table formatting

[Andy Fish]

Hi All,

I have a nice easy table and/or CSS formatting problem for any gurus out
there.

I have a table with 4 columns - no "width" attribute on anything.

Some rows have 4 cells in (call these type A) and some have colspan=4 (type
B)

Some type B rows have much more text than all the type A cells put together.
When this happens, the total width of the table expands (which is good) but
it expands all the 4 columns evenly and this makes the type A rows look
wrong. I would like to have the 4th column (or possibly an extra 5th column)
take up all the slack so that the type A rows have their width the same as
if the type B row only had a short value in it.

Any ideas? - I've tried putting in a 5th column with width=100% but this
causes the first 4 columns to break into multiple lines whenever there is a
space.

[Ali Babba]

Andy Fish wrote:

Hi All,

I have a nice easy table and/or CSS formatting problem for any gurus out
there.

I have a table with 4 columns - no "width" attribute on anything.

Some rows have 4 cells in (call these type A) and some have colspan=4 (type
B)

Some type B rows have much more text than all the type A cells put together.
When this happens, the total width of the table expands (which is good) but
it expands all the 4 columns evenly and this makes the type A rows look
wrong. I would like to have the 4th column (or possibly an extra 5th column)
take up all the slack so that the type A rows have their width the same as
if the type B row only had a short value in it.

Any ideas? - I've tried putting in a 5th column with width=100% but this
causes the first 4 columns to break into multiple lines whenever there is a
space.

try css-tables

<style type="text/css">
..wrapper {
float: left;
border: 1px solid black;
}

..cell {
float: left;
clear: right;
border: 1px solid red;
}

..cell_right_fill {
display: block;
border: 1px solid green;
}

..break {
clear: both;
}
</style>
<div class=wrapper>
<div class=cell>blabla</div>
<div class=cell>blabla</div>
<div class=cell>blabla</div>
<div class=cell>blabla bla</div>
<div class=break></div>

<div class=cell_right_fill>blablablabla
blablablablablablablablablablablablablabla</div>
</div>

[Andy Fish]

"Ali Babba" <Al******@40Bandits.com> wrote in message
news:cu**********@news.hispeed.ch...

try css-tables

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately this doesn't give me the table
formatting that I need.

for the A rows, I need them to line up down the page. otherwise I could just
have had a separate table for each row

Andy

[Els]

Andy Fish wrote:

I have a table with 4 columns - no "width" attribute on
anything.

Some rows have 4 cells in (call these type A) and some have
colspan=4 (type B)

Some type B rows have much more text than all the type A
cells put together. When this happens, the total width of
the table expands (which is good) but it expands all the 4
columns evenly and this makes the type A rows look wrong. I
would like to have the 4th column (or possibly an extra 5th
column) take up all the slack so that the type A rows have
their width the same as if the type B row only had a short
value in it.

Any ideas? - I've tried putting in a 5th column with
width=100% but this causes the first 4 columns to break
into multiple lines whenever there is a space.

Why not putting in a 5th column without a width, and setting the
desired width to the first 4?

--
Els http://locusmeus.com/
Sonhos vem. Sonhos vão. O resto é imperfeito.
- Renato Russo -
Now playing: Madness - On The Beat Pete

[Ali Babba]

Andy Fish wrote:

"Ali Babba" <Al******@40Bandits.com> wrote in message
news:cu**********@news.hispeed.ch...

try css-tables

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately this doesn't give me the table
formatting that I need.

for the A rows, I need them to line up down the page. otherwise I could just
have had a separate table for each row

Andy

very helpful when you come now with extra information, a good example
why you better be complete when you post a problem.

[Andy Fish]

"Ali Babba" <Al******@40Bandits.com> wrote in message
news:cu**********@news.hispeed.ch...

Andy Fish wrote:

"Ali Babba" <Al******@40Bandits.com> wrote in message
news:cu**********@news.hispeed.ch...

try css-tables

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately this doesn't give me the table
formatting that I need.

for the A rows, I need them to line up down the page. otherwise I could
just have had a separate table for each row

Andy

very helpful when you come now with extra information, a good example why
you better be complete when you post a problem.

ok, sorry I thought it was clear. here's an example

<table border=1>
<tr><td><b>author</b></td><td><b>isbn</b></td><td><b>title</b></td></tr>
<tr><td>john smith</td><td>5343</td><td>a book</td></tr>
<tr><td>joe shmoe</td><td>473</td><td>a book about fish</td></tr>
<tr><td>frank schweizz</td><td>483</td><td>a cookery book</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="3">now this is a book I really like. you should definitely
buy this one if you like cooking because it has lots of good
recipies</td></tr>
<tr><td>art davidson</td><td>483</td><td>a DIY book</td></tr>
</table>

I don't want the long line to stretch the table (it should appear to go
beyond it) but I need the columns in the different rows to line up properly.

