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§9.1.1

Borderless Whitespace Tables

Aligned text, but no borders—is it still a table?

✅ NormativeSettled. The requirement holds as written.📄 Page ruleCan be applied from the page alone.Read §9.1.1 in the RFC ↗

The requirement

A whitespace-aligned block with columns MUST be rendered as a table. Its column tracks MUST be read off the widest row, every value MUST be placed in the track it sits in, and the block MUST NOT be rendered as preformatted text.

When it applies

Typewriter and fixed-width reports where the columns exist only as alignment — no column rules, no fills, no shading. Nothing on the page shows where one column ends and the next begins except the whitespace.

Sketch of the printed page — layout, not output

DURATION    LAPSE     EXPENSE
   1        12.0%       48.00
   2         8.5%       22.50     ← columns are pure whitespace

Reading the examples. Each one pairs a source page with the output the rule expects. ✅ Sample: the rule applies. ❌ Counter-sample: it looks like it applies and does not, or a rendering got it wrong. A non-conforming output, in red, is shown only for contrast. … marks content left out of an excerpt.

Examples

01

✅ SampleThe rule applies

A long zip-code territory table with no rules or fills anywhere`wat`

A long zip-code territory table with no rules or fills anywhere — columns exist purely as alignment. The two-line headers are wrapped labels and join into one header cell each.

Source page

Borderless Whitespace Tables — A long zip-code territory table with no rules or fills anywhere. Source page.

Expected output · excerpt

ZipCodes	Tornado	Wind	Hail	Water Backup	Water - Weather	Water - Non-Weather	Fire - Brush	Fire - Home	Lightning	Liability	Theft	All Other Perils
10101	1.038	0.550	0.563	0.861	1.245	1.107	8.499	0.950	1.228	0.558	0.639	1.048
10102	0.695	0.757	1.125	1.092	0.940	1.076	7.715	0.867	1.681	1.186	0.760	0.835
10103	1.216	0.921	0.289	0.770	1.310	1.081	7.694	1.619	1.363	1.445	0.799	1.077
10104	1.144	1.256	1.443	1.116	1.226	0.886	2.208	1.161	0.824	0.749	0.521	0.910
10105	1.036	0.954	0.705	0.851	0.968	1.198	6.187	1.493	0.932	1.215	0.583	0.971
10106	1.234	1.282	0.985	1.193	1.307	1.142	2.219	0.893	1.102	0.782	0.631	1.315
…

Reading the tracks

The column tracks are taken from the widest, most populated row.
Every remaining row is checked: each value MUST start inside one track.
Where they all do, the block is a table with those columns.
Where a value drifts toward a neighbouring track, or straddles two, it MUST be placed in the track its left edge is closest to. The block is still a table.

A printed header line (a row of labels, often underlined) is strong evidence that columns are intended, and a reason to look harder for consistent tracks. It is not on its own a licence to create columns that the body rows do not support (never invent).

02

✅ SampleThe rule applies

A Medicare-supplement premium table with thin rules between the rows but none between…`aa`

the columns are held together by underlined headers and whitespace alone.

Source page

Borderless Whitespace Tables — A Medicare-supplement premium table with thin rules between the rows but none between…. Source page.

Expected output · excerpt

Attained Age	Plan C	Plan F
65	$2,498.60	$2,890.99
66	2,576.05	3,003.68
67	2,657.54	3,121.39
68	2,747.43	3,244.45
69	2,841.36	3,371.54
70	2,939.76	3,504.30
…

03

✅ SampleThe rule applies

Two tax-rate calculation blocks with no rules, embedded in a memo`xl`

Each two-line column header is one wrapped label over one column, so it is one header cell, and the page underlines every header line and the last figure before each sum.

Source page

Borderless Whitespace Tables — Two tax-rate calculation blocks with no rules, embedded in a memo. Source page.

Expected output · table 1 of 2

	Rate of Return	Federal Income Tax Rate
Net Investment Income Earned	1.94%	20.8%
Net Realized Capital Gains	0.05%	21.0%
	1.99%	20.9%

Markdown

<table>
  <tr> <th> </th> <th><u>Rate of Return</u></th> <th><u>Federal Income Tax Rate</u></th> </tr>
  <tr> <td>Net Investment Income Earned</td> <td>1.94%</td> <td>20.8%</td> </tr>
  <tr> <td>Net Realized Capital Gains</td> <td><u>0.05%</u></td> <td><u>21.0%</u></td> </tr>
  <tr> <td> </td> <td>1.99%</td> <td>20.9%</td> </tr>
</table>

04

✅ SampleThe rule applies

Three loss-triangle blocks aligned purely by column position, with underlined headers`ppy`

Three loss-triangle blocks aligned purely by column position, with underlined headers.

Source page

Borderless Whitespace Tables — Three loss-triangle blocks aligned purely by column position, with underlined headers. Source page.

