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>
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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>
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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>
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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>
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How it looks in a browser:
| row 1, cell 1 | row 1, cell 2 |
| row 2, cell 1 |
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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>
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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. If you have Internet Explorer 5.0 or newer, you can view a
working example in our XML tutorial.
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 |
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