11 Tables
11.1 Introduction to tables
The HTML table model allows authors to arrange data -- text, preformatted
text, images, links, forms, form fields, other tables, etc. -- into rows and
columns of cells.
Each table may have an associated caption (see the
CAPTION element) that provides a short description of the table's
purpose. A longer description may also be provided (via the
summary attribute) for the benefit of people using speech or
Braille-based user agents.
Table rows may be grouped into a head, foot, and
body sections, (via the THEAD, TFOOT and TBODY
elements, respectively). Row groups convey additional structural information
and may be rendered by user agents in ways that emphasize this structure. User
agents may exploit the head/body/foot division to support scrolling of body
sections independently of the head and foot sections. When long tables are
printed, the head and foot information may be repeated on each page that
contains table data.
Authors may also group columns to provide
additional structural information that may be exploited by user agents.
Furthermore, authors may declare column properties at the start of a table
definition (via the COLGROUP and COL elements) in a way that enables
user agents to render the table incrementally rather than having to wait for
all the table data to arrive before rendering.
Table cells may either contain "header" information
(see the
TH element) or "data" (see the TD element). Cells may span multiple
rows and columns. The HTML 4 table model allows authors to label each cell so
that non-visual user agents may more easily
communicate heading information about the cell to the user. Not only do these
mechanisms greatly assist users with visual disabilities, they make it possible
for multi-modal wireless browsers with limited display capabilities (e.g.,
Web-enabled pagers and phones) to handle tables.
Tables should not be used purely as a means to layout document content as
this may present problems when rendering to non-visual media. Additionally,
when used with graphics, these tables may force users to scroll horizontally to
view a table designed on a system with a larger display. To minimize these
problems, authors should use style sheets
to control layout rather than tables.
Here's a simple table that illustrates some of the features of the HTML
table model. The following table definition:
<TABLE border="1"
summary="This table gives some statistics about fruit
flies: average height and weight, and percentage
with red eyes (for both males and females).">
<CAPTION><EM>A test table with merged cells</EM></CAPTION>
<TR><TH rowspan="2"><TH colspan="2">Average
<TH rowspan="2">Red<BR>eyes
<TR><TH>height<TH>weight
<TR><TH>Males<TD>1.9<TD>0.003<TD>40%
<TR><TH>Females<TD>1.7<TD>0.002<TD>43%
</TABLE>
might be rendered something like this on a tty device:
A test table with merged cells
/-----------------------------------------\
| | Average | Red |
| |-------------------| eyes |
| | height | weight | |
|-----------------------------------------|
| Males | 1.9 | 0.003 | 40% |
|-----------------------------------------|
| Females | 1.7 | 0.002 | 43% |
\-----------------------------------------/
or like this by a graphical user agent:
11.2 Elements for constructing tables
Start tag: required, End tag:
required
Attribute definitions
- summary = text [CS]
- This attribute provides a summary of the table's purpose and structure for
user agents rendering to non-visual media such as speech and Braille.
- align =
left|center|right [CI]
- Deprecated. This
attribute specifies the position of the table with respect to the document.
Permitted values:
- left: The table is to the left of the document.
- center: The table is to the center of the document.
- right: The table is to the right of the document.
- width = length [CN]
- This attribute specifies the desired width of the entire table and is
intended for visual user agents. When the value is a percentage value, the
value is relative to the user agent's available horizontal space. In the
absence of any width specification, table width is determined by the user
agent.
Attributes defined elsewhere
-
id, class (document-wide identifiers)
-
lang (language
information), dir (text
direction)
-
title (element title)
- style (inline
style information )
- onclick, ondblclick,
onmousedown, onmouseup,
onmouseover, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onkeypress,
onkeydown, onkeyup (intrinsic events)
- bgcolor (background color)
-
frame, rules, border (borders and rules)
-
cellspacing,
cellpadding (cell
margins)
The
TABLE element contains all other elements that specify caption,
rows, content, and formatting.
The following informative list describes what operations user agents may
carry out when rendering a table:
- Make the table summary available to the user. Authors should provide
a summary of a table's content and structure so that people using non-visual
user agents may better understand it.
- Render the caption, if one is defined.
- Render the table header, if one is specified. Render the table footer, if
one is specified. User agents must know where to render the header and footer.
For instance, if the output medium is paged, user agents may put the header at
the top of each page and the footer at the bottom. Similarly, if the user agent
provides a mechanism to scroll the rows, the header may appear at the top of
the scrolled area and the footer at the bottom.
- Calculate the number of columns in the table.
Note that the number of rows in a table is equal
to the number of TR elements contained by the TABLE
element.
- Group the columns according to any column group
specifications.
- Render the cells, row by row and grouped in appropriate columns, between
the header and footer. Visual user agents should
format the table according to HTML attributes and style sheet
specification.
