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Table-related CSS properties

Table-related CSS properties

This article explains table-related CSS properties.

You can learn how to use and write properties for table layouts, borders, caption positions, and more.

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css-table.html 
  1<!DOCTYPE html>
  2<html lang="en">
  3<head>
  4    <meta charset="UTF-8">
  5    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  6    <title>CSS Properties Example</title>
  7    <link rel="stylesheet" href="css-base.css">
  8    <link rel="stylesheet" href="css-table.css">
  9</head>
 10<body>
 11    <!-- Header -->
 12    <header>
 13        <h1>Table Related CSS Properties</h1>
 14    </header>
 15
 16    <!-- Main content -->
 17    <main>
 18        <header>
 19            <h2>Table Related Properties</h2>
 20        </header>
 21        <article>
 22            <h3>table-layout</h3>
 23            <section>
 24                <header><h4>table-layout: auto</h4></header>
 25                <section class="sample-view">
 26                    <table class="table-layout-auto">
 27                        <thead>
 28                            <tr>
 29                                <th>Column 1</th>
 30                                <th>Column 2</th>
 31                                <th>Column 3</th>
 32                            </tr>
 33                        </thead>
 34                        <tbody>
 35                            <tr>
 36                                <td>Short</td>
 37                                <td>Some longer content here</td>
 38                                <td>Content</td>
 39                            </tr>
 40                            <tr>
 41                                <td>Another short one</td>
 42                                <td>This is a much longer piece of text to demonstrate the auto layout</td>
 43                                <td>Short</td>
 44                            </tr>
 45                        </tbody>
 46                    </table>
 47                </section>
 48            </section>
 49            <section>
 50                <header><h4>table-layout: fixed</h4></header>
 51                <section class="sample-view">
 52                    <table class="table-layout-fixed">
 53                        <thead>
 54                            <tr>
 55                                <th>Column 1</th>
 56                                <th>Column 2</th>
 57                                <th>Column 3</th>
 58                            </tr>
 59                        </thead>
 60                        <tbody>
 61                            <tr>
 62                                <td>Short</td>
 63                                <td>Some longer content here</td>
 64                                <td>Content</td>
 65                            </tr>
 66                            <tr>
 67                                <td>Another short one</td>
 68                                <td>This is a much longer piece of text to demonstrate the fixed layout</td>
 69                                <td>Short</td>
 70                            </tr>
 71                        </tbody>
 72                    </table>
 73                </section>
 74            </section>
 75        </article>
 76        <article>
 77            <h3>border-collapse</h3>
 78            <section>
 79                <header><h4>border-collapse: separate</h4></header>
 80                <section class="sample-view">
 81                    <table class="border-collapse-separate">
 82                        <thead>
 83                            <tr>
 84                                <th>Header 1</th>
 85                                <th>Header 2</th>
 86                                <th>Header 3</th>
 87                            </tr>
 88                        </thead>
 89                        <tbody>
 90                            <tr>
 91                                <td>Cell 1</td>
 92                                <td>Cell 2</td>
 93                                <td>Cell 3</td>
 94                            </tr>
 95                            <tr>
 96                                <td>Cell 4</td>
 97                                <td>Cell 5</td>
 98                                <td>Cell 6</td>
 99                            </tr>
100                        </tbody>
101                    </table>
102                </section>
103            </section>
104            <section>
105                <header><h4>border-collapse: collapse</h4></header>
106                <section class="sample-view">
107                    <table class="border-collapse-collapse">
108                        <thead>
109                            <tr>
110                                <th>Header 1</th>
111                                <th>Header 2</th>
112                                <th>Header 3</th>
113                            </tr>
114                        </thead>
115                        <tbody>
116                            <tr>
117                                <td>Cell 1</td>
118                                <td>Cell 2</td>
119                                <td>Cell 3</td>
120                            </tr>
121                            <tr>
122                                <td>Cell 4</td>
123                                <td>Cell 5</td>
124                                <td>Cell 6</td>
125                            </tr>
126                        </tbody>
127                    </table>
128                </section>
129            </section>
130        </article>
131        <article>