In the real thing I won't have borders - they're just there to illustrate
the problem.

Andy

[Andy Fish]

"Els" <el*********@tiscali.nl> wrote in message
news:Xn*****************@130.133.1.4...

Andy Fish wrote:

I have a table with 4 columns - no "width" attribute on
anything.

Some rows have 4 cells in (call these type A) and some have
colspan=4 (type B)

Some type B rows have much more text than all the type A
cells put together. When this happens, the total width of
the table expands (which is good) but it expands all the 4
columns evenly and this makes the type A rows look wrong. I
would like to have the 4th column (or possibly an extra 5th
column) take up all the slack so that the type A rows have
their width the same as if the type B row only had a short
value in it.

Any ideas? - I've tried putting in a 5th column with
width=100% but this causes the first 4 columns to break
into multiple lines whenever there is a space.
Why not putting in a 5th column without a width, and setting the
desired width to the first 4?

I don't want to have a fixed width for the other columns - they need to be
automatically sized to fit the contents. The nearest I have come so far is
putting "nowrap" on the first 4 columns and then the 5th column = 100% but I
don't really want nowrap.

it seems to me that this is something missing from HTML and CSS. I would
like to specify a table column that soaks up any extra whitespace.

--
Els http://locusmeus.com/
Sonhos vem. Sonhos vão. O resto é imperfeito.
- Renato Russo -
Now playing: Madness - On The Beat Pete

[Richard]

On Sun, 06 Feb 2005 14:06:36 GMT Andy Fish wrote:

Hi All, I have a nice easy table and/or CSS formatting problem for any gurus
out
there. I have a table with 4 columns - no "width" attribute on anything. Some rows have 4 cells in (call these type A) and some have colspan=4
(type
B) Some type B rows have much more text than all the type A cells put
together.
When this happens, the total width of the table expands (which is good)
but
it expands all the 4 columns evenly and this makes the type A rows look
wrong. I would like to have the 4th column (or possibly an extra 5th
column)
take up all the slack so that the type A rows have their width the same
as
if the type B row only had a short value in it. Any ideas? - I've tried putting in a 5th column with width=100% but
this
causes the first 4 columns to break into multiple lines whenever there
is a
space.

According to information given so far, try this in CSS:

<style>
..contain {height:300px; width:300px;}

..leftcol { width:100px; height:300px; border:2px solid red; float:left; }
..row1, .row2, .row3, .row4 { width 190px; height:70px; border:2px solid
blue; }
</style>
<body>
<div class="contain">
<div class="leftcol">Sample text</div>
<div class="row1">Famous last words</div>
<div class="row2">Famous first words</div>
<div class="row3">Rich and Famous</div>
<div class="row4">Nobody special</div>
</div>
</body>

[Ali Babba]

Andy Fish wrote:

"Ali Babba" <Al******@40Bandits.com> wrote in message
news:cu**********@news.hispeed.ch...

Andy Fish wrote:

"Ali Babba" <Al******@40Bandits.com> wrote in message
news:cu**********@news.hispeed.ch...
try css-tables

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately this doesn't give me the table
formatting that I need.

for the A rows, I need them to line up down the page. otherwise I could
just have had a separate table for each row

Andy

very helpful when you come now with extra information, a good example why
you better be complete when you post a problem.

ok, sorry I thought it was clear. here's an example

<table border=1>
<tr><td><b>author</b></td><td><b>isbn</b></td><td><b>title</b></td></tr>
<tr><td>john smith</td><td>5343</td><td>a book</td></tr>
<tr><td>joe shmoe</td><td>473</td><td>a book about fish</td></tr>
<tr><td>frank schweizz</td><td>483</td><td>a cookery book</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="3">now this is a book I really like. you should definitely
buy this one if you like cooking because it has lots of good
recipies</td></tr>
<tr><td>art davidson</td><td>483</td><td>a DIY book</td></tr>
</table>

I don't want the long line to stretch the table (it should appear to go
beyond it) but I need the columns in the different rows to line up properly.