Expected output · excerpt, table 1 of 3

All Companies Reporting to the Loss Data Bureau ¹
Accident Year Ended	15	27	39	51	63	75	87	99	111	123
12/31/2003	418,550,936	418,042,452	417,267,765	417,492,929	417,216,932	417,189,136	417,146,522	417,095,498	417,140,320	417,120,054
12/31/2004	431,833,889	427,373,100	425,430,426	425,032,454	424,899,046	424,930,538	424,893,684	424,824,851	424,784,418	424,738,538
12/31/2005	471,370,885	466,106,849	464,434,610	463,396,915	463,268,706	463,175,541	463,165,720	463,139,866	463,075,855	463,014,244
12/31/2006	463,200,919	457,725,282	455,822,189	454,841,890	455,017,266	455,000,340	454,915,676	454,822,382	454,797,996
12/31/2007	515,029,169	510,374,742	508,154,461	507,592,525	507,251,378	507,252,665	507,124,706	507,069,577
12/31/2008	547,084,231	543,696,826	542,151,638	541,255,839	540,913,464	540,904,143	540,713,622
…

05

✅ SampleThe rule applies

A fictional automaker's subsidiaries list with a single header underline and nothing else`2cc`

The second header is one label wrapped over two lines.

Source page

Borderless Whitespace Tables — A fictional automaker's subsidiaries list with a single header underline and nothing else. Source page.

Expected output · excerpt

Company Name	State or Sovereign Power of Incorporation
SMF Leasing LLC	Delaware
SMF Serviços de Mobilidade Ltda.	Brazil
SMF Wholesale Receivables LLC	Delaware
Grand Pointe Holdings, Inc.	Michigan
Guangxi Haoling Automotive Technology Co., Ltd.	China
Kinohi Insurance Company LLC	Hawaii
…

Why the alignment test, and not a guess

Columns guessed wrong produce silently misaligned data — a lapse rate filed under expense. The alignment test is how the columns are read, not a reason to give up on them: the widest row fixes the tracks, and every other value is placed by where it starts. A preformatted block would keep the characters but lose every number to anything that consumes structure, which is the worse loss — so it is never the conforming output.

A purely visual "it must have printed rules" reading of Is This Even a Table (§9.1.5) would exclude this entire class by construction. It does not: these are tables when the alignment holds.

06

✅ SampleThe rule applies

a four-line key-value panel on a slide

Under the chart, the Working Capital panel prints four labels and four amounts on two whitespace tracks and nothing else. Every row is the same kind of record — a component and its amount — so it is a table even with no header row and no grid (see Is This Even a Table (§9.1.5)). The neighbouring panels are bullet lists. The panel title sits above the table as text.

Source page

Borderless Whitespace Tables — a four-line key-value panel on a slide. Source page.

Expected output · the Working Capital panel

**Working Capital**
Inventory	£12m
Receivables	£4m
Payables	£(11)m
Deposits	£2m

Markdown

<table>
  <caption><strong>Working Capital</strong></caption>
  <tr> <td>Inventory</td> <td>£12m</td> </tr>
  <tr> <td>Receivables</td> <td>£4m</td> </tr>
  <tr> <td>Payables</td> <td>£(11)m</td> </tr>
  <tr> <td>Deposits</td> <td>£2m</td> </tr>
</table>

07

✅ SampleThe rule applies

an exhibit with no rules and empty cells

Four headers over fourteen rows, every value right-aligned in its track, several cells empty, and a Total: row after a two-line gap. The alignment holds all the way down. The gap is rendered here by leaving it out, one of the two conforming forms of Blank and Spacer Rows (§9.5.1).

Source page

Borderless Whitespace Tables — an exhibit with no rules and empty cells. Source page.

Expected output

Boat Model	Purchase Price	Surf Equipment Total	Boat Lift Purchase Price
Northline	$68,000.00	$1,400.00	$10,500.00
Carrow	$129,900.00	$2,410.00	$14,780.00
Rivano	$110,000.00	$2,505.00	$9,300.00
Carrow	$118,600.00	$1,190.00	$9,980.00
Other/Unlisted	$24,000.00	$1,915.00
Northline	$114,500.00	$1,400.00	$11,500.00
Carrow	$171,320.00		$18,940.00
Rivano	$71,200.00	$950.00	$23,780.00
Carrow	$241,905.00		$32,880.00
Selkirk	$62,000.00	$950.00	$23,780.00
Bellamar	$109,500.00		$16,150.00
Carrow	$76,500.00		$9,500.00
Rivano	$85,100.00		$7,850.00
Rivano	$128,700.00	$3,610.00
Total:	$1,511,225.00	$16,330.00	$188,940.00

08

✅ SampleThe rule applies

a headerless results list with band rows

Rank, name, company and points on four whitespace tracks with no header row anywhere; event names — Fairmont & Voss Tennis Singles Men 30-39 — printed flush left between the groups as bands. The alignment holds for the whole page. Each band is one full-width row, as Bands Inside the Grid (§9.2.1) requires.

Source page

Borderless Whitespace Tables — a headerless results list with band rows. Source page.

Expected output · excerpt

3	Priya Shah	Nordlake Traders	6
4	Owen Farrelly	Vantage Grove Bank	5
5	Marisol Quinn	Solstice Optics	4
6	Declan Foss	Bramwell Group	3
7	Ingrid Kessler	Kestrel Freight	2
8	Callum Reyes	Anchorpoint Bank	1
Fairmont & Voss Tennis Singles Men 30-39
1	Warrick Odell	Bellhaven Consulting	8
2	Silas Byrne	Thornfield Provisions	7
…

More

Rule id tables-borderless-whitespace-tables · tables detection ocr borderless whitespace