Re: Q about HTML tables and compatibility

["Jeanne A. E. DeVoto" <jaed -at- BEST -dot- COM>]

At 6:16 PM -0700 4/6/98, Ian Ferguson wrote:
>I'm writing a table that has five columns and two rows. The bottom row
>has a column span of 5, and I've put a graphic in it. In the top row,
>I've put a small blank GIF in column 1, then text in the next four
>cells. By tweaking the width attribute of the <TD>'s, I can get the
>text to line up with the graphic.

I take it you mean you want the text to line up with a specific point
within the graphic, not with its edge, since otherwise these gyrations
would be unnecessary.

On possibility is to split the graphic at the point where you want the text
to start. Lose the "small blank GIF" and put the first part of the graphic
in column 1, the rest in a colSpan 4 cell, and insert your text as you
describe above.

Another is to place the text in a 4-column table with width equal to the
number of pixels you want it to span, and right-align the table, leaving
the graphic out of the table altogether. (Of course, you will need to
right-align the graphic also, to make sure that table and graphic line up
together. If you want the text-plus-graphic unit to be left- or
center-aligned instead, you can enclose the 4-column text table and the
graphic inside another table, and give that enclosing table the desired
overall alignment.)

(Some viewers can be expected to use a font/size large enough that 1/5 of a
normal graphic's width is too short a line length - too few characters - to
read comfortably. I assume you have some overriding reason for going out of
your way to make the page harder to use for such viewers?)

--
jeanne a. e. devoto ~ jaed -at- best -dot- com
http://www.best.com/~jaed/
Morning people may be respected, but night people are feared.