table2rtf: Export Table to Rich Text Format (RTF)

In summata: Publication-Ready Summary Tables and Forest Plots

Export Table to Rich Text Format (RTF)

Description

Converts a data frame, data.table, or matrix to a Rich Text Format (.rtf) document using the flextable and officer packages. Creates widely compatible tables with extensive formatting options. RTF files can be opened and edited in Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, WordPad, and many other word processors. Particularly useful for regulatory submissions, cross-platform compatibility, and when maximum editability is required.

Usage

table2rtf(
  table,
  file,
  caption = NULL,
  font_size = 8,
  font_family = "Arial",
  format_headers = TRUE,
  bold_significant = TRUE,
  bold_variables = FALSE,
  p_threshold = 0.05,
  indent_groups = FALSE,
  condense_table = FALSE,
  condense_quantitative = FALSE,
  zebra_stripes = FALSE,
  dark_header = FALSE,
  paper = "letter",
  orientation = "portrait",
  width = NULL,
  align = NULL,
  return_ft = FALSE,
  ...
)

Arguments

table	Data frame, data.table, or matrix to export. Can be output from desctable(), survtable(), fit(), uniscreen(), fullfit(), compfit(), multifit(), or any tabular data.
file	Character string specifying the output RTF filename. Must have .rtf extension. Example: "results.rtf", "Table1.rtf".
caption	Character string. Optional caption displayed above the table in the RTF document. Default is NULL.
font_size	Numeric. Base font size in points for table content. Default is 8. Typical range: 8-12 points. Headers use slightly larger size.
font_family	Character string. Font family name for the table. Must be a font installed on the system. Default is "Arial". Common options: "Times New Roman", "Calibri", "Courier New".
format_headers	Logical. If TRUE, formats column headers by italicizing statistical notation ("n", "p"), converting underscores to spaces, and improving readability. Default is TRUE.
bold_significant	Logical. If TRUE, applies bold formatting to p-values below the significance threshold. Makes significant results stand out. Default is TRUE.
bold_variables	Logical. If TRUE, variable names are displayed in bold. Default is FALSE.
p_threshold	Numeric. Threshold for bold p-value formatting. Only used when bold_significant = TRUE. Default is 0.05.
indent_groups	Logical. If TRUE, indents factor levels under their parent variable using horizontal spacing, creating hierarchical display. Useful for categorical variables in regression tables. Default is FALSE.
condense_table	Logical. If TRUE, condenses table by showing only essential rows (single row for continuous, non-reference for binary). Automatically sets indent_groups = TRUE. Significantly reduces table height. Default is FALSE.
condense_quantitative	Logical. If TRUE, condenses continuous and survival variables into single rows while preserving all categorical variable rows (including binary). Only applies to descriptive tables from desctable(). Automatically sets indent_groups = TRUE. Unlike condense_table, this does not collapse binary categorical variables. Default is FALSE.
zebra_stripes	Logical. If TRUE, applies alternating row shading to different variables (not individual rows) for visual grouping. Default is FALSE.
dark_header	Logical. If TRUE, creates a dark background with light text for the header row, providing strong visual contrast. Default is FALSE.
paper	Character string specifying paper size: "letter" - US Letter (8.5" × 11") [default] "a4" - A4 (210 mm × 297 mm) "legal" - US Legal (8.5" × 14")
orientation	Character string specifying page orientation: "portrait" - Vertical [default] "landscape" - Horizontal (for wide tables)
width	Numeric. Table width in inches. If NULL (default), automatically fits to content and page width. Specify to control exactly.
align	Character vector specifying column alignment for each column. Options: "left", "center", or "right". If NULL (default), automatically determines based on content (text left, numbers right). Example: c("left", "left", "center", "right", "right").
return_ft	Logical. If TRUE, returns the flextable object directly for further customization. If FALSE (default), returns invisibly with flextable as attribute. See Details for usage. Default is FALSE.
...	Additional arguments (currently unused, reserved for future extensions).

Details

Package Requirements:

This function requires:

• flextable - For creating formatted tables

• officer - For RTF document generation

Install if needed:

install.packages(c("flextable", "officer"))

RTF Format Advantages:

RTF (Rich Text Format) is a universal document format with several advantages:

• Maximum compatibility - Opens in virtually all word processors

• Cross-platform - Works on Windows, Mac, Linux without conversion

• Fully editable - Native text format, not embedded objects

• Lightweight - Smaller file sizes than DOCX

• Regulatory compliance - Widely accepted for submissions (FDA, EMA)

• Long-term accessibility - Simple text-based format

• Version control friendly - Text-based, works with diff tools

Applications that can open RTF files:

• Microsoft Word (Windows, Mac)

• LibreOffice Writer

• Apache OpenOffice Writer

• WordPad (Windows built-in)

• TextEdit (Mac built-in)

• Google Docs (with import)

• Pages (Mac)

• Many other word processors

Output Features:

The generated RTF document contains:

• Fully editable table (native RTF table, not image)

• Professional typography and spacing

• Proper page setup (size, orientation, margins)

• Caption (if provided) as separate paragraph above table

• All formatting preserved but editable

• Compatible with RTF 1.5 specification

Further Customization:

For programmatic customization beyond the built-in options, access the flextable object:

Method 1: Via attribute (default)

result <- table2rtf(table, "output.rtf")
ft <- attr(result, "flextable")