The HTML table model has been designed so that, with author assistance, user
agents may render tables incrementally (i.e., as
table rows arrive) rather than having to wait for all the data before beginning
to render.
In order for a user agent to format a table in one pass, authors must tell
the user agent:
More precisely, a user agent may render a table in a single pass when the
column widths are specified using a combination of
COLGROUP and COL elements. If any of the columns are specified in
relative or percentage terms (see the section on
calculating the width of columns), authors must also specify the width of
the table itself.
The directionality of a table
is either the inherited directionality (the default is left-to-right) or that
specified by the dir attribute for the TABLE element.
For a left-to-right table, column zero is on the left side and row zero is
at the top. For a right-to-left table, column zero is on the right side and row
zero is at the top.
When a user agent allots extra cells to a row (see the section on calculating the number of columns in a table), extra row
cells are added to the right of the table for left-to-right tables and to the
left side for right-to-left tables.
Note that TABLE is the only element on which dir
reverses the visual order of the columns; a single table row (TR) or a
group of columns (COLGROUP) cannot be independently reversed.
When set for the TABLE element, the dir attribute also affects the
direction of text within table cells (since the dir attribute is inherited by
block-level elements).
To specify a right-to-left table, set the dir attribute as follows:
<TABLE dir="RTL">
...the rest of the table...
</TABLE>
The direction of text in individual cells can be changed by setting the dir
attribute in an element that defines the cell. Please consult the section on bidirectional text for more information
on text direction issues.
Start tag: required, End tag:
required
Attribute definitions
- align =
top|bottom|left|right
[CI]
- Deprecated. For
visual user agents, this attribute specifies the position of the caption with
respect to the table. Possible values:
- top: The caption is at the top of the table. This is the
default value.
- bottom: The caption is at the bottom of the table.
- left: The caption is at the left of the table.
- right: The caption is at the right of the table.
Attributes defined elsewhere
-
id, class (document-wide identifiers)
-
lang (language
information), dir (text
direction)
-
title (element title)
- style (inline
style information )
- onclick, ondblclick,
onmousedown, onmouseup,
onmouseover, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onkeypress,
onkeydown, onkeyup (intrinsic events )
When present, the CAPTION element's text should describe the nature of the
table. The CAPTION element is only permitted immediately after
the
TABLE start tag. A
TABLE element may only contain one
CAPTION element.
Visual user agents allow sighted people to quickly grasp the structure of
the table from the headings as well as the caption. A consequence of this is
that captions will often be inadequate as a summary of the purpose and
structure of the table from the perspective of people relying on non-visual
user agents.
Authors should therefore take care to provide
additional information summarizing the purpose and structure of the
table using the summary attribute of the TABLE element. This is especially
important for tables without captions. Examples below illustrate the use of the
summary attribute.
Visual user agents should avoid clipping any part of
the table including the caption, unless a means is provided to access all
parts, e.g., by horizontal or vertical scrolling. We recommend that the caption
text be wrapped to the same width as the table. (See also the section on recommended layout algorithms.)
<!ELEMENT THEAD - O (TR)+ -- table header -->
<!ELEMENT TFOOT - O (TR)+ -- table footer -->
Start tag: required, End tag:
optional
<!ELEMENT TBODY O O (TR)+ -- table body -->
Start tag: optional, End tag:
optional
Attributes defined elsewhere
-
id, class (document-wide identifiers)
-
lang (language
information), dir (text
direction)
-
title (element title)
- style (inline
style information )
- onclick, ondblclick,
onmousedown, onmouseup,
onmouseover, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onkeypress,
onkeydown, onkeyup (intrinsic events )
-
align, char,
charoff, valign (cell
alignment)
Table rows may be grouped into a table head, table
foot, and one or more table body sections, using the THEAD,
TFOOT and TBODY elements, respectively. This division enables
user agents to support scrolling of table bodies independently of the table
head and foot. When long tables are printed, the table head and foot
information may be repeated on each page that contains table data.
The table head and table foot should contain information about the table's
columns. The table body should contain rows of table data.
When present, each THEAD, TFOOT, and TBODY
contains a row group. Each row group must contain at least one row,
defined by the TR element.
This example illustrates the order and structure of table heads, feet, and
bodies.
<TABLE>
<THEAD>
<TR> ...header information...
</THEAD>
<TFOOT>
<TR> ...footer information...
</TFOOT>
<TBODY>
<TR> ...first row of block one data...
<TR> ...second row of block one data...
</TBODY>
<TBODY>
<TR> ...first row of block two data...
<TR> ...second row of block two data...
<TR> ...third row of block two data...
</TBODY>
</TABLE>
TFOOT must appear before TBODY within a TABLE
definition so that user agents can render the foot before receiving all of the
(potentially numerous) rows of data. The following summarizes which tags are
required and which may be omitted:
- The
TBODY start tag is always required except when the table contains
only one table body and no table head or foot sections. The TBODY
end tag may always be safely omitted.
