Contents

1. Introduction to tables
2. Elements for constructing tables
   1. TheTABLEelement
      • Table directionality
   2. Table Captions: TheCAPTION element
   3. Row groups: theTHEAD,TFOOT, andTBODY elements
   4. Column groups: theCOLGROUP andCOL elements
      • TheCOLGROUP element
      • TheCOLelement
      • Calculating the number of columns ina table
      • Calculating the width ofcolumns
   5. Table rows: TheTR element
   6. Table cells: TheTH andTD elements
      • Cells that span several rows orcolumns
3. Table formatting by visual useragents
   1. Borders and rules
   2. Horizontal and vertical alignment
      • Inheritance of alignmentspecifications
   3. Cell margins
4. Table rendering by non-visual useragents
   1. Associating header information withdata cells
   2. Categorizing cells
   3. Algorithm to find headinginformation
5. Sample table

Note. This specification includes more detailedinformation about tables in sections ontable design rationale and implementationissues.

Here's a simple table that illustrates some of the features of the HTMLtable 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:

<!ELEMENTTABLE - -     (CAPTION?, (COL*|COLGROUP*), THEAD?, TFOOT?, TBODY+)><!ATTLIST TABLE                        -- table element --%attrs;                              --%coreattrs,%i18n,%events --summary%Text;         #IMPLIED  -- purpose/structure for speech output--width%Length;       #IMPLIED  -- table width --border%Pixels;       #IMPLIED  -- controls frame width around table --frame%TFrame;       #IMPLIED  -- which parts of frame to render --rules%TRules;       #IMPLIED  -- rulings between rows and cols --cellspacing%Length;       #IMPLIED  -- spacing between cells --cellpadding%Length;       #IMPLIED  -- spacing within cells --  >

Attribute definitions

summary =text[CS]

This attribute provides a summary of the table's purpose and structure foruser agents rendering to non-visual media such as speech and Braille.

align =left|center|right[CI]

Deprecated. Thisattribute 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 isintended for visual user agents. When the value is a percentage value, thevalue is relative to the user agent's available horizontal space. In theabsence of any width specification, table width is determined by the useragent.

Attributes defined elsewhere

• id,class (document-wide identifiers)
• lang (languageinformation),dir (textdirection)
• title (element title)
• style (inlinestyle information )
• onclick,ondblclick,onmousedown,onmouseup,onmouseover,onmousemove,onmouseout,onkeypress,onkeydown,onkeyup (intrinsic events)
• bgcolor (background color)
• frame,rules,border (borders and rules)
• cellspacing,cellpadding (cellmargins)

To specify a right-to-left table, set thedir attribute as follows:

<TABLE dir="RTL">...the rest of the table...</TABLE>

<!ELEMENTCAPTION  - - (%inline;)*     -- table caption --><!ATTLIST CAPTION%attrs;                              --%coreattrs,%i18n,%events --  >

Attribute definitions

align =top|bottom|left|right[CI]

Deprecated. Forvisual user agents, this attribute specifies the position of the caption withrespect to the table. Possible values:

• top: The caption is at the top of the table. This is thedefault 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 (languageinformation),dir (textdirection)
• title (element title)
• style (inlinestyle information )
• onclick,ondblclick,onmousedown,onmouseup,onmouseover,onmousemove,onmouseout,onkeypress,onkeydown,onkeyup (intrinsic events )

<!ELEMENTTHEAD    - O (TR)+           -- table header --><!ELEMENTTFOOT    - O (TR)+           -- table footer -->

<!ELEMENTTBODY    O O (TR)+           -- table body -->

<!ATTLIST (THEAD|TBODY|TFOOT)          -- table section --%attrs;                              --%coreattrs,%i18n,%events --%cellhalign;                         -- horizontal alignment in cells --%cellvalign;                         -- vertical alignment in cells --  >

Attributes defined elsewhere

• id,class (document-wide identifiers)
• lang (languageinformation),dir (textdirection)
• title (element title)
• style (inlinestyle information )
• onclick,ondblclick,onmousedown,onmouseup,onmouseover,onmousemove,onmouseout,onkeypress,onkeydown,onkeyup (intrinsic events )
• align,char,charoff,valign (cellalignment)

This example illustrates the order and structure of table heads, feet, andbodies.

