The chapter about character movement in the manual is outdated. You can use the auto walk feature by choosing "Go to" from the context menu (I guess this is known and obvious) or hit the third mouse button (I did not know that). This third mouse button also opens containers.
even though its possible to walk OVER tables, he walks over arround them and always finds the fastest way.. if someboday stands in your way he finds the perfect way arround him..