132            <h3>border-spacing</h3>
133            <section>
134                <header><h4>border-spacing: 5px 20px</h4></header>
135                <section class="sample-view">
136                    <table class="border-spacing-example">
137                        <thead>
138                            <tr>
139                                <th>Header 1</th>
140                                <th>Header 2</th>
141                                <th>Header 3</th>
142                            </tr>
143                        </thead>
144                        <tbody>
145                            <tr>
146                                <td>Cell 1</td>
147                                <td>Cell 2</td>
148                                <td>Cell 3</td>
149                            </tr>
150                            <tr>
151                                <td>Cell 4</td>
152                                <td>Cell 5</td>
153                                <td>Cell 6</td>
154                            </tr>
155                        </tbody>
156                    </table>
157                </section>
158            </section>
159        </article>
160        <article>
161            <h3>caption-side</h3>
162            <section>
163                <header><h4>caption-side: top</h4></header>
164                <section class="sample-view">
165                    <table>
166                        <caption class="caption-side-top">
167                            Table Caption on Top
168                        </caption>
169                        <thead>
170                            <tr>
171                                <th>Header 1</th>
172                                <th>Header 2</th>
173                                <th>Header 3</th>
174                            </tr>
175                        </thead>
176                        <tbody>
177                            <tr>
178                                <td>Data 1</td>
179                                <td>Data 2</td>
180                                <td>Data 3</td>
181                            </tr>
182                            <tr>
183                                <td>Data 4</td>
184                                <td>Data 5</td>
185                                <td>Data 6</td>
186                            </tr>
187                        </tbody>
188                    </table>
189                </section>
190            </section>
191            <section>
192                <header><h4>caption-side: bottom</h4></header>
193                <section class="sample-view">
194                    <table>
195                        <caption class="caption-side-bottom">
196                            Table Caption on Bottom
197                        </caption>
198                        <thead>
199                            <tr>
200                                <th>Header 1</th>
201                                <th>Header 2</th>
202                                <th>Header 3</th>
203                            </tr>
204                        </thead>
205                        <tbody>
206                            <tr>
207                                <td>Data 1</td>
208                                <td>Data 2</td>
209                                <td>Data 3</td>
210                            </tr>
211                            <tr>
212                                <td>Data 4</td>
213                                <td>Data 5</td>
214                                <td>Data 6</td>
215                            </tr>
216                        </tbody>
217                    </table>
218                </section>
219            </section>
220        </article>
221        <article>
222            <h3>empty-cells</h3>
223            <section>
224                <header><h4>empty-cells: show</h4></header>
225                <section class="sample-view">
226                    <table class="empty-cells-show">
227                        <tr>
228                            <th>Header 1</th>
229                            <th>Header 2</th>
230                            <th>Header 3</th>
231                        </tr>
232                        <tr>
233                            <td>Data 1</td>
234                            <td></td> <!-- Empty cell -->
235                            <td>Data 3</td>
236                        </tr>
237                        <tr>
238                            <td>Data 4</td>
239                            <td></td> <!-- Empty cell -->
240                            <td>Data 6</td>
241                        </tr>
242                    </table>
243                </section>
244            </section>
245            <section>
246                <header><h4>empty-cells: hide</h4></header>
247                <section class="sample-view">
248                    <table class="empty-cells-hide">
249                        <tr>
250                            <th>Header 1</th>
251                            <th>Header 2</th>
252                            <th>Header 3</th>
253                        </tr>
254                        <tr>
255                            <td>Data 1</td>
256                            <td></td> <!-- Empty cell -->
257                            <td>Data 3</td>
258                        </tr>
259                        <tr>
260                            <td>Data 4</td>
261                            <td></td> <!-- Empty cell -->
262                            <td>Data 6</td>
263                        </tr>
264                    </table>
265                </section>
266            </section>
267        </article>
268    </main>
269</body>
270</html>

