The Table Assistant simplifies and streamlines the process of creating a table by letting you easily define some of the basic elements in a table before you place the table on a form. For example, the Table Assistant dialog box provides options for adding body rows and columns, adding header and footer rows, adding sections, and applying shading to rows.
You can use the Table Assistant to create tables that have a fixed number of rows and columns, or tables that have a fixed number of columns but the number of rows changes depending on how much information is in the data source.
As you select options, you can see how the table will look in the Preview area of the Table Assistant. After you create a table using the Table Assistant, you can modify it using the commands on the Table menu and the various options in the Layout, Border, Object, and Accessibility palettes.
Tip:
By default, the Insert Table dialog box appears when you select Insert > Standard > Table or when you drag the Table object onto the Layout Editor. However, if you previously selected the Don’t Show This Again option in the Insert Table dialog box, you can restore the default behavior by selecting Tools > Options > Wizards and Tips and selecting the Show When Creating Tables option.
For a table in which the number of body rows in the table matches the number of rows in the data, select Body Rows Vary Depending on Data, and then select a value from the Number of Columns list.
To add a header row, select Has Header Row, and then select Repeat Header Row on Each Page, if needed. The Repeat Header Row on Each Page option is available only when you select the Body Rows Vary Depending on Data option in the Body Layout page.
To add a footer row, select Has Footer Row, and then select Repeat Footer Row on Each Page, if needed. The Repeat Footer Row on Each Page option is available only when you select the Body Rows Vary Depending on Data option in the Body Layout page.
To apply options to a section listed in the Sections list, select the section and, under Section Options, select options as needed. Note that when you select Section Is Optional, the minimum occurrence for the section is set to 0. This means that if no data exists for the section, the section will not be shown.
See also 

To create a table using the Table Assistant