Html – TD column width value not working with fixed table-layout

csshtml

I have following table structure:

<table class="tableStyle">
<tr>
    <td width="20px">col1</td>
    <td width="50px">col2</td>
    <td width="50px">col3</td>
    <td width="15px">col4</td>
    <td width="25px">col5</td>
    <td width="20px">col6</td>
    <td width="20px">col7</td>
    <td width="20px">col8</td>
</tr>
</table>

CSS class definition is:

.tableStyle{
table-layout:fixed;
margin: 0 auto; width: 960px;
}

The problem is that all columns are displaying with equal width despite the fact that i am explicitly defining each column width.

Why are above width values are not working? Any suggestion to make it work with fixed table layout?

Best Answer

The "archaic" width attribute does not take a unit, it expects something like width="20".

However, the "most correct" way to define a table is like so:

<table>
    <colgroup>
        <col style="width:20px" />
        <col style="width:50px" span="2" />
        <col style="width:15px" />
        <col style="width:25px" />
        <col style="width:20px" span="3" />
    </colgroup>
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <td>col1</td>
            <td>col2</td>
            <td>col3</td>
            <td>col4</td>
            <td>col5</td>
            <td>col6</td>
            <td>col7</td>
            <td>col8</td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

This works especially well for large tables, because the browser only needs to read the <colgroup> element to know exactly how the entire table should be laid out, without needing to calculate widths based on individual cell styles.

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