- The start tags for THEAD and TFOOT are required when the table head
and foot sections are present respectively, but the corresponding end tags may
always be safely omitted.
Conforming user agent parsers must obey these rules for reasons of backward
compatibility.
The table of the previous example could be shortened by removing cer clasROUP" class="noxref">
COLGROUP and COL elements. If any of the columns are specified in
relative or percentage terms (see the section on
calculating the width of columns), authors must also specify the width of
the table itself.
The directionality of a table
is either the inherited directionality (the default is left-to-right) or that
specified by the dir attribute for the TABLE element.
For a left-to-right table, column zero is on the left side and row zero is
at the top. For a right-to-left table, column zero is on the right side and row
zero is at the top.
When a user agent allots extra cells to a row (see the section on calculating the number of columns in a table), extra row
cells are added to the right of the table for left-to-right tables and to the
left side for right-to-left tables.
Note that TABLE is the only element on which dir
reverses the visual order of the columns; a single table row (TR) or a
group of columns (COLGROUP) cannot be independently reversed.
When set for the TABLE element, the dir attribute also affects the
direction of text within table cells (since the dir attribute is inherited by
block-level elements).
To specify a right-to-left table, set the dir attribute as follows:
<TABLE dir="RTL">
...the rest of the table...
</TABLE>
The direction of text in individual cells can be changed by setting the dir
attribute in an element that defines the cell. Please consult the section on bidirectional text for more information
on text direction issues.
Start tag: required, End tag:
required
Attribute definitions
- align =
top|bottom|left|right
[CI]
- Deprecated. For
visual user agents, this attribute specifies the position of the caption with
respect to the table. Possible values:
- top: The caption is at the top of the table. This is the
default value.
- bottom: The caption is at the bottom of the table.
- left: The caption is at the left of the table.
- right: The caption is at the right of the table.
Attributes defined elsewhere
-
id, class (document-wide identifiers)
-
lang (language
information), dir (text
direction)
-
title (element title)
- style (inline
style information )
- onclick, ondblclick,
onmousedown, onmouseup,
onmouseover, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onkeypress,
onkeydown, onkeyup (intrinsic events )
When present, the CAPTION element's text should describe the nature of the
table. The CAPTION element is only permitted immediately after
the
TABLE start tag. A
TABLE element may only contain one
CAPTION element.
Visual user agents allow sighted people to quickly grasp the structure of
the table from the headings as well as the caption. A consequence of this is
that captions will often be inadequate as a summary of the purpose and
structure of the table from the perspective of people relying on non-visual
user agents.
Authors should therefore take care to provide
additional information summarizing the purpose and structure of the
table using the summary attribute of the TABLE element. This is especially
important for tables without captions. Examples below illustrate the use of the
summary attribute.
Visual user agents should avoid clipping any part of
the table including the caption, unless a means is provided to access all
parts, e.g., by horizontal or vertical scrolling. We recommend that the caption
text be wrapped to the same width as the table. (See also the section on recommended layout algorithms.)
<!ELEMENT THEAD - O (TR)+ -- table header -->
<!ELEMENT TFOOT - O (TR)+ -- table footer -->
Start tag: required, End tag:
optional
<!ELEMENT TBODY O O (TR)+ -- table body -->
Start tag: optional, End tag:
optional
Attributes defined elsewhere
-
id, class (document-wide identifiers)
-
lang (language
information), dir (text
direction)
-
title (element title)
- style (inline
style information )
- onclick, ondblclick,
onmousedown, onmouseup,
onmouseover, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onkeypress,
onkeydown, onkeyup (intrinsic events )
-
align, char,
charoff, valign (cell
alignment)
Table rows may be grouped into a table head, table
foot, and one or more table body sections, using the THEAD,
TFOOT and TBODY elements, respectively. This division enables
user agents to support scrolling of table bodies independently of the table
head and foot. When long tables are printed, the table head and foot
information may be repeated on each page that contains table data.
The table head and table foot should contain information about the table's
columns. The table body should contain rows of table data.
When present, each THEAD, TFOOT, and TBODY
contains a row group. Each row group must contain at least one row,
defined by the TR element.
This example illustrates the order and structure of table heads, feet, and
bodies.
<TABLE>
<THEAD>
<TR> ...header information...
</THEAD>
<TFOOT>
<TR> ...footer information...
</TFOOT>
<TBODY>
<TR> ...first row of block one data...
<TR> ...second row of block one data...
</TBODY>
<TBODY>
<TR> ...first row of block two data...
<TR> ...second row of block two data...
<TR> ...third row of block two data...
