Publish and Be... Minipic.gif (3518 bytes)
  ...Tabular!

Tables - the unsung heroes of HTML!

The humble table may not be as fashionable as frames or Dynamic HTML, but it's still the feature leading Web designers turn to when they want fast-loading, high-compatibility page layouts. So this month in PC Plus magazine I've looked at how to design and use them. Paul Stephens


Defining Tables
Basics
Sizing
Aligning
Backgrounds
Grids
Shapes
Using Tables
Lining up
Floating
Wide Pages
Columns
Reference
Microsoft
Netscape
This page uses a two-column, single-row table. This text is in the table's left-hand cell , and the main 'body' content is in the right-hand cell.

The menu above is another table, nested within the left-hand cell of the main table.  It has no border, and each cell has an individual bgcolor= value of blue.

In Internet Explorer 4, the menu cells turn red when the mouse pointer is over them then back to blue when it leaves, thanks to JavaScript routines hooked into each cell's onMouseOver and onMouseOut events.

ncom.gif (16584 bytes)If you look at the source of a leading-edge design, multi-column web page, the chances are that, instead of frames, DIVs and applets, you'll find most of the clever layout work being done with HTML tables.

Tables have been around since Netscape Navigator 1, and can be used for far more than just laying out spreadsheet-like tabular columns of text and figures. In fact a better name than 'table' might be 'dynamically sizeable general purpose multi-cell floating container', although admittedly it doesn't trip off the tongue so easily!

pic1.gif (4505 bytes)To start off, check out the basics of creating tables, which shows how to use the three main table-defining HTML tags. Size is important in tables - either you tell the browser how wide and high to make a table, or it decides for itself - often with strange results. One of the great features of tables is the way they can be aligned, like images, against flowing page content - aligning tables shows how to do it, and how to align content within table cells too.

colrtab.gif (6050 bytes)Tables have gone graphical, and you can specify background colours and images, either for a whole table or for individual cells. Less helpful, unfortunately, are the features for controlling borders and gridlines in tables - neither Microsoft nor Netscape offer much help, and they don't agree, either! It's better news if you want to build tables with irregular layouts though - it's easy (once you know how), and both browsers work in the same way. For another example of irregular layouts, check my Cornwall Weather Cam page (OK, it's a bit out of date at them moment, but I'll be updating it soon!)

pic2.gif (11120 bytes)The Table's versatility is virtually limitless (OK, so I'm a real Table convert!). Its most basic use is simply for lining things up neatly on the page - something that's otherwise surprisingly difficult to do in the "anything flows" world of HTML. One of my favourite table applications is creating magazine-style boxouts which float alongside the page's "body" content - no Dynamic HTML required so it works fine in Navigator! If you're into precise, DTP-style page layout then you'll probably appreciate the table's ability to create fixed-size page areas which stay fixed-size even if the browser window is (or becomes) smaller than they are - instead of reflowing everything, the browser sprouts scroll bars and leaves your layout unchanged. Finally, tables are still the easiest and most browser-compatible way to create the super-trendy multi-column page layout -  like this one!

As always, the best source of HTML reference is Microsoft's Internet Client SDK, which you can download as a set of IE4 web pages for offline viewing. However this month I actually found a mistake there - the SDK doesn't include width= in the list of attributes supported by the <TD> tag, when in fact it works fine. Shame on you, guys!

Internet Explorer 4 supports quite a few table-building tags which aren't supported by Netscape Navigator 4, so it's worth checking Netscape's HTML Tag Reference (also downloadable) too.

Until next month, happy authoring!


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