<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>

The table of the previous example could be shortened by removing certain endtags, as in:

<TABLE><THEAD>     <TR>...header information...<TFOOT>     <TR>...footer information...<TBODY>     <TR>...first row of block one data...     <TR>...second row of block one data...<TBODY>     <TR>...first row of block two data...     <TR>...second row of block two data...     <TR>...third row of block two data...</TABLE>

<!ELEMENTCOLGROUP - O (COL)*          -- table column group --><!ATTLIST COLGROUP%attrs;                              --%coreattrs,%i18n,%events --spanNUMBER         1         -- default number of columns in group --width%MultiLength;  #IMPLIED  -- default width for enclosed COLs --%cellhalign;                         -- horizontal alignment in cells --%cellvalign;                         -- vertical alignment in cells --  >

Attribute definitions

span =number[CN]

This attribute, which must be an integer > 0, specifies the number ofcolumns in a column group. Values mean the following:

• In the absence of aspan attribute, eachCOLGROUP defines a column group containing one column.
• If thespan attribute is set to N > 0, the currentCOLGROUP element defines a column group containing N columns.

User agents must ignore this attribute if theCOLGROUP element contains one or moreCOL elements.

width =multi-length[CN]

This attribute specifies a default width for each column in the currentcolumn group. In addition to the standard pixel, percentage, and relativevalues, this attribute allows the special form "0*" (zero asterisk) which meansthat the width of the each column in the group should be the minimum widthnecessary to hold the column's contents. This implies that a column's entirecontents must be known before its width may be correctly computed. Authorsshould be aware that specifying "0*" will prevent visual user agents fromrendering a table incrementally.

This attribute is overridden for any column in the column group whosewidth is specified via aCOL element.

Attributes defined elsewhere

• id,class (document-wide identifiers)
• lang (languageinformation),dir (textdirection)
• title (element title)
• style (inlinestyle information )
• onclick,ondblclick,onmousedown,onmouseup,onmouseover,onmousemove,onmouseout,onkeypress,onkeydown,onkeyup (intrinsic events )
• align,char,charoff,valign (cellalignment)

The table in the following example contains two column groups. The firstcolumn group contains 10 columns and the second contains 5 columns. The defaultwidth for each column in the first column group is 50 pixels. The width of eachcolumn in the second column group will be the minimum required for thatcolumn.

<TABLE><COLGROUP span="10" width="50"><COLGROUP span="5" width="0*"><THEAD><TR><TD>...</TABLE>

<!ELEMENTCOL      - O EMPTY           -- table column --><!ATTLIST COL                          -- column groups and properties --%attrs;                              --%coreattrs,%i18n,%events --spanNUMBER         1         -- COL attributes affect N columns --width%MultiLength;  #IMPLIED  -- column width specification --%cellhalign;                         -- horizontal alignment in cells --%cellvalign;                         -- vertical alignment in cells --  >

Attribute definitions

span =number[CN]

This attribute, whose value must be an integer > 0, specifies the numberof columns "spanned" by theCOL element; theCOL element shares its attributes withall the columns it spans. The default value for this attribute is 1 (i.e., theCOL element refers to a single column). If thespan attribute is set to N > 1, the currentCOLelement shares its attributes with the next N-1 columns.

width =multi-length[CN]

This attribute specifies a default width for each column spanned by thecurrentCOL element. It has the same meaning as thewidth attribute for theCOLGROUP element and overrides it.

Attributes defined elsewhere

• id,class (document-wide identifiers)
• lang (languageinformation),dir (textdirection)
• title (element title)
• style (inlinestyle information )
• onclick,ondblclick,onmousedown,onmouseup,onmouseover,onmousemove,onmouseout,onkeypress,onkeydown,onkeyup (intrinsic events )
• align,char,charoff,valign (cellalignment)

For example, for each of the following tables, the two column calculationmethods should result in three columns. The first three tables may be renderedincrementally.

