HTML Tutorial

Chapter 10: Tables

Tables

What are tables used for?
Tables are used to make data easier to interpret or to give documents more impact.
<table>
<tr>
<th>What are tables used for?</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tables are used to make data easier to interpret or to give documents more impact.<//td>
</tr>
</table>

Tables are one of the most challenging things to code with HTML. It isn't very hard, it just takes a while to get the hang of. Tables start with the <table> tag, and usually contain the border=n attribute within the opening tag. If the border=0, than the table's border is invisible. Usually when you do not use the border attribute the table border will become invisible. This is useful when you want to align text in rows and columns, but don't want a table border around it. border=1 is a thin border. border=2 is a little thicker, border=3 a little more thick.. and so on. The table MUST end with a </table> tag, or the table will not appear at all!

Example of tables with borders...

This table has a border of 0
<table>
<tr>
<th>This table has a border of 0</th>
</tr>
</table>
This table has a border of 1
<table border="1">
<tr>
<th>This table has a border of 1</th>
</tr>
</table>

Each row within the table is defined by the opening <tr> tag and the optional </tr> closing tag. Within each table row are table cells, which are defined by the <td> opening and </td> closing tags. Most table rows contain more than one cell. Many times, you will need a heading for a column of cells of the first row. To do this, you will use the <th> opening and </th> closing tag. The table heading tag makes the text in that cell BOLD and CENTERED. You only need use the heading cells when necessary.

Example of a table with multiple rows and columns...

Heading A Heading B Heading C
Cell A Cell B Cell C
Cell D Cell E Cell F
<table>
<tr>
<th>Heading A</th>
<th>Heading B</th>
<th>Heading C</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cell A</td>
<td>Cell B</td>
<td>Cell C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cell D</td>
<td>Cell E</td>
<td>Cell F</td>
</tr>
</table>

But what if you want your table to look like the following?

Heading A Heading B Heading C
Cell A & D Cell B Cell C
Cell E Cell F
<table>
<tr>
<th>Heading A</th>
<th>Heading B</th>
<th>Heading C</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td rowspan="2">Cell A & D</td>
<td>Cell B</td>
<td>Cell C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cell E</td>
<td>Cell F</td>
</tr>
</table>

Notice how the rowspan="2" attribute was added. This allows that cell to span two rows. If you want a cell to span more than column, use the colspan=n attribute. Also, you may wish to use the align and valign attributes to align the contents of cells. If you wish to change the horizontal alignment of the contents of a certain cell, add align=left, align=center, or align=right to the opening <td> tag. If you wish to change the vertical alignment of the contents of a cell, use the valign=top, valign=middle, or valign=bottom attributes. You may also want to try out the width=n% attribute, to change the width of a table or a cell.