c", "r", "j"))

##   type      name rtf_code_text rtf_code_row
## 1    l      left          \\ql       \\trql
## 2    c    center          \\qc       \\trqc
## 3    r     right          \\qr       \\trqr
## 5    j justified          \\qj

This example display text in different alignment methods.

res <- r2rtf:::rtf_paragraph(r2rtf:::rtf_text(text),
  justification = c("l", "c", "r", "j")
)
r2rtf:::write_rtf_para(res, "rtf/para-justification.rtf")

Indent

First line, left, and right indent can be controlled. One can also use a negative number to have the text “outdent”.

res <- r2rtf:::rtf_paragraph(r2rtf:::rtf_text(text),
  indent_first = c(1000, 0, -1000),
  indent_left = c(500, -500),
  indent_right = 500
)
r2rtf:::write_rtf_para(res, "rtf/para-indent.rtf")

Line Space

Different types of line space can be controlled.

r2rtf:::spacing()[, 1:2]

##   type         name
## 1  1.0 single-space
## 2  2.0 double-space
## 3  1.5    1.5-space

This example show different line spaces in paragraph.

res <- r2rtf:::rtf_paragraph(r2rtf:::rtf_text(text),
  space = c(1, 2, 1.5)
)
r2rtf:::write_rtf_para(res, "rtf/para-line-space.rtf")

Paragraph Space

res <- r2rtf:::rtf_paragraph(r2rtf:::rtf_text(text),
  space_before = c(50, 180),
  space_after = c(180, 50)
)
r2rtf:::write_rtf_para(res, "rtf/para-space.rtf")

New Page

This example add page break before paragraphs.

res <- r2rtf:::rtf_paragraph(r2rtf:::rtf_text(text)[1:2],
  new_page = TRUE
)
r2rtf:::write_rtf_para(res, "rtf/para-page.rtf")

Text

Text Format

res <- r2rtf:::rtf_paragraph(r2rtf:::rtf_text(text,
  format = c("b", "i", "bi", "^", "_", "u", "s")
))

## Warning in matrix(text_rtf, nrow = nrow(text), ncol = ncol(text)): data length
## [7] is not a sub-multiple or multiple of the number of rows [5]

r2rtf:::write_rtf_para(res, "rtf/text-format-1.rtf")

Text Font Type

res <- r2rtf:::rtf_paragraph(r2rtf:::rtf_text(text,
  font = 1:10
))

## Warning in matrix(text_rtf, nrow = nrow(text), ncol = ncol(text)): data length
## differs from size of matrix: [10 != 5 x 1]

r2rtf:::write_rtf_para(res, "rtf/text-font-type.rtf")

Text Color

res <- r2rtf:::rtf_paragraph(r2rtf:::rtf_text(text,
  color = c("red", "gold", "black", "orange", "blue")
))
r2rtf:::write_rtf_para(res, "rtf/text-color.rtf")

Text Background Color

res <- r2rtf:::rtf_paragraph(r2rtf:::rtf_text(text,
  color = "white",
  background_color = c("red", "gold", "black", "orange", "blue")
))
r2rtf:::write_rtf_para(res, "rtf/text-background-color.rtf")

Combine Text in Different Format

This example call rtf_text multiple times to combine a text.

res <- r2rtf:::rtf_paragraph(paste0(
  r2rtf:::rtf_text("3.5"),
  r2rtf:::rtf_text("\\dagger", format = "^"),
  r2rtf:::rtf_text("\\line red ", color = "red"),
  r2rtf:::rtf_text("highlight", background_color = "yellow")
))
r2rtf:::write_rtf_para(res, "rtf/text-combine1.rtf")

This example call rtf_text one time to combine a text.

text <- c(3.5, "\\dagger", "\\line red ", "highlight")
format <- c("", "^", "", "")
color <- c("black", "black", "red", "black")
background_color <- c("white", "white", "white", "yellow")

res <- r2rtf:::rtf_paragraph(
  paste(
    r2rtf:::rtf_text(text,
      format = format,
      color = color,
      background_color = background_color
    ),
    collapse = ""
  )
)
r2rtf:::write_rtf_para(res, "rtf/text-combine2.rtf")

Inline Formatting

This example provide an inline formatting options with superscript and subscript. It is important to note the location of {} is before the special character.

text <- c("X{_1} = \\alpha{^2} + \\beta{^\\dagger}")
res <- r2rtf:::rtf_paragraph(r2rtf:::rtf_text(text))
r2rtf:::write_rtf_para(res, "rtf/text-combine3.rtf")

RTF Control Words for Page Numbering

The r2rtf package supports several control words for page numbering in tables. These control words can be used in titles, headers, footnotes, and other text elements.