<TABLE><COLGROUP span="3"></COLGROUP><TR><TD>......rows...</TABLE><TABLE><COLGROUP><COL><COL span="2"></COLGROUP><TR><TD>......rows...</TABLE><TABLE><COLGROUP><COL></COLGROUP><COLGROUP span="2"><TR><TD>......rows...</TABLE><TABLE><TR>  <TD><TD><TD></TR></TABLE>

The table in this example contains six columns. The first one does notbelong to an explicit column group. The next three belong to the first explicitcolumn group and the last two belong to the second explicit column group. Thistable cannot be formatted incrementally since it contains proportional columnwidth specifications and no value for thewidth attribute for theTABLE element.

Once the (visual) user agent has received the table's data: the availablehorizontal space will be alloted by the user agent as follows: First the useragent will allot 30 pixels to columns one and two. Then, the minimal spacerequired for the third column will be reserved. The remaining horizontal spacewill be divided into six equal portions (since 2* + 1* + 3* = 6 portions).Column four (2*) will receive two of these portions, column five (1*) willreceive one, and column six (3*) will receive three.

    <TABLE><COLGROUP>   <COL width="30"><COLGROUP>   <COL width="30">   <COL width="0*">   <COL width="2*"><COLGROUP align="center">   <COL width="1*">   <COL width="3*" align="char" char=":"><THEAD><TR><TD>......rows...</TABLE>

We have set the value of thealign attribute in the third columngroup to "center". All cells in every column in this group will inherit thisvalue, but may override it. In fact, the finalCOL does just that, by specifyingthat every cell in the column it governs will be aligned along the ":"character.

In the following table, the column width specifications allow the user agentto format the table incrementally:

    <TABLE width="200"><COLGROUP span="10" width="15"><COLGROUP width="*">   <COL>   <COL><THEAD><TR><TD>......rows...</TABLE>

The first ten columns will be 15 pixels wide each. The last two columns willeach receive half of the remaining 50 pixels. Note that theCOLelements appear only so that anid value may be specified for the last twocolumns.

Note. Although thewidth attribute on theTABLE element is not deprecated,authors are encouraged to use style sheets to specify table widths.

<!ELEMENTTR       - O (TH|TD)+        -- table row --><!ATTLIST TR                           -- table row --%attrs;                              --%coreattrs,%i18n,%events --%cellhalign;                         -- horizontal alignment in cells --%cellvalign;                         -- vertical alignment in cells --  >

Attributes defined elsewhere

• id,class (document-wide identifiers)
• lang (languageinformation),dir (textdirection)
• title (element title)
• style (inlinestyle information )
• onclick,ondblclick,onmousedown,onmouseup,onmouseover,onmousemove,onmouseout,onkeypress,onkeydown,onkeyup (intrinsic events )
• bgcolor (background color)
• align,char,charoff,valign (cellalignment)

This sample table contains three rows, each begun by theTRelement:

<TABLE summary="This table charts the number of cups                   of coffee consumed by each senator, the type                    of coffee (decaf or regular), and whether                    taken with sugar."><CAPTION>Cups of coffee consumed by each senator</CAPTION><TR>...A header row...<TR>...First row of data...<TR>...Second row of data......the rest of the table...</TABLE>

<!ELEMENT (TH|TD)  - O (%flow;)*       -- table header cell, table data cell--><!-- Scope is simpler than headers attribute for common tables --><!ENTITY % Scope "(row|col|rowgroup|colgroup)"><!-- TH is for headers, TD for data, but for cells acting as both use TD --><!ATTLIST (TH|TD)                      -- header or data cell --%attrs;                              --%coreattrs,%i18n,%events --abbr%Text;         #IMPLIED  -- abbreviation for header cell --axisCDATA          #IMPLIED  -- comma-separated list of related headers--headersIDREFS         #IMPLIED  -- list of id's for header cells --scope%Scope;        #IMPLIED  -- scope covered by header cells --rowspanNUMBER         1         -- number of rows spanned by cell --colspanNUMBER         1         -- number of cols spanned by cell --%cellhalign;                         -- horizontal alignment in cells --%cellvalign;                         -- vertical alignment in cells --  >

Attribute definitions

headers =idrefs[CS]

This attribute specifies the list of header cells that provide headerinformation for the current data cell. The value of this attribute is aspace-separated list of cell names; those cells must be named by setting theiridattribute. Authors generally use theheaders attribute to help non-visualuser agents render header information about data cells (e.g., headerinformation is spoken prior to the cell data), but the attribute may also beused in conjunction with style sheets. See also thescopeattribute.