Table layout

table-layout property 

 1table {
 2    width: 100%;
 3}
 4
 5th, td {
 6    border: 1px solid black;
 7    padding: 10px;
 8}
 9
10table.table-layout-auto {
11    border-collapse: collapse;
12    table-layout: auto;
13}
14
15table.table-layout-fixed {
16    border-collapse: collapse;
17    table-layout: fixed;
18}
19
20table.table-layout-fixed th {
21    width: 33.33%; /* Distribute width equally among 3 columns */
22}

table-layout is a CSS property that controls the layout method of HTML tables. This property allows you to specify how to calculate the column widths of a table.

  • In the table-layout-auto class, column widths are determined based on the content within each cell.

  • Column widths vary according to the content, and cells with long content will widen the column.

  • The table-layout-fixed class uses table-layout: fixed.

  • Each column’s width is set equally, and the width does not change even if the content is long.

Values of table-layout 

1table {
2    table-layout: auto;
3}
4
5table {
6    table-layout: fixed;
7}

table-layout mainly has two values: auto and fixed.

  1. auto (default value):

    • Specifying auto automatically adjusts the table's column widths based on the content.
    • The browser reads all the content of each cell and determines each column's width based on that content.
    • This may result in slower rendering of the entire table.

  2. fixed:

    • Specifying fixed means each column's width is determined by the width of the cells in the first row or by the width attribute.
    • The entire table is drawn immediately and the column widths are determined without reading all the content.
    • Performance improves even when there is a lot of data in the table.

Difference between table-layout: auto and table-layout: fixed

  • With auto, the table width adjusts automatically according to the content. A more dynamic layout is possible, but performance may worsen with complex tables.
  • With fixed, column widths are fixed, maintaining a consistent layout regardless of the table content. While performance improves, content may be truncated if it does not fit the width.

The border-collapse property 

1table.border-collapse-separate {
2    border-collapse: separate;
3    border-spacing: 10px; /* Set space between cells */
4}
5
6table.border-collapse-collapse {
7    border-collapse: collapse;
8}

border-collapse is a CSS property that controls how the borders between table cells are displayed. It is used to define how the borders between table cells are displayed.

  • When using border-collapse: separate, there will be distinct borders and spaces between cells. The spacing between cells is adjusted with the border-spacing property. In this example, a space of 10px is set between each cell.

  • When using border-collapse: collapse, the borders of adjacent cells are merged and displayed as a single border. As a result, the table has a more cohesive design.

As in this example, the border-collapse property mainly has two values: separate and collapse.

  1. separate (default value):

    • When specifying separate, each cell border is drawn separately, and there is space between the cells.
    • It is used when you want to clearly distinguish the borders, as the cell borders are displayed apart.
    • The space between cells can be adjusted with the border-spacing property.

  2. collapse:

    • When specifying collapse, the borders of adjacent cells are merged and displayed as a single border.
    • Since the borders overlap, the entire table has a unified appearance.
    • Rows and columns of the table are displayed neatly, making it suitable for a simpler design.

The border-spacing property 

1table.border-spacing-example {
2    border-collapse: separate;
3
4    /* Set 5px spacing between columns and 20px spacing between rows */
5    border-spacing: 5px 20px;
6}

The border-spacing property is a CSS property for specifying the spacing between cells in an HTML table. It helps adjust the space between table cells and control the visual margin. In this example, cell spacing is added as 5px horizontally and 20px vertically.

The border-spacing property only takes effect on tables where border-collapse: separate; is specified. If border-collapse: collapse; is specified, this property is ineffective.

Usage

Values for the border-spacing property are specified in pixels or other length units. It can be specified in the following two formats:.

  1. Single value
1table {
2    border-spacing: 10px;
3}
  • When specifying a single value, the spacing between rows (top and bottom) and columns (left and right) is set to the same value.

In this example, a space of 10px is added between all cells.

  1. Two values
1table {
2    border-spacing: 10px 20px;
3}
  • When specifying two values, the first value sets the horizontal spacing between columns, and the second value sets the vertical spacing between rows.

In this example, the space between columns is 10px, and the space between rows is 20px.

The caption-side property 

 1caption.caption-side-top {
 2    caption-side: top; /* Display the caption at the top of the table */
 3    font-weight: bold;
 4    font-size: 1.2em;
 5    margin-bottom: 10px;
 6    background-color: #ccc;
 7}
 8
 9caption.caption-side-bottom {
10    caption-side: bottom; /* Display the caption at the bottom of the table */
11    font-weight: bold;
12    font-size: 1.2em;
13    margin-top: 10px;
14    background-color: #ccc;
15}

The caption-side property is a CSS property used to specify where the caption (<caption> element) of an HTML table is displayed.

  • Specifying top displays the caption at the top of the table.

    • This is the default setting, and captions are often used as the title or description of the table.

  • Specifying bottom displays the caption at the bottom of the table.

    • Use this when you want to place explanations below the table.

empty-cells property 

1table.empty-cells-show {
2    empty-cells: show; /* Display empty cells */
3}
4
5table.empty-cells-hide {
6    empty-cells: hide; /* Display empty cells */
7}

The empty-cells is a CSS property to control whether empty cells in an HTML table are displayed. By default, empty cells in a table also display borders, but you can use this property to control the display.

  • Specifying show will display empty cells as well. This is the default behavior.
  • Specifying hide makes empty cells invisible. Borders and backgrounds of the cells will not be drawn.

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