</TBODY>
</TABLE>
TFOOT must appear before TBODY within a TABLE
definition so that user agents can render the foot before receiving all of the
(potentially numerous) rows of data. The following summarizes which tags are
required and which may be omitted:
- The
TBODY start tag is always required except when the table contains
only one table body and no table head or foot sections. The TBODY
end tag may always be safely omitted.
- The start tags for THEAD and TFOOT are required when the table head
and foot sections are present respectively, but the corresponding end tags may
always be safely omitted.
Conforming user agent parsers must obey these rules for reasons of backward
compatibility.
The table of the previous example could be shortened by removing cer clasROUP" class="noxref">
COLGROUP and COL elements. If any of the columns are specified in
relative or percentage terms (see the section on
calculating the width of columns), authors must also specify the width of
the table itself.
The directionality of a table
is either the inherited directionality (the default is left-to-right) or that
specified by the dir attribute for the TABLE element.
For a left-to-right table, column zero is on the left side and row zero is
at the top. For a right-to-left table, column zero is on the right side and row
zero is at the top.
When a user agent allots extra cells to a row (see the section on calculating the number of columns in a table), extra row
cells are added to the right of the table for left-to-right tables and to the
left side for right-to-left tables.
Note that TABLE is the only element on which dir
reverses the visual order of the columns; a single table row (TR) or a
group of columns (COLGROUP) cannot be independently reversed.
When set for the TABLE element, the dir attribute also affects the
direction of text within table cells (since the dir attribute is inherited by
block-level elements).
To specify a right-to-left table, set the dir attribute as follows:
<TABLE dir="RTL">
...the rest of the table...
</TABLE>
The direction of text in individual cells can be changed by setting the dir
attribute in an element that defines the cell. Please consult the section on bidirectional text for more information
on text direction issues.
Start tag: required, End tag:
required
Attribute definitions
- align =
top|bottom|left|right
[CI]
- Deprecated. For
visual user agents, this attribute specifies the position of the caption with
respect to the table. Possible values:
- top: The caption is at the top of the table. This is the
default value.
- bottom: The caption is at the bottom of the table.
- left: The caption is at the left of the table.
- right: The caption is at the right of the table.
Attributes defined elsewhere
-
id, class (document-wide identifiers)
-
lang (language
information), dir (text
direction)
-
title (element title)
- style (inline
style information )
- onclick, ondblclick,
onmousedown, onmouseup,
onmouseover, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onkeypress,
onkeydown, onkeyup (intrinsic events )
When present, the CAPTION element's text should describe the nature of the
table. The CAPTION element is only permitted immediately after
the
TABLE start tag. A
TABLE element may only contain one
CAPTION element.
Visual user agents allow sighted people to quickly grasp the structure of
the table from the headings as well as the caption. A consequence of this is
that captions will often be inadequate as a summary of the purpose and
structure of the table from the perspective of people relying on non-visual
user agents.
Authors should therefore take care to provide
additional information summarizing the purpose and structure of the
table using the summary attribute of the TABLE element. This is especially
important for tables without captions. Examples below illustrate the use of the
summary attribute.
Visual user agents should avoid clipping any part of
the table including the caption, unless a means is provided to access all
parts, e.g., by horizontal or vertical scrolling. We recommend that the caption
text be wrapped to the same width as the table. (See also the section on recommended layout algorithms.)
<!ELEMENT THEAD - O (TR)+ -- table header -->
<!ELEMENT TFOOT - O (TR)+ -- table footer -->
Start tag: required, End tag:
optional
<!ELEMENT TBODY O O (TR)+ -- table body -->
Start tag: optional, End tag:
optional
Attributes defined elsewhere
-
id, class (document-wide identifiers)
-
lang (language
information), dir (text
direction)
-
title (element title)
- style (inline
style information )
- onclick, ondblclick,
onmousedown, onmouseup,
onmouseover, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onkeypress,
onkeydown, onkeyup (intrinsic events )
-
align, char,
charoff, valign (cell
alignment)
Table rows may be grouped into a table head, table
foot, and one or more table body sections, using the THEAD,
TFOOT and TBODY elements, respectively. This division enables
user agents to support scrolling of table bodies independently of the table
head and foot. When long tables are printed, the table head and foot
information may be repeated on each page that contains table data.
The table head and table foot should contain information about the table's
columns. The table body should contain rows of table data.
When present, each THEAD, TFOOT, and TBODY
contains a row group. Each row group must contain at least one row,
defined by the TR element.
This example illustrates the order and structure of table heads, feet, and
bodies.
<TABLE>
<THEAD>
<TR> ...header information...
</THEAD>
<TFOOT>
<TR> ...footer information...
</TFOOT>
<TBODY>
<TR> ...first row of block one data...
<TR> ...second row of block one data...
</TBODY>
<TBODY>
<TR> ...first row of block two data...
<TR> ...second row of block two data...
<TR> ...third row of block two data...