scope =scope-name[CI]

This attribute specifies the set of data cells for which the current headercell provides header information. This attribute may be used in place of theheaders attribute, particularly for simple tables. When specified,this attribute must have one of the following values:

• row: The current cell provides header information for therest of the row that contains it (see also the section ontable directionality).
• col: The current cell provides header information for therest of the column that contains it.
• rowgroup: The header cell provides header information forthe rest of therow group that contains it.
• colgroup: The header cell provides header information forthe rest of thecolumn group that contains it.

abbr =text[CS]

This attribute should be used to provide an abbreviated form of the cell'scontent, and may be rendered by user agents when appropriate in place of thecell's content. Abbreviated names should be short since user agents may renderthem repeatedly. For instance, speech synthesizers may render the abbreviatedheaders relating to a particular cell before rendering that cell'scontent.

axis =cdata[CI]

This attribute may be used to place a cell into conceptual categories thatcan be considered to form axes in an n-dimensional space. User agents may giveusers access to these categories (e.g., the user may query the user agent forall cells that belong to certain categories, the user agent may present a tablein the form of a table of contents, etc.). Please consult the section oncategorizing cells for more information. The valueof this attribute is a comma-separated list of category names.

rowspan =number[CN]

This attribute specifies the number of rows spanned by the current cell.The default value of this attribute is one ("1"). The value zero ("0") meansthat the cell spans all rows from the current row to the last row of the tablesection (THEAD,TBODY, orTFOOT) in which the cell isdefined.

colspan =number[CN]

This attribute specifies the number of columns spanned by the current cell.The default value of this attribute is one ("1"). The value zero ("0") meansthat the cell spans all columns from the current column to the last column ofthe column group (COLGROUP) in which the cell is defined.

nowrap[CI]

Deprecated. Whenpresent, this boolean attribute tells visual user agents to disable automatictext wrapping for this cell.Style sheetsshould be used instead of this attribute to achieve wrapping effects.Note. if used carelessly, this attribute may result in excessivelywide cells.

width =length[CN]

Deprecated. Thisattribute supplies user agents with a recommended cell width.

height =length[CN]

Deprecated. Thisattribute supplies user agents with a recommended cell height.

Attributes defined elsewhere

• id,class (document-wide identifiers)
• lang (languageinformation),dir (textdirection)
• title (element title)
• style (inlinestyle information )
• onclick,ondblclick,onmousedown,onmouseup,onmouseover,onmousemove,onmouseout,onkeypress,onkeydown,onkeyup (intrinsic events )
• bgcolor (background color)
• align,char,charoff,valign (cellalignment)

For example, the following table contains four columns of data, each headedby a column description.

<TABLE summary="This table charts the number of cups                   of coffee consumed by each senator, the type                    of coffee (decaf or regular), and whether                    taken with sugar."><CAPTION>Cups of coffee consumed by each senator</CAPTION><TR>   <TH>Name</TH>   <TH>Cups</TH>   <TH>Type of Coffee</TH>   <TH>Sugar?</TH><TR>   <TD>T. Sexton</TD>   <TD>10</TD>   <TD>Espresso</TD>   <TD>No</TD><TR>   <TD>J. Dinnen</TD>   <TD>5</TD>   <TD>Decaf</TD>   <TD>Yes</TD></TABLE>

A user agent rendering to a tty device might display this as follows:

Name         Cups       Type of Coffee   Sugar?T. Sexton    10         Espresso         NoJ. Dinnen    5          Decaf            Yes

In this table definition, we specify that the cell in row four, column twoshould span a total of three columns, including the current column.

