cell merging script

[ninerkz]

has anyone successfully written a cell merging script that will vertically merge cells with identical values?

I saw a post from a few weeks ago but I can't get in touch with the post writer (samn). I've tried to fill in the missing parts, but I can't seem to get his fragment of a script to work. Any help?

Thanks,
ninerkz

[ninerkz]

After literally months of trying to figure this one out (my javascript skills are at a beginner level), I have figured this one out. What I can't figure out is why no one has written or posted a script like this before.

here's the code:

function init() {
    if (!document.getElementsByTagName || !document.getElementById) return;
 
    var x = document.getElementsByTagName('table')[0];
    var xbody = document.getElementById('merge'); //tbody elem (so the thead doesn't get involved)
    var ybody = document.createElement('tbody');
 
// manipulate the tbodies
    var xrows = xbody.getElementsByTagName('tr');
    var numXrows = xrows.length;
 
    var xcells = xbody.getElementsByTagName('td');
    var xcols = xcells.length / xrows.length;
 
    var identical;
    var mergeNum;
 
    for (var i = 0; i < xcols; i++) { // going across
        mergeNum = 1;
        for (var j = 0; j < numXrows; j++) { // going down
            // for each row in the xbody, read the value of the cell
            if (mergeNum <= 1) {
                var myRow = xbody.getElementsByTagName('tr')[j];
                var myCell= myRow.getElementsByTagName('td')[i];
                var myCellTxt = myCell.childNodes[0].data;
            } else {
                // myRow should be the same as the previous iteration of the loop.
            }
 
            // get the next row, same column
            if (xbody.getElementsByTagName('tr')[j+1]) {
                var nxtRow = xbody.getElementsByTagName('tr')[j+1];
                var nxtCell = nxtRow.getElementsByTagName('td')[i];
                var nxtCellTxt = nxtCell.childNodes[0].data;
            } else {
                // next row doesn't exist.
            }
 
            // compare the current cell and the next cell
            if (myCellTxt == nxtCellTxt) {
                identical = true;
                mergeNum += 1;
                nxtCell.style.display = 'none';
                myCell.rowSpan = mergeNum;
            } else { // reset the mergeNum
                mergeNum = 1;
            }
 
            // account for last row being completely hidden
            if (myCell.style.display == 'none' && myCell.rowSpan) {
                myCell.style.display = '';
            }
        }
    }
}
 

Feel free to use it.
~ninerkz