</TBODY>
</TABLE>
TFOOT must appear before TBODY within a TABLE
definition so that user agents can render the foot before receiving all of the
(potentially numerous) rows of data. The following summarizes which tags are
required and which may be omitted:
- The
TBODY start tag is always required except when the table contains
only one table body and no table head or foot sections. The TBODY
end tag may always be safely omitted.
- The start tags for THEAD and TFOOT are required when the table head
and foot sections are present respectively, but the corresponding end tags may
always be safely omitted.
Conforming user agent parsers must obey these rules for reasons of backward
compatibility.
The table of the previous example could be shortened by removing cer clasROUP" class="noxref">
COLGROUP and COL elements. If any of the columns are specified in
relative or percentage terms (see the section on
calculating the width of columns), authors must also specify the width of
the table itself.
The directionality of a table
is either the inherited directionality (the default is left-to-right) or that
specified by the dir attribute for the TABLE element.
For a left-to-right table, column zero is on the left side and row zero is
at the top. For a right-to-left table, column zero is on the right side and row
zero is at the top.
When a user agent allots extra cells to a row (see the section on calculating the number of columns in a table), extra row
cells are added to the right of the table for left-to-right tables and to the
left side for right-to-left tables.
Note that TABLE is the only element on which dir
reverses the visual order of the columns; a single table row (TR) or a
group of columns (COLGROUP) cannot be independently reversed.
When set for the TABLE element, the dir attribute also affects the
direction of text within table cells (since the dir attribute is inherited by
block-level elements).
To specify a right-to-left table, set the dir attribute as follows:
<TABLE dir="RTL">
...the rest of the table...
</TABLE>
The direction of text in individual cells can be changed by setting the dir
attribute in an element that defines the cell. Please consult the section on bidirectional text for more information
on text direction issues.
Start tag: required, End tag:
required
Attribute definitions
- align =
top|bottom|left|right
[CI]
- Deprecated. For
visual user agents, this attribute specifies the position of the caption with
respect to the table. Possible values:
- top: The caption is at the top of the table. This is the
default value.
- bottom: The caption is at the bottom of the table.
- left: The caption is at the left of the table.
- right: The caption is at the right of the table.
Attributes defined elsewhere
-
id, class (document-wide identifiers)
-
lang (language
information), dir (text
direction)
-
title (element title)
- style (inline
style information )
- onclick, ondblclick,
onmousedown, onmouseup,
onmouseover, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onkeypress,
onkeydown, onkeyup (intrinsic events )
When present, the CAPTION element's text should describe the nature of the
table. The CAPTION element is only permitted immediately after
the
TABLE start tag. A
TABLE element may only contain one
CAPTION element.
Visual user agents allow sighted people to quickly grasp the structure of
the table from the headings as well as the caption. A consequence of this is
that captions will often be inadequate as a summary of the purpose and
structure of the table from the perspective of people relying on non-visual
user agents.
Authors should therefore take care to provide
additional information summarizing the purpose and structure of the
table using the summary attribute of the TABLE element. This is especially
important for tables without captions. Examples below illustrate the use of the
summary attribute.
Visual user agents should avoid clipping any part of
the table including the caption, unless a means is provided to access all
parts, e.g., by horizontal or vertical scrolling. We recommend that the caption
text be wrapped to the same width as the table. (See also the section on recommended layout algorithms.)
<!ELEMENT THEAD - O (TR)+ -- table header -->
<!ELEMENT TFOOT - O (TR)+ -- table footer -->
Start tag: required, End tag:
optional
<!ELEMENT TBODY O O (TR)+ -- table body -->
Start tag: optional, End tag:
optional
Attributes defined elsewhere
-
id, class (document-wide identifiers)
-
lang (language
information), dir (text
direction)
-
title (element title)
- style (inline
style information )
- onclick, ondblclick,
onmousedown, onmouseup,
onmouseover, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onkeypress,
onkeydown, onkeyup (intrinsic events )
-
align, char,
charoff, valign (cell
alignment)
Table rows may be grouped into a table head, table
foot, and one or more table body sections, using the THEAD,
TFOOT and TBODY elements, respectively. This division enables
user agents to support scrolling of table bodies independently of the table
head and foot. When long tables are printed, the table head and foot
information may be repeated on each page that contains table data.
The table head and table foot should contain information about the table's
columns. The table body should contain rows of table data.
When present, each THEAD, TFOOT, and TBODY
contains a row group. Each row group must contain at least one row,
defined by the TR element.
This example illustrates the order and structure of table heads, feet, and
bodies.
<TABLE>
<THEAD>
<TR> ...header information...
</THEAD>
<TFOOT>
<TR> ...footer information...
</TFOOT>
<TBODY>
<TR> ...first row of block one data...
<TR> ...second row of block one data...
</TBODY>
<TBODY>
<TR> ...first row of block two data...
