Document Merged Table Cells in all formats (particularly DOCX)

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Description

1. Merged Table Cells in Word

According to the Quarto documentation on tables, it is not explicitly stated that merged cells are supported in Word output. However, Quarto natively supports grid_tables, which can render merged cells correctly across Word, HTML, and PDF formats. Here's an example:

---
title: "Quarto Playground"
format:
  docx
---

## Grid Table with Column Span

+---------------------+----------+
| Property            | Earth    |
+=============+=======+==========+
|             | min   | -89.2 °C |
| Temperature +-------+----------+
| 1961-1990   | mean  | 14 °C    |
|             +-------+----------+
|             | max   | 56.7 °C  |
+-------------+-------+----------+

The above example works seamlessly in all output formats, including Word. However, this functionality is not explicitly mentioned in the Quarto documentation, and including it would make this capability more visible to users.

Suggested Improvements:

1. Document Merged Table Cells:
   • Update the table documentation to include the use of grid_tables for merged cells in Word, HTML, and PDF outputs.
   • Provide clear examples for users to replicate this functionality.

Benefits:

• Makes Quarto’s capabilities more transparent to users.
• Enhances usability for academic and technical writing by providing official guidance on:
  • Merged table cells in Word.

Related Discussions:

This request builds upon Discussion #11753 on Quarto’s GitHub platform.

Thank you for considering this enhancement to the documentation!