| Depr. | Version |
|---|---|
| No | HTML 3.2 |
| IE5.5+ | FF1+ | SA1.3+ | OP9.2+ | CH2+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partial | Full | Partial | Full | Partial |
Syntax
Description
Where information may be
relevant to multiple rows in the table, the cell containing that
information can be set to span these rows using the
rowspan attribute. In the
colspan example for this element, which is shown in
Figure 1, we saw a calendar that showed a
person’s work availability, with the days running along the x
axis (horizontally) and time slots running down the y axis
(vertically). If this table was turned through 90 degrees, it would convey
exactly the same information, only the availability would span rows rather
than columns. Compare the HTML example above with Figure 1.
When you’re introducing a rowspan
attribute, take care to ensure that every row adds up to same number of
cells. Some tables can become quite complicated with a mixture of colspan and rowspan attributes, and
this is not something that you’re advised to hand-code—that’s just asking
for trouble! It’s much better to use a WYSIWYG editor, such as
Dreamweaver, MS Expression, or something similar, which will allow you to
merge and unmerge cells very easily, and takes care of these attributes
for you.
Example
Here’s an extract from a calendar, with a person’s availability showing that half the day is free, and half is busy, as shown in Figure 1:
<tr>
<th>Evening</th>
<td rowspan="2">Free</td>
<td rowspan="2">Busy</td>
</tr>
Value
This attribute takes a number, which
should equal the number of rows that the spanned td
cell needs to cover. A special value of "0" can also be
used to inform the browser to span the cell to the end of all the rows
inside the current rowgroup (thead, tfoot, or tbody).
Compatibility
| Internet Explorer | Firefox | Safari | Opera | Chrome | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 4.0 | 9.2 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 2.0 |
| Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial | Full | Full | Full | Partial |
Browser support for
rowspan is generally good, with one exception: the
rendering of rowspan="0". Firefox and Opera are the only
browsers tested that correctly span the cell to which this attribute is
applied across all subsequent rows; the other browsers tested render the
cell in the first row only.
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