- Posted by lio on October 5, 2008
Tables
Tables are defined with the <table> tag. A table is divided into
rows (with the <tr> tag), and each row is divided into data cells
(with the <td> tag). The letters td stands for "table data,"
which is the content of a data cell. A data cell can contain text,
images, lists, paragraphs, forms, horizontal rules, tables, etc.
|
<table border="1">
<tr>
<td>row 1, cell 1</td>
<td>row 1, cell 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>row 2, cell 1</td>
<td>row 2, cell 2</td>
</tr>
</table>
|
How it looks in a browser:
| row 1, cell 1 |
row 1, cell 2 |
| row 2, cell 1 |
row 2, cell 2 |
Tables and the Border Attribute
If you do not specify a border attribute the table will be displayed
without any borders. Sometimes this can be useful, but most of the
time, you want the borders to show.
To display a table with borders, you will have to use the border attribute:
|
<table border="1">
<tr>
<td>Row 1, cell 1</td>
<td>Row 1, cell 2</td>
</tr>
</table>
|
Headings in a Table
Headings in a table are defined with the <th> tag.
|
<table border="1">
<tr>
<th>Heading</th>
<th>Another Heading</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>row 1, cell 1</td>
<td>row 1, cell 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>row 2, cell 1</td>
<td>row 2, cell 2</td>
</tr>
</table>
|
How it looks in a browser:
| Heading |
Another Heading |
| row 1, cell 1 |
row 1, cell 2 |
| row 2, cell 1 |
row 2, cell 2 |
Empty Cells in a Table
Table cells with no content are not displayed very well in most browsers.
|
<table border="1">
<tr>
<td>row 1, cell 1</td>
<td>row 1, cell 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>row 2, cell 1</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</table>
|
How it looks in a browser:
| row 1, cell 1 |
row 1, cell 2 |
| row 2, cell 1 |
|
Note that the borders around the empty table cell are missing (NB! Mozilla Firefox displays the border).
To avoid this, add a non-breaking space ( ) to empty data cells, to make the borders visible:
|
<table border="1">
<tr>
<td>row 1, cell 1</td>
<td>row 1, cell 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>row 2, cell 1</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</table>
|
How it looks in a browser:
| row 1, cell 1 |
row 1, cell 2 |
| row 2, cell 1 |
|
Basic Notes - Useful Tips
The <thead>,<tbody> and <tfoot> elements are seldom
used, because of bad browser support. Expect this to change in future
versions of XHTML.
Table Tags
| Tag |
Description |
| <table> |
Defines a table |
| <th> |
Defines a table header |
| <tr> |
Defines a table row |
| <td> |
Defines a table cell |
| <caption> |
Defines a table caption |
| <colgroup> |
Defines groups of table columns |
| <col> |
Defines the attribute values for one or more columns in a table |
| <thead> |
Defines a table head |
| <tbody> |
Defines a table body |
| <tfoot> |
Defines a table footer |