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§9.2.1

Bands Inside the Grid

A band across the grid—a new table or another row?

✅ NormativeSettled. The requirement holds as written.📄 Page ruleCan be applied from the page alone.Read §9.2.1 in the RFC ↗

The requirement

A full-width band inside a grid — a date line, a section line, a change of shading — MUST NOT end the table. The rows above and below it MUST stay in one table, and the band MUST be rendered as one row whose single cell spans every column.

When it applies

The signal is the column headers. If the headers are not re-declared under the band, the table never closed: the band is an internal divider, not a boundary.

Sketch of the printed page — layout, not output

| Product   | Premium | Losses |
| As of December 2024 (bold band, headers NOT repeated) |
| Term Life | 1,204   | 887    |
| As of December 2023                                   |
| Term Life | 1,150   | 902    |

→ one table, with the two "As of…" lines as full-width band rows

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.

Date and section bands

A bold "As of December 2024" line inside a grid whose column headers are not repeated is a band row spanning all columns, not a boundary. The rows above and below it MUST stay in the same table.

Splitting here is the most expensive boundary error. On a dense financial page, splitting per year turns two tables into four and throws away most of the page's value — every resulting fragment is wrong even though every cell in it is right.

The band's single cell MAY be a header cell (<th colspan=N>) or a body cell (<td colspan=N>); both conform, and a document MUST use one form throughout — see Choices Made Once Per Document (§4.2). An in-frame title band is a spanning header cell (see Titles Banners Captions (§9.7.3)), so the header cell is the default where nothing else decides.

01

✅ SampleThe rule applies

ASSETS and LIABILITIES AND EQUITY as full-width band rows inside one balance sheet`warn`

ASSETS and LIABILITIES AND EQUITY as full-width band rows inside one balance sheet, headers not repeated after either. The stub header is italic, the labels under Current assets: and Current liabilities: are indented one step, and the bold rows are totals.

Source page

Bands Inside the Grid — ASSETS and LIABILITIES AND EQUITY as full-width band rows inside one balance sheet. Source page.

Expected output · excerpt

Unaudited; in millions, except par value	September 30, 2024	December 31, 2023
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$2,414	$2,850
Receivables, net	4,120	4,510
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	2,905	3,102
Total current assets	9,439	10,462
Film and television content rights and games	15,220	16,340
Property and equipment, net	4,890	4,715
Goodwill	19,640	24,905
Intangible assets, net	24,110	27,830
Other noncurrent assets	5,715	5,940
Total assets	$79,014	$90,192
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	$890	$985
…

02

✅ SampleThe rule applies

Calculation of free cash flow`earn`

— a shaded band row that introduces a derived block mid-table, with the column headers not repeated under it.

Source page

Bands Inside the Grid — Calculation of free cash flow. Source page.

Expected output · table 1 of 2

	Three Months Ended		Nine Months Ended
	September 29, 2024	October 1, 2023	September 29, 2024	October 1, 2023
Net cash provided by operating activities	$316	$139	$473	$254
Net cash used in investing activities	(42)	(54)	(130)	(146)
Net cash used in financing activities	(332)	(707)	(523)	(1,183)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	7	(4)	1	(9)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(51)	(626)	(179)	(1,084)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	920	1,553	1,048	2,011
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	$869	$927	$869	$927
Calculation of free cash flow:
Net cash provided by operating activities	$316	$139	$473	$254
Purchases of property and equipment	(32)	(45)	(99)	(144)
Free cash flow (a)	$284	$94	$374	$110

03

✅ SampleThe rule applies

Three full-width bands (Pay TV digital subscribers`dtu`

Three full-width bands (Pay TV digital subscribers, Free-to-view digital households, Additional homes receiving analogue multi-channel services) with no repeated column headers. The asterisks are printed on the baseline, attached to the words, and point at the notes below.

Source page

Bands Inside the Grid — Three full-width bands (Pay TV digital subscribers. Source page.

Expected output

	Q1, 2005	Q2, 2005	Quarterly growth rate
Pay TV digital subscribers
Digital cable	2,544,048	2,601,354	2.3%
Digital satellite (Orbita)	7,349,000	7,424,000	1.0%
TV over ADSL	20,000\*	20,000\*
Total digital pay TV households\\	9,913,048	10,045,354	1.3%
Free-to-view digital households
Free-to-view DTT (ClearView) homes	5,059,350	5,177,824	2.3%
Free-to-view digital satellite\\\*	445,000	492,000	10.6%
Total Free-to-view homes	5,504,350	5,669,824	3.0%
Total UK digital households	15,417,398	15,715,178	1.9%
Digital penetration	61.9%	63.0%	1.1%~
Additional homes receiving analogue multi-channel services
Analogue cable	744,214	700,260	-5.9%
Multi-channel penetration	64.9%	65.8%	0.9%~

04

✅ SampleThe rule applies

Bilingual band rows`P200509160137_0137_6519`

Bilingual band rows — 服務行業 Service Industry, 服務界別 Service Domain — inside a business-receipts index. The stacked header lines are wrapped labels, joined without a space inside the Chinese phrase and with one between the Chinese and English parts.

Source page

Bands Inside the Grid — Bilingual band rows. Source page.

