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HTML Tables are used to arrange data systematically so that the user can easily interpret it. With lots of data being available, the developers need to organize it in a manner so that it can be easily understood; tables facilitate this efficiently. They are widely used for research, data analysis, etc.
Uses-
- The schema of the databases is well defined with the help of tables.
- It helps in easy comparison of lots of data available.
- Tables help in the systematic presentation of information and content available.
- Tables consist of rows and columns and can contain text, images, links, other tables, etc.
Defining tables in HTML
The <table> element is used to create a table in HTML. Table header is defined by <th> and by default, the table headings are bold and centered. The <tr> tag is used for rows and <td> is used to define table data or cell.
For example,
Code-
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<table style="width:100%">
<tr>
<th>FirstName</th>
<th>LastName</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shreya</td>
<td>Mishra</td>
<td>24</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jai</td>
<td>Singh</td>
<td>32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Philip</td>
<td>Watson</td>
<td>41</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
Output-
1. Adding border
The CSS border property is used for setting the border.
Code-
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
table, th, td {
border: 1px solid black;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table style="width:100%">
<tr>
<th>FirstName</th>
<th>LastName</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shreya</td>
<td>Mishra</td>
<td>24</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jai</td>
<td>Singh</td>
<td>32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Philip</td>
<td>Watson</td>
<td>41</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
Output-
2. HTML border-collapse
The border-collapse property of CSS is used for the borders to collapse into one border.
Code-
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
table, th, td {
border: 1px solid black;
border-collapse: collapse;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table style="width:100%">
<tr>
<th>FirstName</th>
<th>LastName</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shreya</td>
<td>Mishra</td>
<td>24</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jai</td>
<td>Singh</td>
<td>32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Philip</td>
<td>Watson</td>
<td>41</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
Output-
3. HTML cell-padding
The padding property is used to specify the space between the data of the cell and its surrounding borders. For example,
Code-
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
table, th, td {
border: 1px solid black;
border-collapse: collapse;
}
th,td{
padding: 15px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table style="width:100%">
<tr>
<th>FirstName</th>
<th>LastName</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shreya</td>
<td>Mishra</td>
<td>24</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jai</td>
<td>Singh</td>
<td>32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Philip</td>
<td>Watson</td>
<td>41</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
Output-
4. HTML Left-aligning table headings
The text-align property of CSS is used to align the table headings which is by default set at center. For example,
Code-
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
table, th, td {
border: 1px solid black;
border-collapse: collapse;
}
th,td{
padding: 15px;
}
th{
text-align: left;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table style="width:100%">
<tr>
<th>FirstName</th>
<th>LastName</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shreya</td>
<td>Mishra</td>
<td>24</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jai</td>
<td>Singh</td>
<td>32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Philip</td>
<td>Watson</td>
<td>41</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
Output-
5. Space between cells
The border-spacing property of CSS is used to specify the space between the cells/columns of the table. For example
Code-
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
table, th, td {
border: 1px solid black;
}
table {
border-spacing: 5px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table style="width:100%">
<tr>
<th>FirstName</th>
<th>LastName</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shreya</td>
<td>Mishra</td>
<td>24</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jai</td>
<td>Singh</td>
<td>32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Philip</td>
<td>Watson</td>
<td>41</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
Output-
6. Special Style for one table
The id attribute can be used to add a special style to a particular table.
Code-
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
table#tab1{
width: 100%;
background-color: #f1f1c1;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table id="tab1">
<tr>
<th>FirstName</th>
<th>LastName</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shreya</td>
<td>Mishra</td>
<td>24</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jai</td>
<td>Singh</td>
<td>32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Philip</td>
<td>Watson</td>
<td>41</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
Output-
7. Column and row spanning
To make a cell span through more than one column, the colspan attribute is useful, and to make a cell span through more than one row, the rowspan attribute is useful.