Available Control Words

Control Word	Description	Use Case
`\pagenumber`	Dynamic RTF page field (document-level)	When you need the actual document page number
`\pagenumber_hardcoding`	Hardcoded table-specific page number	For multi-page tables with table-relative page numbering (e.g., “Page 1 of 3”)
`\totalpage`	Total number of pages in the table	Works with `\pagenumber_hardcoding` to show “X of Y” format
`\pagefield`	RTF NUMPAGES field code	For total document pages

Example 1: Using `\pagenumber` (Document-Level Page Number)

This example uses \pagenumber which shows the document-level page number. When multiple tables are combined, it shows the absolute page position in the document.

tbl1_file <- tempfile(fileext = ".rtf")
tbl2_file <- tempfile(fileext = ".rtf")

iris[1:30, ] |>
  rtf_title("Table 1: Iris Data (Page \\pagenumber)") |>
  rtf_colheader("Sepal.Length | Sepal.Width | Petal.Length | Petal.Width | Species") |>
  rtf_body(col_rel_width = rep(1, 5)) |>
  rtf_encode() |>
  write_rtf(tbl1_file)

iris[31:60, ] |>
  rtf_title("Table 2: Iris Data (Page \\pagenumber)") |>
  rtf_colheader("Sepal.Length | Sepal.Width | Petal.Length | Petal.Width | Species") |>
  rtf_body(col_rel_width = rep(1, 5)) |>
  rtf_encode() |>
  write_rtf(tbl2_file)

assemble_rtf(
  input = c(tbl1_file, tbl2_file),
  output = "rtf/page-number-dynamic.rtf"
)

Example 2: Using `\pagenumber_hardcoding` (Table-Specific Page Number)

This example uses \pagenumber_hardcoding which shows the table-specific page number. When multiple tables are combined, each table maintains its own independent page numbering (1/N, 2/N, etc.). Note that Table 1 spans multiple pages to demonstrate how the page counter works within a single table.

tbl3_file <- tempfile(fileext = ".rtf")
tbl4_file <- tempfile(fileext = ".rtf")

# Create a multi-page table to demonstrate page numbering within a single table
iris[1:100, ] |>
  rtf_title("Table 1: Iris Data (\\pagenumber_hardcoding/\\totalpage)") |>
  rtf_colheader("Sepal.Length | Sepal.Width | Petal.Length | Petal.Width | Species") |>
  rtf_body(col_rel_width = rep(1, 5)) |>
  rtf_encode() |>
  write_rtf(tbl3_file)

# Single page table to show independent numbering
iris[101:130, ] |>
  rtf_title("Table 2: Iris Data (\\pagenumber_hardcoding/\\totalpage)") |>
  rtf_colheader("Sepal.Length | Sepal.Width | Petal.Length | Petal.Width | Species") |>
  rtf_body(col_rel_width = rep(1, 5)) |>
  rtf_encode() |>
  write_rtf(tbl4_file)

assemble_rtf(
  input = c(tbl3_file, tbl4_file),
  output = "rtf/page-number-hardcoding.rtf"
)

Key Differences

\pagenumber (Dynamic Field): - Shows: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, … (continuous across document) - Use when: You need absolute document page numbers - Behavior: When combining tables with assemble_rtf(), pages continue numbering across all tables

\pagenumber_hardcoding (Hardcoded Table Pages): - Shows: Table 1 displays “1/3, 2/3, 3/3”, Table 2 displays “1/1” (each restarts) - Use when: You need table-relative page numbering where each table has its own counter - Behavior: Each table’s pages are numbered independently starting from 1. This is especially useful for multi-page tables that need internal page tracking.