<TR> ...second row of block two data...
<TR> ...third row of block two data...
</TBODY>
</TABLE>
TFOOT must appear before TBODY within a TABLE
definition so that user agents can render the foot before receiving all of the
(potentially numerous) rows of data. The following summarizes which tags are
required and which may be omitted:
- The
TBODY start tag is always required except when the table contains
only one table body and no table head or foot sections. The TBODY
end tag may always be safely omitted.
- The start tags for THEAD and TFOOT are required when the table head
and foot sections are present respectively, but the corresponding end tags may
always be safely omitted.
Conforming user agent parsers must obey these rules for reasons of backward
compatibility.
The table of the previous example could be shortened by removing cer clasROUP" class="noxref">
COLGROUP and COL elements. If any of the columns are specified in
relative or percentage terms (see the section on
calculating the width of columns), authors must also specify the width of
the table itself.
The directionality of a table
is either the inherited directionality (the default is left-to-right) or that
specified by the dir attribute for the TABLE element.
For a left-to-right table, column zero is on the left side and row zero is
at the top. For a right-to-left table, column zero is on the right side and row
zero is at the top.
When a user agent allots extra cells to a row (see the section on calculating the number of columns in a table), extra row
cells are added to the right of the table for left-to-right tables and to the
left side for right-to-left tables.
Note that TABLE is the only element on which dir
reverses the visual order of the columns; a single table row (TR) or a
group of columns (COLGROUP) cannot be independently reversed.
When set for the TABLE element, the dir attribute also affects the
direction of text within table cells (since the dir attribute is inherited by
block-level elements).
To specify a right-to-left table, set the dir attribute as follows:
<TABLE dir="RTL">
...the rest of the table...
</TABLE>
The direction of text in individual cells can be changed by setting the dir
attribute in an element that defines the cell. Please consult the section on bidirectional text for more information
on text direction issues.
Start tag: required, End tag:
required
Attribute definitions
- align =
top|bottom|left|right
[CI]
- Deprecated. For
visual user agents, this attribute specifies the position of the caption with
respect to the table. Possible values:
- top: The caption is at the top of the table. This is the
default value.
- bottom: The caption is at the bottom of the table.
- left: The caption is at the left of the table.
- right: The caption is at the right of the table.
Attributes defined elsewhere
-
id, class (document-wide identifiers)
-
lang (language
information), dir (text
direction)
-
title (element title)
- style (inline
style information )
- onclick, ondblclick,
onmousedown, onmouseup,
onmouseover, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onkeypress,
onkeydown, onkeyup (intrinsic events )
When present, the CAPTION element's text should describe the nature of the
table. The CAPTION element is only permitted immediately after
the
TABLE start tag. A
TABLE element may only contain one
CAPTION element.
Visual user agents allow sighted people to quickly grasp the structure of
the table from the headings as well as the caption. A consequence of this is
that captions will often be inadequate as a summary of the purpose and
structure of the table from the perspective of people relying on non-visual
user agents.
Authors should therefore take care to provide
additional information summarizing the purpose and structure of the
table using the summary attribute of the TABLE element. This is especially
important for tables without captions. Examples below illustrate the use of the
summary attribute.
Visual user agents should avoid clipping any part of
the table including the caption, unless a means is provided to access all
parts, e.g., by horizontal or vertical scrolling. We recommend that the caption
text be wrapped to the same width as the table. (See also the section on recommended layout algorithms.)
<!ELEMENT THEAD - O (TR)+ -- table header -->
<!ELEMENT TFOOT - O (TR)+ -- table footer -->
Start tag: required, End tag:
optional
<!ELEMENT TBODY O O (TR)+ -- table body -->
Start tag: optional, End tag:
optional
Attributes defined elsewhere
-
id, class (document-wide identifiers)
-
lang (language
information), dir (text
direction)
-
title (element title)
- style (inline
style information )
- onclick, ondblclick,
onmousedown, onmouseup,
onmouseover, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onkeypress,
onkeydown, onkeyup (intrinsic events )
-
align, char,
charoff, valign (cell
alignment)
Table rows may be grouped into a table head, table
foot, and one or more table body sections, using the THEAD,
TFOOT and TBODY elements, respectively. This division enables
user agents to support scrolling of table bodies independently of the table
head and foot. When long tables are printed, the table head and foot
information may be repeated on each page that contains table data.
The table head and table foot should contain information about the table's
columns. The table body should contain rows of table data.
When present, each THEAD, TFOOT, and TBODY
contains a row group. Each row group must contain at least one row,
defined by the TR element.
This example illustrates the order and structure of table heads, feet, and
bodies.
<TABLE>
<THEAD>
<TR> ...header information...
</THEAD>
<TFOOT>
<TR> ...footer information...
</TFOOT>
<TBODY>
<TR> ...first row of block one data...
