COLSPAN and ROWSPAN

Table cells can span across more than one column or row. The attributes COLSPAN ("how many across") and ROWSPAN ("how many down") indicate how many columns or rows a cell should take up.

For example, we might want to create header cells for each department in our table of names and phone numbers. In this table, the header cells in the first and fifth rows span across two columns to indicate the department for each group of names.

<TABLE BORDER=2 CELLPADDING=4>
<TR> <TH COLSPAN=2>Production</TH> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Raha Mutisya</TD>      <TD>1493</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Shalom Buraka</TD>     <TD>3829</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Brandy Davis</TD>      <TD>0283</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TH COLSPAN=2>Sales</TH> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Claire Horne</TD>      <TD>4827</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Bruce Eckel</TD>       <TD>7246</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Danny Zeman</TD>       <TD>5689</TD> </TR>
</TABLE>

which gives us:

Production
Raha Mutisya	1493
Shalom Buraka	3829
Brandy Davis	0283
Sales
Claire Horne	4827
Bruce Eckel	7246
Danny Zeman	5689

It often happens with multiple-column cells that a little color helps to set off the headers, giving the table a more visually organized look. Let's add some color to the headers using BGCOLOR.

<TABLE BORDER=2 CELLPADDING=4>
<TR> <TH COLSPAN=2 BGCOLOR="#99CCFF">Production</TH> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Raha Mutisya</TD>      <TD>1493</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Shalom Buraka</TD>     <TD>3829</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Brandy Davis</TD>      <TD>0283</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TH COLSPAN=2 BGCOLOR="#99CCFF">Sales</TH> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Claire Horne</TD>      <TD>4827</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Bruce Eckel</TD>       <TD>7246</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Danny Zeman</TD>       <TD>5689</TD> </TR>
</TABLE>

which gives this table:

Production
Raha Mutisya	1493
Shalom Buraka	3829
Brandy Davis	0283
Sales
Claire Horne	4827
Bruce Eckel	7246
Danny Zeman	5689

ROWSPAN sets how many rows a cell spans. ROWSPAN can get a little confusing because it requires you to think through how the cell affects the rows after the row it starts in. It's particularly useful in this situation to add borders to the table during the design process, even if the table won't ultimately use borders.

This table code creates two header cells which span three rows each:

<TABLE BORDER=2 CELLPADDING=4>
<TR>
    <TH ROWSPAN=3 BGCOLOR="#99CCFF">Production</TH>
    <TD>Raha Mutisya</TD> <TD>1493</TD>
    </TR>
<TR>
    <TD>Shalom Buraka</TD> <TD>3829</TD> 
    </TR>
<TR>
    <TD>Brandy Davis</TD> <TD>0283</TD>
    </TR>
<TR>
    <TH ROWSPAN=3 BGCOLOR="#99CCFF">Sales</TH>
    <TD>Claire Horne</TD> <TD>4827</TD>
    </TR>
<TR>
    <TD>Bruce Eckel</TD> <TD>7246</TD>
    </TR>
<TR>
    <TD>Danny Zeman</TD> <TD>5689</TD>
    </TR>
</TABLE>

which creates

Production	Raha Mutisya	1493
	Shalom Buraka	3829
	Brandy Davis	0283
Sales	Claire Horne	4827
	Bruce Eckel	7246
	Danny Zeman	5689

Note that in the two rows after each header, the first cell in the row ends up in the second column because the first column is taken up by the multi-column cell.