<TABLE border="1"><CAPTION>Cups of coffee consumed by each senator</CAPTION><TR><TH>Name<TH>Cups<TH>Type of Coffee<TH>Sugar?<TR><TD>T. Sexton<TD>10<TD>Espresso<TD>No<TR><TD>J. Dinnen<TD>5<TD>Decaf<TD>Yes<TR><TD>A. Soria<TD colspan="3"><em>Not available</em></TABLE>

This table might be rendered on a tty device by a visual user agent asfollows:

Cups of coffee consumed by each senator -------------------------------------- |   Name  |Cups|Type of Coffee|Sugar?| -------------------------------------- |T. Sexton|10  |Espresso      |No    | -------------------------------------- |J. Dinnen|5   |Decaf         |Yes   | -------------------------------------- |A. Soria |Not available             | --------------------------------------

The next example illustrates (with the help of table borders) how celldefinitions that span more than one row or column affect the definition oflater cells. Consider the following table definition:

<TABLE border="1"><TR><TD>1 <TD rowspan="2">2 <TD>3<TR><TD>4 <TD>6<TR><TD>7 <TD>8 <TD>9</TABLE>

As cell "2" spans the first and second rows, the definition of the secondrow will take it into account. Thus, the secondTD in row two actually definesthe row's third cell. Visually, the table might be rendered to a tty deviceas:

-------------| 1 | 2 | 3 | ----|   |----| 4 |   | 6 |----|---|----| 7 | 8 | 9 |-------------

while a graphical user agent might render this as:

Note that if theTD defining cell "6" had been omitted, an extra empty cellwould have been added by the user agent to complete the row.

Similarly, in the following table definition:

<TABLE border="1"><TR><TD>1 <TD>2 <TD>3<TR><TD colspan="2">4 <TD>6<TR><TD>7 <TD>8 <TD>9</TABLE>

cell "4" spans two columns, so the secondTD in the row actually definesthe third cell ("6"):

-------------| 1 | 2 | 3 | --------|----| 4     | 6 |--------|----| 7 | 8 | 9 |-------------

A graphical user agent might render this as:

The following illegal example illustrates how one might create overlappingcells. In this table, cell "5" spans two rows and cell "7" spans two columns,so there is overlap in the cell between "7" and "9":

<TABLE border="1"><TR><TD>1 <TD>2 <TD>3<TR><TD>4 <TD rowspan="2">5 <TD>6<TR><TD colspan="2">7 <TD>9</TABLE>

Note. The following sections describe the HTML tableattributes that concern visual formatting. When this specification was firstpublished in 1997,[CSS1] did not offer mechanisms to control all aspects ofvisual table formatting. Since then,[CSS2] has added propertiesto allow visual formatting of tables.

Attribute definitions

frame =void|above|below|hsides|lhs|rhs|vsides|box|border[CI]

This attribute specifies which sides of the frame surrounding a table willbe visible. Possible values:

• void: No sides. This is the default value.
• above: The top side only.
• below: The bottom side only.
• hsides: The top and bottom sides only.
• vsides: The right and left sides only.
• lhs: The left-hand side only.
• rhs: The right-hand side only.
• box: All four sides.
• border: All four sides.

rules =none|groups|rows|cols|all[CI]

This attribute specifies which rules will appear between cells within atable. The rendering of rules is user agent dependent. Possible values:

• none: No rules. This is the default value.
• groups: Rules will appear between row groups (seeTHEAD,TFOOT, andTBODY) and column groups (seeCOLGROUP andCOL) only.
• rows: Rules will appear between rows only.
• cols: Rules will appear between columns only.
• all: Rules will appear between all rows and columns.

border =pixels[CN]

This attributes specifies the width (in pixels only) of the frame around atable (see the Note below for more information about this attribute).

To help distinguish the cells of a table, we can set theborder attribute of theTABLE element. Consider a previousexample:

<TABLE border="1"        summary="This table charts the number of cups                of coffee consumed by each senator, the type                 of coffee (decaf or regular), and whether                 taken with sugar."><CAPTION>Cups of coffee consumed by each senator</CAPTION><TR>   <TH>Name</TH>   <TH>Cups</TH>   <TH>Type of Coffee</TH>   <TH>Sugar?</TH><TR>   <TD>T. Sexton</TD>   <TD>10</TD>   <TD>Espresso</TD>   <TD>No</TD><TR>   <TD>J. Dinnen</TD>   <TD>5</TD>   <TD>Decaf</TD>   <TD>Yes</TD></TABLE>

In the following example, the user agent should show borders five pixelsthick on the left-hand and right-hand sides of the table, with rules drawnbetween each column.