<TR> ...second row of block one data...
</TBODY>
<TBODY>
<TR> ...first row of block two data...
<TR> ...second row of block two data...
<TR> ...third row of block two data...
</TBODY>
</TABLE>
TFOOT must appear before TBODY within a TABLE
definition so that user agents can render the foot before receiving all of the
(potentially numerous) rows of data. The following summarizes which tags are
required and which may be omitted:
- The
TBODY start tag is always required except when the table contains
only one table body and no table head or foot sections. The TBODY
end tag may always be safely omitted.
- The start tags for THEAD and TFOOT are required when the table head
and foot sections are present respectively, but the corresponding end tags may
always be safely omitted.
Conforming user agent parsers must obey these rules for reasons of backward
compatibility.
The table of the previous example could be shortened by removing cer clasROUP" class="noxref">
COLGROUP and COL elements. If any of the columns are specified in
relative or percentage terms (see the section on
calculating the width of columns), authors must also specify the width of
the table itself.
The directionality of a table
is either the inherited directionality (the default is left-to-right) or that
specified by the dir attribute for the TABLE element.
For a left-to-right table, column zero is on the left side and row zero is
at the top. For a right-to-left table, column zero is on the right side and row
zero is at the top.
When a user agent allots extra cells to a row (see the section on calculating the number of columns in a table), extra row
cells are added to the right of the table for left-to-right tables and to the
left side for right-to-left tables.
Note that TABLE is the only element on which dir
reverses the visual order of the columns; a single table row (TR) or a
group of columns (COLGROUP) cannot be independently reversed.
When set for the TABLE element, the dir attribute also affects the
direction of text within table cells (since the dir attribute is inherited by
block-level elements).
To specify a right-to-left table, set the dir attribute as follows:
<TABLE dir="RTL">
...the rest of the table...
</TABLE>
The direction of text in individual cells can be changed by setting the dir
attribute in an element that defines the cell. Please consult the section on bidirectional text for more information
on text direction issues.
Start tag: required, End tag:
required
Attribute definitions
- align =
top|bottom|left|right
[CI]
- Deprecated. For
visual user agents, this attribute specifies the position of the caption with
respect to the table. Possible values:
- top: The caption is at the top of the table. This is the
default value.
- bottom: The caption is at the bottom of the table.
- left: The caption is at the left of the table.
- right: The caption is at the right of the table.
Attributes defined elsewhere
-
id, class (document-wide identifiers)
-
lang (language
information), dir (text
direction)
-
title (element title)
- style (inline
style information )
- onclick, ondblclick,
onmousedown, onmouseup,
onmouseover, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onkeypress,
onkeydown, onkeyup (intrinsic events )
When present, the CAPTION element's text should describe the nature of the
table. The CAPTION element is only permitted immediately after
the
TABLE start tag. A
TABLE element may only contain one
CAPTION element.
Visual user agents allow sighted people to quickly grasp the structure of
the table from the headings as well as the caption. A consequence of this is
that captions will often be inadequate as a summary of the purpose and
structure of the table from the perspective of people relying on non-visual
user agents.
Authors should therefore take care to provide
additional information summarizing the purpose and structure of the
table using the summary attribute of the TABLE element. This is especially
important for tables without captions. Examples below illustrate the use of the
summary attribute.
Visual user agents should avoid clipping any part of
the table including the caption, unless a means is provided to access all
parts, e.g., by horizontal or vertical scrolling. We recommend that the caption
text be wrapped to the same width as the table. (See also the section on recommended layout algorithms.)
<!ELEMENT THEAD - O (TR)+ -- table header -->
<!ELEMENT TFOOT - O (TR)+ -- table footer -->
Start tag: required, End tag:
optional
<!ELEMENT TBODY O O (TR)+ -- table body -->
Start tag: optional, End tag:
optional
Attributes defined elsewhere
-
id, class (document-wide identifiers)
-
lang (language
information), dir (text
direction)
-
title (element title)
- style (inline
style information )
- onclick, ondblclick,
onmousedown, onmouseup,
onmouseover, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onkeypress,
onkeydown, onkeyup (intrinsic events )
-
align, char,
charoff, valign (cell
alignment)
Table rows may be grouped into a table head, table
foot, and one or more table body sections, using the THEAD,
TFOOT and TBODY elements, respectively. This division enables
user agents to support scrolling of table bodies independently of the table
head and foot. When long tables are printed, the table head and foot
information may be repeated on each page that contains table data.
The table head and table foot should contain information about the table's
columns. The table body should contain rows of table data.
When present, each THEAD, TFOOT, and TBODY
contains a row group. Each row group must contain at least one row,
defined by the TR element.
This example illustrates the order and structure of table heads, feet, and
bodies.
<TABLE>
<THEAD>
<TR> ...header information...