# Customize flextable
ft <- flextable::bold(ft, i = 1, j = 1, part = "body")
ft <- flextable::color(ft, i = 2, j = 3, color = "red")

# Re-save if needed
flextable::save_as_rtf(ft, path = "customized.rtf")

Method 2: Direct return

ft <- table2rtf(table, "output.rtf", return_ft = TRUE)

# Customize immediately
ft <- flextable::bg(ft, bg = "yellow", part = "header")
ft <- flextable::autofit(ft)

# Save to new file
flextable::save_as_rtf(ft, path = "custom.rtf")

Page Layout:

The function automatically sets up the RTF document with:

• Specified paper size and orientation

• Standard margins (1 inch by default)

• Table positioned at document start

• Left-aligned table placement

For landscape orientation:

• Automatically swaps page dimensions

• Applies landscape property

• Useful for wide tables with many columns

Table Width Management:

Width behavior:

• width = NULL - Auto-fits to content and page width

• width = 6 - Exactly 6 inches wide

• Width distributed evenly across columns by default

• Can adjust individual column widths in word processor after creation

For very wide tables:

1. Use orientation = "landscape"

2. Use paper = "legal" for extra width

3. Reduce font_size

4. Use condense_table = TRUE

5. Consider breaking across multiple tables

Typography:

The function applies professional typography:

• Column headers: Bold, slightly larger font

• Body text: Regular weight, specified font size

• Numbers: Right-aligned for easy comparison

• Text: Left-aligned for readability

• Consistent spacing: Adequate padding in cells

• Statistical notation: Italicized appropriately

Value

Behavior depends on return_ft:

return_ft = FALSE

Invisibly returns a list with components:

• file - Path to created file

• caption - Caption text (if provided)

The flextable object is accessible via attr(result, "flextable")

return_ft = TRUE

Directly returns the flextable object for immediate further customization

In both cases, creates a .rtf file at the specified location.

See Also

autotable for automatic format detection, table2docx for Word documents, table2pptx for PowerPoint slides, table2pdf for PDF output, table2html for HTML tables, table2tex for LaTeX output, flextable for the underlying table object, save_as_rtf for direct RTF export

Other export functions: autotable(), table2docx(), table2html(), table2pdf(), table2pptx(), table2tex()

Examples

data(clintrial)
data(clintrial_labels)

# Create example table
results <- fit(
   data = clintrial,
   outcome = "os_status",
   predictors = c("age", "sex", "treatment", "stage"),
   labels = clintrial_labels
)

# Example 1: Basic RTF export
if (requireNamespace("flextable", quietly = TRUE)) {
  table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "results.rtf"))
}


old_width <- options(width = 180)
# Example 2: With caption
table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "captioned.rtf"),
       caption = "Table 1: Multivariable Logistic Regression Results")

# Example 3: Landscape orientation for wide tables
table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "wide.rtf"),
       orientation = "landscape")

# Example 4: Custom font and size
table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "custom_font.rtf"),
       font_family = "Times New Roman",
       font_size = 11)

# Example 5: Hierarchical display
table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "indented.rtf"),
       indent_groups = TRUE)

# Example 6: Condensed table
table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "condensed.rtf"),
       condense_table = TRUE)

# Example 7: With zebra stripes
table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "striped.rtf"),
       zebra_stripes = TRUE)

# Example 8: Dark header style
table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "dark.rtf"),
       dark_header = TRUE)

# Example 9: A4 paper for international submissions
table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "a4.rtf"),
       paper = "a4")

# Example 10: Get flextable for customization
result <- table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "base.rtf"))
ft <- attr(result, "flextable")

# Customize the flextable
ft <- flextable::bold(ft, i = 1, part = "body")
ft <- flextable::color(ft, j = "p-value", color = "blue")

# Re-save
flextable::save_as_rtf(ft, path = file.path(tempdir(), "customized.rtf"))

# Example 11: Direct flextable return
ft <- table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "direct.rtf"), return_ft = TRUE)
ft <- flextable::bg(ft, bg = "yellow", part = "header")

# Example 12: Regulatory submission table
table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "submission.rtf"),
       caption = "Table 2: Adjusted Odds Ratios for Mortality",
       font_family = "Times New Roman",
       font_size = 10,
       indent_groups = TRUE,
       zebra_stripes = FALSE,
       bold_significant = TRUE)

# Example 13: Custom column alignment
table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "aligned.rtf"),
       align = c("left", "left", "center", "right", "right"))

# Example 14: Disable significance bolding
table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "no_bold.rtf"),
       bold_significant = FALSE)

# Example 15: Stricter significance threshold
table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "strict.rtf"),
       bold_significant = TRUE,
       p_threshold = 0.01)

# Example 16: Descriptive statistics for baseline characteristics
desc <- desctable(clintrial, by = "treatment",
   variables = c("age", "sex", "bmi", "stage"), labels = clintrial_labels)

table2rtf(desc, file.path(tempdir(), "baseline.rtf"),
       caption = "Table 1: Baseline Patient Characteristics",
       zebra_stripes = TRUE)

# Example 17: Clinical trial efficacy table
table2rtf(results, file.path(tempdir(), "efficacy.rtf"),
       caption = "Table 3: Primary Efficacy Analysis - Intent to Treat Population",
       font_family = "Courier New",  # Monospace for alignment
       paper = "letter",
       orientation = "landscape",
       condense_table = TRUE)

options(old_width)

summata documentation built on May 7, 2026, 5:07 p.m.