<TABLE border="5" frame="vsides" rules="cols"><TR> <TD>1 <TD>2 <TD>3<TR> <TD>4 <TD>5 <TD>6<TR> <TD>7 <TD>8 <TD>9</TABLE>

For example, the following definitions are equivalent:

<TABLE border="2"><TABLE border="2" frame="border" rules="all">

as are the following:

<TABLE border><TABLE frame="border" rules="all">

Note. Theborder attribute also defines theborder behavior for theOBJECT andIMG elements, but takes differentvalues for those elements.

<!-- horizontal alignment attributes for cell contents --><!ENTITY % cellhalign  "align      (left|center|right|justify|char) #IMPLIEDchar%Character;    #IMPLIED  -- alignment char, e.g. char=':' --charoff%Length;       #IMPLIED  -- offset for alignment char --"  ><!-- vertical alignment attributes for cell contents --><!ENTITY % cellvalign  "valign     (top|middle|bottom|baseline) #IMPLIED"  >

Attribute definitions

align =left|center|right|justify|char[CI]

This attribute specifies the alignment of data and the justification oftext in a cell. Possible values:

• left: Left-flush data/Left-justify text. This is the defaultvalue for table data.
• center: Center data/Center-justify text. This is the defaultvalue for table headers.
• right: Right-flush data/Right-justify text.
• justify: Double-justify text.
• char: Align text around a specific character. If a user agentdoesn't support character alignment, behavior in the presence of this value isunspecified.

valign =top|middle|bottom|baseline[CI]

This attribute specifies the vertical position of data within a cell.Possible values:

• top: Cell data is flush with the top of the cell.
• middle: Cell data is centered vertically within the cell. Thisis the default value.
• bottom: Cell data is flush with the bottom of the cell.
• baseline: All cells in the same row as a cell whosevalign attribute has this value should have their textual datapositioned so that the first text line occurs on a baseline common to all cellsin the row. This constraint does not apply to subsequent text lines in thesecells.

char =character[CN]

This attribute specifies a single character within a text fragment to actas an axis for alignment. The default value for this attribute is the decimalpoint character for the current language as set by thelangattribute (e.g., the period (".") in English and the comma (",") in French).User agents are not required to support this attribute.

charoff =length[CN]

When present, this attribute specifies the offset to the first occurrenceof the alignment character on each line. If a line doesn't include thealignment character, it should be horizontally shifted to end at the alignmentposition.

Whencharoff is used to set the offset of an alignment character, thedirection of offset is determined by the current text direction (set by thedirattribute). In left-to-right texts (the default), offset is from the leftmargin. In right-to-left texts, offset is from the right margin. User agentsare not required to support this attribute.

The table in this example aligns a row of currency values along a decimalpoint. We set the alignment character to "." explicitly.

<TABLE border="1"><COLGROUP><COL><COL align="char" char="."><THEAD><TR><TH>Vegetable <TH>Cost per kilo<TBODY><TR><TD>Lettuce        <TD>$1<TR><TD>Silver carrots <TD>$10.50<TR><TD>Golden turnips <TD>$100.30</TABLE>

The formatted table may resemble the following:

------------------------------|   Vegetable  |Cost per kilo||--------------|-------------||Lettuce       |        $1   ||--------------|-------------||Silver carrots|       $10.50||--------------|-------------||Golden turnips|      $100.30|------------------------------

Note. Visual user agents typically renderTH elementsvertically and horizontally centered within the cell and with a bold fontweight.

Attribute definitions

cellspacing =length[CN]

This attribute specifies how much space the user agent should leave betweenthe left side of the table and the left-hand side of the leftmost column, thetop of the table and the top side of the topmost row, and so on for the rightand bottom of the table. The attribute also specifies the amount of space toleave between cells.

cellpadding =length[CN]

This attribute specifies the amount of space between the border of the celland its contents. If the value of this attribute is a pixel length, all fourmargins should be this distance from the contents. If the value of theattribute is a percentage length, the top and bottom margins should be equallyseparated from the content based on a percentage of the available verticalspace, and the left and right margins should be equally separated from thecontent based on a percentage of the available horizontal space.

