Week 5 Working with Tables

2 Understanding Table Basics

3 Using Table Elements To build effective page templates, you must be familiar with the HTML table elements and attributes The element contains the table information, which consists of table row elements and individual table data cells –These are the three elements you will use most frequently when you are building tables

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7 Basic Table Code Breed Description Group French Bulldog Loyal Companion Non-Sporting Wheaten Terrier High energy, friendly Terrier English Pointer Hunting companion Sporting Australian Cattle Dog Guarding, herding Working

8 Captions and Table Header lets you add a caption to the top or bottom of the table By default, captions display at the top of the table; you can use the align=“bottom” attribute to align the caption at the bottom of the table The tag lets you create a table header cell that presents the cell content as bold and centered

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10 Defining Table Attributes Table attributes let you further define a number of table characteristics You can apply attributes at three levels of table structure: global, row level, or cell level

11 Global Table Attributes Global attributes affect the entire table

12 Row-Level Table Attributes Row-level attributes affect the entire table

13 Cell-Level Table Attributes Cell-level attributes affect only the contents of one cell

14 Spanning Columns The colspan attribute lets you create cells that span multiple columns of a table Column cells always span to the right

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16 Spanning Rows The rowspan attribute lets you create cells that span multiple rows of a table Rows always span down

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18 Formatting Tables

19 Choosing Relative or Fixed Table Widths Set relative table widths as percentages in the table width attribute –If you choose relative table widths, your tables will resize based on the size of the browser window Set absolute table widths as pixel values in the table width attribute –Fixed tables remain constant regardless of the browser window size

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22 Determining the Correct Fixed Width for a Table The most common width for page template tables is approximately 975 pixels This width supports the 1024 x 768 screen resolution

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24 Adding White Space in a Table You can add white space into a table with the cellpadding and cellspacing attributes

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27 Removing Default Table Spacing Default spacing values are included in the table even when you don’t specify values for the table’s border, cellpadding, or cellspacing attributes Depending on the browser, approximately two pixels are reserved for each of these values You can remove the default spacing by explicitly stating a zero value for each attribute

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30 Table Pointers for Well- Designed Tables

31 Table Pointers for Well- Designed Tables Write code that is easy to read Remove extra white spaces Center tables to adapt to different resolutions Stack tables for quicker downloading Avoid nested tables Use Cascading Style Sheets for table styles

32 Removing Extra Spaces Always remove any leading or trailing spaces in your table cell content These spaces cause problems when you try to join the contents of adjacent cells

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34 Centering Tables Centering a fixed table makes it independent of resolution changes, because the table is always centered in the browser window

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36 Stacking Tables Because of the way browsers display tables, it is better to build several small tables rather than one large one This technique, called stacking tables, also can simplify your table design task, because smaller tables are easier to work with

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38 Avoid Nesting Tables Nesting tables is the practice of placing an entire table within a table cell Nested tables are not accessible to screen readers and other assistive devices This technique is being replaced by newer techniques such as CSS positioning

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40 Examples of Page Templates The following templates cover a variety of page layout needs You may choose to stack different templates on top of each other for more complex layouts

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47 Summary Plan your tables by sketching them out first Use fixed table widths if you want to determine the size of your page rather than let the browser determine the width Use relative widths if you want to build tables that resize with the browser window, wrapping your content to fit Write table code that is easy to read, remove extra spaces, and choose whether to center or stack tables Avoid using nested tables and use CSS whenever possible to add presentation style to tables

48 Summary Work on your pages with the table borders turned on, which displays the cell boundaries When you are finished with your layout, you can turn the borders off Size your tables based on the page size you want to create –Use 1024 x 768 as your base screen resolution –In most cases you’ll set the width but not the height of your tables, allowing the content to flow down the page

49 Summary Test your work! –Table settings, especially cell widths and heights, can vary based on the user’s browser