Expected output · excerpt

	2005年Q2指數 Index for Q2 2005	2005年Q2與2005年Q1比較 Q2 2005 compared with Q1 2005		2005年Q2與2004年Q2比較 Q2 2005 compared with Q2 2004		2005年Q1至Q2與2004年Q1至Q2比較 Q1-Q2 2005 compared with Q1-Q2 2004
	（點） (Points)	（點） (Points)	（百分率） (%)	（點） (Points)	（百分率） (%)	（點） (Points)	（百分率） (%)
服務行業 Service Industry
批發/零售 Wholesale/Retail	102.3	-1.1	-1.1	+7.2	+7.6	+7.2	+7.5
細分 breakdown：批發 Wholesale	81.7	+1.3	+1.6	+6.6	+8.8	+4.8	+6.3
零售 Retail	109.7 \*	-2.0	-1.8	+7.4	+7.3	+8.1	+7.9
進口與出口貿易 Import and export trades	108.5	+11.0	+11.3	+10.1	+10.3	+10.9	+11.8
飲食 Restaurants	92.5	-3.0	-3.1	+4.0	+4.5	+4.7	+5.3
酒店 Hotels	113.6	-0.9	-0.8	+20.8	+22.4	+21.0	+22.6
…
電影 Film entertainment	116.4	-2.7	-2.2	+6.1	+5.6	+8.0	+7.3
服務界別 Service Domain
旅遊、會議及展覽服務 Tourism, convention and exhibition services	132.1	-4.0	-3.0	+14.1	+11.9	+16.4	+13.9
電腦及有關服務 Computer and information services	145.4	+22.5	+18.3	+31.1	+27.2	+23.3	+21.0

05

✅ SampleThe rule applies

Precision, in bold italic, heads Repeatability and Interm`vap`

Precision. Ambiguous by design: it reads both as a full-width band and as a parent row label — the band-versus-hierarchy boundary in one cell. It spans the full width, so it is a band.

Source page

Bands Inside the Grid — Precision, in bold italic, heads Repeatability and Interm. Source page.

Expected output

Type of analytical procedure	IDENTIFICATION	TESTING FOR IMPURITIES		ASSAY - dissolution (measurement only) - content/potency
characteristics	IDENTIFICATION	quantitat.	limit	ASSAY - dissolution (measurement only) - content/potency
Accuracy	-	+	-	+
Precision
Repeatability	-	+	-	+
Interm.Precision	-	+ ⁽¹⁾	-	+ ⁽¹⁾
Specificity ⁽²⁾	+	+	+	+
Detection Limit	-	- ⁽³⁾	+	-
Quantitation Limit	-	-	+ ⁽³⁾	-
Linearity	-	+	-	+
Range	-	+	-	+

06

❌ Counter-sampleLooks like it applies and does not — or a rendering got it wrong

清掃の時間 is centred and reads like a full-width band`2012_tushin_nittei`

清掃の時間 is centred and reads like a full-width band, but it sits inside the track column with the other columns' rules running through its row. It is an ordinary entry in that one cell, not a spanning band row. The letter-spaced headers are written as normal words.

Source page

Bands Inside the Grid — 清掃の時間 is centred and reads like a full-width band. Source page.

Expected output · excerpt

時刻	トラック	跳躍（高さ）	跳躍（距離）	投擲
９：３０	女共４×１００ｍ予５組１着＋３
５０	男共４×１００ｍ予６組０着＋８
１０：２０	男３０００ｍ決２組タイムレース			女砲丸投
…
５５	女１年１００ｍ決
	清掃の時間
１５：３０	女共４×１００ｍ決
３５	男共４×１００ｍ決
５０	閉会式

Shading, zebra striping, colour changes

Shading MUST NOT be treated as a table boundary.

Sketch of the printed page — layout, not output

| A | 1.10 |   ← white rows
| B | 1.25 |
| C | 1.31 |   ← gray rows start here: still the same table

Shading is a readability aid applied by the typesetter. It makes no claim about what the rows mean, so it cannot start a new table.

What does justify a split

Only a semantic signal justifies a split:

a new subject
a new schema
a key that stops continuing

Appearance alone MUST NOT split a table.

Cohort bands with no column headers anywhere

Sketch of the printed page — layout, not output

FEMALE                 ← band; no column headers anywhere
| 25 | 1.02 | 1.10 |
MALE
| 25 | 1.08 | 1.15 |

This one resolves the other way: one table per cohort, with the band as that table's header row. The band is the only thing naming what the rows below it are. See Group and Cohort Bands (§9.2.5).

Group bands over one shared row spine

Sketch of the printed page — layout, not output

|        | Loss of Income | Other         |  ← two boxed bands
| (1)    | (2)   | (3)    | (4)   | (5)   |  ← full-width numbered tier
| 2019   | 1,204 | 887    | 310   | 95    |  ← one shared row spine

One table. A full-width numbered tier running across the whole width shows that all those columns describe one row — splitting there destroys the row identity that crosses the groups. See Group and Cohort Bands (§9.2.5).

Look-alike

Two similar pages that call for different decisions. Synthetic, for teaching the boundary.

A bold line inside a grid. Divider row, or the start of a new table?

A

Band inside the grid

Product	Premium
As of December 2024
Term Life	1,204
As of December 2023
Term Life	1,150

The convention

One table. The band is a full-width row.

B

Repeated header

State	Rate
AL	1.10
State	Rate
MT	0.95

The convention

Close the table, start a new one at the repeat.

Look at the structure. What evidence changes the answer?

More

Rule id tables-bands-inside-the-grid · tables boundaries headers