In the following example, thecellspacing attribute specifies thatcells should be separated from each other and from the table frame by twentypixels. Thecellpadding attribute specifies that the top margin of thecell and the bottom margin of the cell will each be separated from the cell'scontents by 10% of the available vertical space (the total being 20%).Similarly, the left margin of the cell and the right margin of the cell willeach be separated from the cell's contents by 10% of the available horizontalspace (the total being 20%).

<TABLE cellspacing="20" cellpadding="20%"><TR> <TD>Data1 <TD>Data2 <TD>Data3</TABLE>

In the following example, we assign header information to cells by settingtheheaders attribute. Each cell in the same column refers to the sameheader cell (via theid attribute).

<TABLE border="1"        summary="This table charts the number of cups                of coffee consumed by each senator, the type                 of coffee (decaf or regular), and whether                 taken with sugar."><CAPTION>Cups of coffee consumed by each senator</CAPTION><TR>   <TH>Name</TH>   <TH>Cups</TH>   <TH abbr="Type">Type of Coffee</TH>   <TH>Sugar?</TH><TR>   <TD headers="t1">T. Sexton</TD>   <TD headers="t2">10</TD>   <TD headers="t3">Espresso</TD>   <TD headers="t4">No</TD><TR>   <TD headers="t1">J. Dinnen</TD>   <TD headers="t2">5</TD>   <TD headers="t3">Decaf</TD>   <TD headers="t4">Yes</TD></TABLE>

A speech synthesizer might render this table as follows:

Caption: Cups of coffee consumed by each senatorSummary: This table charts the number of cups         of coffee consumed by each senator, the type          of coffee (decaf or regular), and whether          taken with sugar.Name: T. Sexton,   Cups: 10,   Type: Espresso,   Sugar: NoName: J. Dinnen,   Cups: 5,    Type: Decaf,      Sugar: Yes

Note how the header "Type of Coffee" is abbreviated to "Type" using theabbrattribute.

Here is the same example substituting thescope attribute for theheaders attribute. Note the value "col" for thescopeattribute, meaning "all cells in the current column":

<TABLE border="1"        summary="This table charts the number of cups                of coffee consumed by each senator, the type                 of coffee (decaf or regular), and whether                 taken with sugar."><CAPTION>Cups of coffee consumed by each senator</CAPTION><TR>   <TH scope="col">Name</TH>   <TH scope="col">Cups</TH>   <TH scope="col" abbr="Type">Type of Coffee</TH>   <TH scope="col">Sugar?</TH><TR>   <TD>T. Sexton</TD>   <TD>10</TD>   <TD>Espresso</TD>   <TD>No</TD><TR>   <TD>J. Dinnen</TD>   <TD>5</TD>   <TD>Decaf</TD>   <TD>Yes</TD></TABLE>

Here's a somewhat more complex example illustrating other values for thescope attribute:

<TABLE border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="2"  summary="History courses offered in the community of           Bath arranged by course name, tutor, summary,            code, and fee">  <TR>    <TH colspan="5" scope="colgroup">Community Courses -- Bath Autumn 1997</TH>  </TR>  <TR>    <TH scope="col" abbr="Name">Course Name</TH>    <TH scope="col" abbr="Tutor">Course Tutor</TH>    <TH scope="col">Summary</TH>    <TH scope="col">Code</TH>    <TH scope="col">Fee</TH>  </TR>  <TR>    <TD scope="row">After the Civil War</TD>    <TD>Dr. John Wroughton</TD>    <TD>       The course will examine the turbulent years in England       after 1646. <EM>6 weekly meetings starting Monday 13th      October.</EM>    </TD>    <TD>H27</TD>    <TD>&pound;32</TD>  </TR>  <TR>    <TD scope="row">An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England</TD>    <TD>Mark Cottle</TD>    <TD>       One day course introducing the early medieval       period reconstruction the Anglo-Saxons and       their society. <EM>Saturday 18th October.</EM>    </TD>    <TD>H28</TD>    <TD>&pound;18</TD>  </TR>  <TR>    <TD scope="row">The Glory that was Greece</TD>    <TD>Valerie Lorenz</TD>    <TD>     Birthplace of democracy, philosophy, heartland of theater, home of     argument. The Romans may have done it but the Greeks did it     first. <EM>Saturday day school 25th October 1997</EM>    </TD>    <TD>H30</TD>    <TD>&pound;18</TD>  </TR></TABLE>

A graphical user agent might render this as:

Note the use of thescope attribute with the "row" value. Although thefirst cell in each row contains data, not header information, thescopeattribute makes the data cell behave like a row header cell. This allows speechsynthesizers to provide the relevant course name upon request or to state itimmediately before each cell's content.

