DominiqueS: Created page with "Category:How_do_I_encode... Category:Primer The '''[http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_(information) table]''' is a structural unit made up of rows, columns, or…"

DominiqueS — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:45:10 GMT

Created page with "Category:How_do_I_encode... Category:Primer The '''[http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_(information) table]''' is a structural unit made up of rows, columns, or…"

New page

[[Category:How_do_I_encode...]]
[[Category:Primer]]

The '''[http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_(information) table]''' is a structural unit made up of [[rows]], [[columns]], or [[cells]] that is used to display relationships graphically among disparate pieces of information. Most (probably all) markup languages have a relevant element, although the precise definition and syntax for the element can vary. A good discussion of issues involved, can be found in the [http://www.tei-c.org/P4X/FT.html#FTTAB TEI P4 Guidelines, §§ 22.1 and following].

'''Tables''' are closely related to '''[[Lists]]''' which share many features.

==Source documents==

===Print===

In print, '''tables''' commonly begin on a new line and end with a line boundary. They may or may not have border lines between [[rows]], [[columns]], or [[cells]]. Individual [[rows]], [[columns]], or [[cells]] may or may not have contrasting colored backgrounds. Tables commonly have a '''header row''' and/or '''header column''' which indicates the nature of the information displayed.

Individual [[cells]] in a table may consist of a single line of text, or less often but still frequently, paragraph(s) or line(s) of verse or code.

Tables may appear as part of paragraphs, or as discrete structural elements.

===Electronic===

In electronic documents, tables commonly have two additional functions: they are the core organisational structure of relational databases and spreadsheets, and they are commonly (though incorrectly) used to achieve layout effects such as columns in webpage design. This latter usage is strongly discouraged by most structural markup [[DTD]]s.

===Manuscripts===

'''Tables''' are less commonly found in manuscripts, though they do occur. [[Lists]] are more common.

==Structural encoding==

Most structural markup languages contain an element for '''table''' (e.g. XHTML <code><table></code>, TEI <code><table></code>) and components.

===(X)HTML===

In (X)HTML, tables are encoded using the following elements:

<table>: table
<tr>: table row
<td>: table data (cell)

Cells that extend across several rows and/or columns are indicated using the <code>colspan</code>, and <code>rowspan</code> [[attributes]] of the cell (<code><td></code>) element, e.g.

<td colspan="2"> : indicates that the cell is two columns high.
<td rowspan="2"> : indicates that the cell is two rows high.

Most visual commercial browsers render paragraphs by default as left-justified blocks without borders. The appearance of this and most other elements can also be controlled by external (e.g. [[CSS]] stylesheets. See [[Stylesheets]], below).

===TEI===

In [[TEI]] XML (P4), paragraphs most commonly are encoded using the following structural elements:

[[Tei:table | <table>]]: table
[[Tei:row | <row>]]: table row
[[Tei:cell | <cell>]]: table cell

Cells that extend across several rows and/or columns are indicated using the <code>cols</code>, and <code>rows</code> [[attributes]] of the cell element, e.g.

<cell cols="2"> : indicates that the cell is two columns high.
<cell rows="2"> : indicates that the cell is two rows high.

Most commercial browsers do not have a default stylesheet for this or any other TEI element (although they may render it as the XHTML equivalent). Its display characteristics, therefore, must be controlled by stylesheets, either directly (i.e. using a formatting style language such as [[CSS]] or [[XSL-FO]] or indirectly, after conversion to [[XHTML]] for display.

==Style sheets==

===CSS===

Several CSS [[properties]] control the appearance of tables elements; the most important include

* <code>display</code>
* <code>border</code> (<code>border-top</code>, <code>border-bottom</code>, <code>border-left</code>, <code>border-right</code>, etc.)
* <code>background-color</code>

<br />

====<code>display</code>====

<code>display</code> is used to control whether the element is displayed as a block, in-line, etc. There are two relevant values for table <code>display</code> are

table : displays table as block (beginning on new line and ending with carriage return)
inline-table : allows table to appear within the line of a paragraph or equivalent.

Most tables are blocks. All current browsers use <code>table</code> for the default value.

====<code>border</code>====

The <code>border</code> property is short hand for a number of related display properties (e.g. line size, color, position, and style). It is used when a uniform border is to enclose the element as a whole, e.g.

* '''"Place a thin, solid border in the same color as the text around each cell"'''

td {
border: thin solid auto;
}

If borders are required only on certain sides of an element, the properties <code>border-top</code>, <code>border-bottom</code>, <code>border-left</code>, <code>border-right</code> are used, e.g.

* '''"Place a thin, solid border between columns"'''

td {
border-left: thin solid auto;
border-right: thin solid auto;
border-collapse: collapse;
}

'''Note:''' <code>border-collapse:collapse</code> ensures that only one line appears between columns; if the property is not set, each cell will have its own left and right border (meaning that each column would be separated by two lines rather than one).

<code>border</code> properties are not [[Inheritance | inherited]]: setting the <code>border</code> for a <code>table</code> element will not place borders around individual cells.

====<code>background-color</code>====

<code>background-color</code> sets the background color of the element to which it is assigned, e.g.

* '''Set the background color of cells with the <code>class</code> attribute <code>odd_column</code> to red''':

td.odd_column {
background-color: red
}

* '''Set the background color of rows with the <code>class</code> attribute <code>even_row</code> to blue''':

tr.even_row {
background-color: red
}

* '''Set the background of the entire table to red''':

table {
background-color: red
}

===XSL-FO===
(Unknown)

===LaTeX===

(Unknown)

Table - Revision history

DominiqueS: Created page with "Category:How_do_I_encode... Category:Primer The '''[http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_(information) table]''' is a structural unit made up of rows, columns, or…"