In the real thing I won't have borders - they're just there to illustrate
the problem.

Andy

why the aversion to setting the width ?

[Del Ferguson]

"Richard" <An*******@127.001> wrote in message
news:cu********@news4.newsguy.com...

On Sun, 06 Feb 2005 14:06:36 GMT Andy Fish wrote:

Hi All,

I have a nice easy table and/or CSS formatting problem for any gurus
out
there.

I have a table with 4 columns - no "width" attribute on anything.

Some rows have 4 cells in (call these type A) and some have colspan=4
(type
B)

Some type B rows have much more text than all the type A cells put
together.
When this happens, the total width of the table expands (which is
good)
but
it expands all the 4 columns evenly and this makes the type A rows
look
wrong. I would like to have the 4th column (or possibly an extra 5th
column)
take up all the slack so that the type A rows have their width the
same
as
if the type B row only had a short value in it.

Any ideas? - I've tried putting in a 5th column with width=100% but
this
causes the first 4 columns to break into multiple lines whenever
there
is a
space.

According to information given so far, try this in CSS:

<style>
.contain {height:300px; width:300px;}

.leftcol { width:100px; height:300px; border:2px solid red;
float:left; }
.row1, .row2, .row3, .row4 { width 190px; height:70px; border:2px
solid
blue; }
</style>
<body>
<div class="contain">
<div class="leftcol">Sample text</div>
<div class="row1">Famous last words</div>
<div class="row2">Famous first words</div>
<div class="row3">Rich and Famous</div>
<div class="row4">Nobody special</div>
</div>
</body>

Richard,

I do not claim be an expert in any way, shape, or form (and I'm
constantly amazed at how far above my understanding of HTML/CSS some
members of this group are); however, exactly as written, I don't think
the table example you've given works too well in Firefox. IE6 is just
OK. In my quest for the "perfect" table substitute, this seems to be
common. What works for IE breaks in FF--or vice-versa. Cheers!

Del Ferguson

[Andy Fish]

>>

why the aversion to setting the width ?

simply that I want the user to be able to resize the page to be however wide
they like.

[Richard]

On Sun, 6 Feb 2005 10:19:12 -0800 Del Ferguson wrote:

Richard, I do not claim be an expert in any way, shape, or form (and I'm
constantly amazed at how far above my understanding of HTML/CSS some
members of this group are); however, exactly as written, I don't think
the table example you've given works too well in Firefox. IE6 is just
OK. In my quest for the "perfect" table substitute, this seems to be
common. What works for IE breaks in FF--or vice-versa. Cheers! Del Ferguson

The reason it "breaks" in firefox, is because firefox does it right.
Going to find out why, I found a couple of typos and added a float:left and
it works as intended.
IE has a kind of built in "I will assume they mean to do it this way" thing.
Which is fine, but then how is one to learn proper coding if the coder
relies on the browser to correct his mistakes?

[Jim Moe]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Andy Fish wrote:
| Hi All,
|
| I have a nice easy table and/or CSS formatting problem for any gurus out
| there.
|
| I have a table with 4 columns - no "width" attribute on anything.
|
| Some rows have 4 cells in (call these type A) and some have colspan=4 (type
| B)
|
~ Use multiple tables instead of one. Whenever you get to one of the
colspan=4 roes, end the table, use a div to display the text, then begin
the next table.

- --
jmm dash list (at) sohnen-moe (dot) com
(Remove .AXSPAMGN for email)
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zS0Pcuvc4H6udx/GZ0p/epI=
=r1ew
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[Jim Moe]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Andy Fish wrote:
|>>
|>why the aversion to setting the width ?
|
| simply that I want the user to be able to resize the page to be however
wide
| they like.
|
~ Use percentages.

- --
jmm dash list (at) sohnen-moe (dot) com
(Remove .AXSPAMGN for email)
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Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org

iD8DBQFCBwG7zTcr8Prq0ZMRArf1AKCpzgalsuhU/r0C1jA9oIQGiqRTHACeKa6k
SpZr02DDeyGAcghmPeUgJoM=
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[Brian]

Ali Babba wrote:

Andy Fish wrote:

"Ali Babba" wrote...

try css-tables

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately this doesn't give me the table
formatting that I need.

for the A rows, I need them to line up down the page. otherwise I
could just have had a separate table for each row

very helpful when you come now with extra information,

The op said he had a table. A table generally means that rows and
columns must line up to make sense of the data. Unless the table does
not contain tabular data, that is not "extra information", but what
was in the op.
a good example why you better be complete when you post a problem.