For example,
Code-
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
table, th, td {
border: 1px solid black;
border-collapse: collapse;
}
th, td {
padding: 5px;
text-align: left;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2>Column Spanning</h2>
<table style="width:100%">
<tr>
<th>Name</th>
<th colspan="2">Contact</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Susanne Christopher</td>
<td>9125567854</td>
<td>8765557785</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2>Rowspanning</h2>
<table style="width:100%">
<tr>
<th>Name</th>
<td>Susanne Christopher</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th rowspan="2">Telephone</th>
<td>9125567854</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>8765557785</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
Output-
8. HTML Caption
The <caption> element is used to add a caption to the table. For example,
Code-
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
table, th, td {
border: 1px solid black;
border-collapse: collapse;
}
th, td {
padding: 20px;
}
th {
text-align: left;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table style="width:100%">
<caption style="font-weight: bold;font-size: 25px">Information</caption>
<tr>
<th>FirstName</th>
<th>LastName</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shreya</td>
<td>Mishra</td>
<td>24</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jai</td>
<td>Singh</td>
<td>32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Philip</td>
<td>Watson</td>
<td>41</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
Output-
9. Background color
We can add Background color to a table in HTML using the background-color property of CSS. For example,
Code-
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
table, th, td {
border: 1px solid black;
border-collapse: collapse;
background-color: #e0c780;
}
th, td {
padding: 20px;
}
th {
text-align: left;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table style="width:100%">
<caption style="font-weight: bold;font-size: 25px">Information</caption>
<tr>
<th>FirstName</th>
<th>LastName</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shreya</td>
<td>Mishra</td>
<td>24</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jai</td>
<td>Singh</td>
<td>32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Philip</td>
<td>Watson</td>
<td>41</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
Output-
Similarly, it is possible to add an image as the background.
10. Nesting Tables
Nesting means one within another i.e., two or more tables within a single table. For example,
Code-
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
#t1{
padding: 10px;
border-collapse: collapse;
height: 200px;
}
#t2{
padding: 10px;
border-collapse: collapse;
height: 200px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table id="t1" border="3">
<tr>
<td>
First Column
</td>
<td>
<table id="t2" border=3>
<tr>
<td>
First row
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
Second row
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
Output-
Table Header, Body, and Footer
We can define a table with a header and footer (that remains the same) and the body consisting of the main content. The tags are-
- <thead> – It is to create the header.
- <tbody> – This helps to create the main body part.
- <tfoot> – It is to create the footer.
A table can contain various <tbody> tags but only one <thead> and <tfoot>.
For example,
Code-
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Table</title>
<style>
table,tr,td{
padding: 10px;
border-collapse: collapse;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table border = "1" width = "100%">
<thead>
<tr>
<td colspan = "4">Header</td>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan = "4">Footer</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Data 1</td>
<td>Data 2</td>
<td>Data 3</td>
<td>Data 4</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</body>
</html>
Output-
Table Heading
The <th> tag is used to specify a heading to a table. By default, it is bold and centered. It can be used to replace the <td> tag.
Code-
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
#tab1{
border-collapse: collapse;
border-spacing: 3px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table id="tab1" border="1px" width="100%">
<tr>
<th>FirstName</th>
<th>LastName</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shreya</td>
<td>Mishra</td>
<td>24</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jai</td>
<td>Singh</td>
<td>32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Philip</td>
<td>Watson</td>
<td>41</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
Output-
Table Height and Width
The width and height attributes of a table can be specified using percentage or pixels.
Code-
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
#tab1{
border-collapse: collapse;
border-spacing: 3px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<table id="tab1" border="1px" width="400px" height="500px">
<tr>
<th>FirstName</th>
<th>LastName</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shreya</td>
<td>Mishra</td>
<td>24</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jai</td>
<td>Singh</td>
<td>32</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Philip</td>
<td>Watson</td>
<td>41</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
Output-
Summary
HTML Tables are of utmost importance for the systematic representation of data. In this article, we’ve looked at the creation of tables using the <table>, <tr> and <td> tags. We’ve also looked at the formatting of tables using CSS, such as setting alignment, padding, border-collapse, background, caption, column and row spanning, etc. We’ve also discussed the nesting of tables and the use of header and footers in a table.