Table Tutor - Lesson 5
Let's go back to plain
old Ed.
<table border="3" width="100" height="75"><tr><td align="left" valign="middle">Ed</td></tr></table>
|
Ed |
And
for the sake of clarity and simplicity let's remove the alignment attributes.
We know what will happen because we know what the default values are. By the
way, a <tag> tells the browser to do something. An attribute goes inside the <tag>
and tells the browser how to do it.
<table border="3" width="100" height="75"><tr><td>Ed</td></tr></table>
|
Ed |
Now we will make our table a fuzz bigger.
<table border="3" width="300" height="75">
<tr><td>Ed</td></tr></table>
|
Ed |
You should know that fuzz is
a technical term. Its full definition is so broad and complicated that it would
only be suitable for advanced html students.
Ed's friend Tom is back and this
time he wants his own cell.
<table border="3" width="300" height="75"><tr><td>Ed</td><td>Tom</td>
</tr></table>
|
Ed |
Tom |
When no instructions are given to the browser, each cell may
(but not always) be different in size. It's often a fine idea to specify how
big each cell is. Make sure your arithmetic is correct or what people see may
be drastically different than what you want them to see!
<table border="3" width="300" height="75"><tr><td width="150">Ed</td>
<td width="150">Tom</td>
</tr></table>
|
Ed |
Tom |
These width attributes can
also be expressed as a percentage.
<table border="3" width="300" height="75"><tr><td width="50%">Ed</td>
<td width="50%">Tom</td>
</tr></table>
|
Ed |
Tom |
FAQ: I've laid out my table with my dimensions but the
table doesn't show up right. Or it's fine in Browser A
but looks different in Browser B.
A: Getting too specific with table cell dimensions is a
tricky business. Often the browser doesn't render a table exactly how we've
specified. The best way I've found to overcome this is to design tables that
are more like rubberbands than a rigid framework. That
is they flexibly hold everything together rather than rigidly box everything
together. Design your table in such a way so that minor differences in the way
a browser renders it won't destroy what you're trying to do.
Remember that a table is only as big as it needs to be. Put stuff
in the table, and it will snug down to a comfortable size all by itself. Use
that characteristic of HTML tables... don't try to fight it.