A url would have been even better.

--
Brian

[Brian]

Richard wrote:

According to information given so far, try this in CSS:

<style>
.contain {height:300px; width:300px;}

.leftcol { width:100px; height:300px; border:2px solid red; float:left; }
.row1, .row2, .row3, .row4 { width 190px; height:70px; border:2px solid
blue; }
</style>

That's a brittle solution that will fail when a user chooses an
unexpectedly large font size.

--
Brian

[Brian]

Andy Fish wrote:

I have a nice easy table and/or CSS formatting problem for any gurus
out there.
We need a url to provide meaningful help.
I have a table with 4 columns - no "width" attribute on anything.

Some rows have 4 cells in (call these type A) and some have colspan=4
(type B)

Some type B rows have much more text than all the type A cells put
together. When this happens, the total width of the table expands
(which is good) but it expands all the 4 columns evenly and this
makes the type A rows look wrong. I would like to have the 4th column
(or possibly an extra 5th column) take up all the slack so that the
type A rows have their width the same as if the type B row only had a
short value in it.
Set the width of the first 3 columns in em units. It will resize for the
user, but keep those rows at the same width regardless of the width of
the 1-column rows.
I've tried putting in a 5th column with width=100%

A 5th column? Are you sure this is tabular data?

--
Brian

[Brian]

Ali Babba wrote:

Andy Fish wrote:

I have a table with 4 columns - no "width" attribute on anything.
[snip] the type A rows look wrong. I would like to have the 4th
column (or possibly an extra 5th column) take up all the slack so
that the type A rows have their width the same as if the type B row
only had a short value in it.
try css-tables

That's only useful if table markup is wrong. Otherwise, css-tables are
the wrong markup approach. And the markup is what counts, especially
since CSS is optional.
<style type="text/css">
.wrapper {
float: left;
border: 1px solid black;
}

.cell {
float: left;
clear: right;
border: 1px solid red;
}

.cell_right_fill {
display: block;
border: 1px solid green;
}

.break {
clear: both;
}
</style>

None of this constitutes css tables. Instead, you've used display: block
and floats. That may be a useful solution, but it is not what you
claimed it was.

--
Brian

[Ali Babba]

Brian wrote:

Ali Babba wrote:

Andy Fish wrote:

I have a table with 4 columns - no "width" attribute on anything.
[snip] the type A rows look wrong. I would like to have the 4th
column (or possibly an extra 5th column) take up all the slack so
that the type A rows have their width the same as if the type B row
only had a short value in it.

try css-tables

That's only useful if table markup is wrong. Otherwise, css-tables are
the wrong markup approach. And the markup is what counts, especially
since CSS is optional.

<style type="text/css">
.wrapper {
float: left;
border: 1px solid black;
}

.cell {
float: left;
clear: right;
border: 1px solid red;
}

.cell_right_fill {
display: block;
border: 1px solid green;
}

.break {
clear: both;
}
</style>

None of this constitutes css tables. Instead, you've used display: block
and floats. That may be a useful solution, but it is not what you
claimed it was.

could you back up your claim with a reference to an undisputable
definition of 'css-tables' ?

[Lauri Raittila]

in comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html, Ali Babba wrote:

Brian wrote:

None of this constitutes css tables. Instead, you've used display: block
and floats. That may be a useful solution, but it is not what you
claimed it was.

could you back up your claim with a reference to an undisputable
definition of 'css-tables' ?

http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/tables.html

especially http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/tables.html#q2

Which you would have wound esily using google

http://www.google.com/search?&q=css-tables

--
Lauri Raittila <http://www.iki.fi/lr> <http://www.iki.fi/zwak/fonts>
Utrecht, NL.

[Brian]

Ali Babba wrote:

Brian wrote:

Ali Babba wrote:
[excessive quoting snipped]

<style type="text/css">
.wrapper {
float: left;
border: 1px solid black;
}

.cell {
float: left;
clear: right;
border: 1px solid red;
}

.cell_right_fill {
display: block;
border: 1px solid green;
}

.break {
clear: both;
}
</style>

None of this constitutes css tables.

could you back up your claim with a reference to an undisputable
definition of 'css-tables' ?

http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/tables.html

Your sense of outrage is charming, especially since you're so
uncontroversially wrong.

--
Brian