In "ascii art", the following table:

<TABLE border="2" frame="hsides" rules="groups"          summary="Code page support in different versions                   of MS Windows."><CAPTION>CODE-PAGE SUPPORT IN MICROSOFT WINDOWS</CAPTION><COLGROUP align="center"><COLGROUP align="left"><COLGROUP align="center" span="2"><COLGROUP align="center" span="3"><THEAD valign="top"><TR><TH>Code-Page<BR>ID<TH>Name<TH>ACP<TH>OEMCP<TH>Windows<BR>NT 3.1<TH>Windows<BR>NT 3.51<TH>Windows<BR>95<TBODY><TR><TD>1200<TD>Unicode (BMP of ISO/IEC-10646)<TD><TD><TD>X<TD>X<TD>*<TR><TD>1250<TD>Windows 3.1 Eastern European<TD>X<TD><TD>X<TD>X<TD>X<TR><TD>1251<TD>Windows 3.1 Cyrillic<TD>X<TD><TD>X<TD>X<TD>X<TR><TD>1252<TD>Windows 3.1 US (ANSI)<TD>X<TD><TD>X<TD>X<TD>X<TR><TD>1253<TD>Windows 3.1 Greek<TD>X<TD><TD>X<TD>X<TD>X<TR><TD>1254<TD>Windows 3.1 Turkish<TD>X<TD><TD>X<TD>X<TD>X<TR><TD>1255<TD>Hebrew<TD>X<TD><TD><TD><TD>X<TR><TD>1256<TD>Arabic<TD>X<TD><TD><TD><TD>X<TR><TD>1257<TD>Baltic<TD>X<TD><TD><TD><TD>X<TR><TD>1361<TD>Korean (Johab)<TD>X<TD><TD><TD>**<TD>X<TBODY><TR><TD>437<TD>MS-DOS United States<TD><TD>X<TD>X<TD>X<TD>X<TR><TD>708<TD>Arabic (ASMO 708)<TD><TD>X<TD><TD><TD>X<TR><TD>709<TD>Arabic (ASMO 449+, BCON V4)<TD><TD>X<TD><TD><TD>X<TR><TD>710<TD>Arabic (Transparent Arabic)<TD><TD>X<TD><TD><TD>X<TR><TD>720<TD>Arabic (Transparent ASMO)<TD><TD>X<TD><TD><TD>X</TABLE>

would be rendered something like this:

                  CODE-PAGE SUPPORT IN MICROSOFT WINDOWS===============================================================================Code-Page | Name                         | ACP  OEMCP | Windows Windows Windows    ID    |                              |            |  NT 3.1 NT 3.51    95-------------------------------------------------------------------------------   1200   | Unicode (BMP of ISO 10646)   |            |    X       X       *   1250   | Windows 3.1 Eastern European |  X         |    X       X       X   1251   | Windows 3.1 Cyrillic         |  X         |    X       X       X   1252   | Windows 3.1 US (ANSI)        |  X         |    X       X       X   1253   | Windows 3.1 Greek            |  X         |    X       X       X   1254   | Windows 3.1 Turkish          |  X         |    X       X       X   1255   | Hebrew                       |  X         |                    X   1256   | Arabic                       |  X         |                    X   1257   | Baltic                       |  X         |                    X   1361   | Korean (Johab)               |  X         |            **      X-------------------------------------------------------------------------------    437   | MS-DOS United States         |        X   |    X       X       X    708   | Arabic (ASMO 708)            |        X   |                    X    709   | Arabic (ASMO 449+, BCON V4)  |        X   |                    X    710   | Arabic (Transparent Arabic)  |        X   |                    X    720   | Arabic (Transparent ASMO)    |        X   |                    X===============================================================================

A graphical user agent might render this as:

This example illustrates howCOLGROUP can be used to group columnsand set the default column alignment. Similarly,TBODY isused to group rows. Theframe andrules attributes tell the user agentwhich borders and rules to render.