</THEAD>
<TFOOT>
<TR> ...footer information...
</TFOOT>
<TBODY>
<TR> ...first row of block one data...
<TR> ...second row of block one data...
</TBODY>
<TBODY>
<TR> ...first row of block two data...
<TR> ...second row of block two data...
<TR> ...third row of block two data...
</TBODY>
</TABLE>
TFOOT must appear before TBODY within a TABLE
definition so that user agents can render the foot before receiving all of the
(potentially numerous) rows of data. The following summarizes which tags are
required and which may be omitted:
- The
TBODY start tag is always required except when the table contains
only one table body and no table head or foot sections. The TBODY
end tag may always be safely omitted.
- The start tags for THEAD and TFOOT are required when the table head
and foot sections are present respectively, but the corresponding end tags may
always be safely omitted.
Conforming user agent parsers must obey these rules for reasons of backward
compatibility.
The table of the previous example could be shortened by removing cer clasROUP" class="noxref">
COLGROUP and COL elements. If any of the columns are specified in
relative or percentage terms (see the section on
calculating the width of columns), authors must also specify the width of
the table itself.
The directionality of a table
is either the inherited directionality (the default is left-to-right) or that
specified by the dir attribute for the TABLE element.
For a left-to-right table, column zero is on the left side and row zero is
at the top. For a right-to-left table, column zero is on the right side and row
zero is at the top.
When a user agent allots extra cells to a row (see the section on calculating the number of columns in a table), extra row
cells are added to the right of the table for left-to-right tables and to the
left side for right-to-left tables.
Note that TABLE is the only element on which dir
reverses the visual order of the columns; a single table row (TR) or a
group of columns (COLGROUP) cannot be independently reversed.
When set for the TABLE element, the dir attribute also affects the
direction of text within table cells (since the dir attribute is inherited by
block-level elements).
To specify a right-to-left table, set the dir attribute as follows:
<TABLE dir="RTL">
...the rest of the table...
</TABLE>
The direction of text in individual cells can be changed by setting the dir
attribute in an element that defines the cell. Please consult the section on bidirectional text for more information
on text direction issues.
Start tag: required, End tag:
required
Attribute definitions
- align =
top|bottom|left|right
[CI]
- Deprecated. For
visual user agents, this attribute specifies the position of the caption with
respect to the table. Possible values:
- top: The caption is at the top of the table. This is the
default value.
- bottom: The caption is at the bottom of the table.
- left: The caption is at the left of the table.
- right: The caption is at the right of the table.
Attributes defined elsewhere
-
id, class (document-wide identifiers)
-
lang (language
information), dir (text
direction)
-
title (element title)
- style (inline
style information )
- onclick, ondblclick,
onmousedown, onmouseup,
onmouseover, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onkeypress,
onkeydown, onkeyup (intrinsic events )
When present, the CAPTION element's text should describe the nature of the
table. The CAPTION element is only permitted immediately after
the
TABLE start tag. A
TABLE element may only contain one
CAPTION element.
Visual user agents allow sighted people to quickly grasp the structure of
the table from the headings as well as the caption. A consequence of this is
that captions will often be inadequate as a summary of the purpose and
structure of the table from the perspective of people relying on non-visual
user agents.
Authors should therefore take care to provide
additional information summarizing the purpose and structure of the
table using the summary attribute of the TABLE element. This is especially
important for tables without captions. Examples below illustrate the use of the
summary attribute.
Visual user agents should avoid clipping any part of
the table including the caption, unless a means is provided to access all
parts, e.g., by horizontal or vertical scrolling. We recommend that the caption
text be wrapped to the same width as the table. (See also the section on recommended layout algorithms.)
<!ELEMENT THEAD - O (TR)+ -- table header -->
<!ELEMENT TFOOT - O (TR)+ -- table footer -->
Start tag: required, End tag:
optional
<!ELEMENT TBODY O O (TR)+ -- table body -->
Start tag: optional, End tag:
optional
Attributes defined elsewhere
-
id, class (document-wide identifiers)
-
lang (language
information), dir (text
direction)
-
title (element title)
- style (inline
style information )
- onclick, ondblclick,
onmousedown, onmouseup,
onmouseover, onmousemove,
onmouseout, onkeypress,
onkeydown, onkeyup (intrinsic events )
-
align, char,
charoff, valign (cell
alignment)
Table rows may be grouped into a table head, table
foot, and one or more table body sections, using the THEAD,
TFOOT and TBODY elements, respectively. This division enables
user agents to support scrolling of table bodies independently of the table
head and foot. When long tables are printed, the table head and foot
information may be repeated on each page that contains table data.
The table head and table foot should contain information about the table's
columns. The table body should contain rows of table data.
When present, each THEAD, TFOOT, and TBODY
contains a row group. Each row group must contain at least one row,
defined by the TR element.