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Table Borders: Borders Between Groups of Rows

Sometimes the table looks better if there are borders only between groups of rows. To do this we'll use some HTML 4.0 markup added just for that purpose. Note that currently only MSIE supports borders between groups of rows.
First we'll add a RULES attribute to the <TABLE ...> tag. We'll set RULES to GROUPS to indicate that the borders should go only between groups, not between every cell:

<TABLE CELLPADDING=6 RULES=GROUPS  FRAME=BOX>

Now that we've indicated that the borders should go between groups we need to designate the groups themselves. To designate groups of rows we'll use the <THEAD ...>, <TBODY ...>, and <TFOOT ...> tags. These three tags indicate different major sections of the table. <THEAD ...> designates the head section which is usually where you put column headers. <TBODY ...> indicates the main body of the table. <TFOOT ...> sets the bottom section where you put totals and other summary information.
So, for example, the following code creates a table header section with the weekday, date, manager and quantity. The table body section has several rows of data and is followed by a table footer. HTML 4.0 compliant visual browsers will render the table with borders after the first row and before the last row.

<TABLE CELLPADDING=6 RULES=GROUPS  FRAME=BOX>

<THEAD>
<TR> <TH>Weekday</TH> <TH>Date</TH> <TH>Manager</TH> <TH>Qty</TH> </TR>
</THEAD>

<TBODY>
<TR> <TD>Mon</TD> <TD>09/11</TD> <TD>Kelsey</TD>  <TD>639</TD>  </TR>
<TR> <TD>Tue</TD> <TD>09/12</TD> <TD>Lindsey</TD> <TD>596</TD>  </TR>
<TR> <TD>Wed</TD> <TD>09/13</TD> <TD>Randy</TD>   <TD>1135</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Thu</TD> <TD>09/14</TD> <TD>Susan</TD>   <TD>1002</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Fri</TD> <TD>09/15</TD> <TD>Randy</TD>   <TD>908</TD>  </TR>
<TR> <TD>Sat</TD> <TD>09/16</TD> <TD>Lindsey</TD> <TD>371</TD>  </TR>
<TR> <TD>Sun</TD> <TD>09/17</TD> <TD>Susan</TD>   <TD>272</TD>  </TR>
</TBODY>

<TFOOT>
<TR> <TH ALIGN=LEFT COLSPAN=3>Total</TH> <TH>4923</TH> </TR>
</TFOOT>

</TABLE>

which gives us this table:

Weekday	Date	Manager	Qty
Mon	09/11	Kelsey	639
Tue	09/12	Lindsey	596
Wed	09/13	Randy	1135
Thu	09/14	Susan	1002
Fri	09/15	Randy	908
Sat	09/16	Lindsey	371
Sun	09/17	Susan	272
Total			4923

There should only be one <THEAD ...> and one <TFOOT ...>. (You can also leave them out altogether.) However, you can have multiple <TBODY ...> sections. Borders will go between the <TBODY ...> sections. So, for example, this table has three <TBODY ...> sections:

<TABLE RULES=GROUPS FRAME=BOX>

<THEAD>
<TR> <TH>Weekday</TH> <TH>Date</TH>  <TH>Manager</TH> </TR>
</THEAD>

<TBODY>
<TR> <TD>Monday</TD>    <TD>09/11/2000</TD> <TD>Kelsey</TD>  </TR>
<TR> <TD>Tuesday</TD>   <TD>09/12/2000</TD> <TD>Lindsey</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Wednesday</TD> <TD>09/13/2000</TD> <TD>Randy</TD>   </TR>
<TR> <TD>Thursday</TD>  <TD>09/14/2000</TD> <TD>Susan</TD>   </TR>
<TR> <TD>Friday</TD>    <TD>09/15/2000</TD> <TD>Randy</TD>   </TR>
<TR> <TD>Saturday</TD>  <TD>09/16/2000</TD> <TD>Lindsey</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Sunday</TD>    <TD>09/17/2000</TD> <TD>Susan</TD>   </TR>
</TBODY>

<TBODY>
<TR> <TD>Monday</TD>    <TD>09/18/2000</TD> <TD>Melody</TD>     </TR>
<TR> <TD>Tuesday</TD>   <TD>09/19/2000</TD> <TD>Christiane</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Wednesday</TD> <TD>09/20/2000</TD> <TD>Symphony</TD>   </TR>
<TR> <TD>Thursday</TD>  <TD>09/21/2000</TD> <TD>Starflower</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Friday</TD>    <TD>09/22/2000</TD> <TD>Miko</TD>       </TR>
<TR> <TD>Saturday</TD>  <TD>09/23/2000</TD> <TD>Cleo</TD>       </TR>
<TR> <TD>Sunday</TD>    <TD>09/24/2000</TD> <TD>Alyx</TD>       </TR>
</TBODY>

<TBODY>
<TR> <TD>Monday</TD>    <TD>09/25/2000</TD> <TD>Dancing Star</TD> </TR>
<TR> <TD>Tuesday</TD>   <TD>09/26/2000</TD> <TD>Dawn</TD>         </TR>
<TR> <TD>Wednesday</TD> <TD>09/27/2000</TD> <TD>Josh</TD>         </TR>
<TR> <TD>Thursday</TD>  <TD>09/28/2000</TD> <TD>Ryan</TD>         </TR>
<TR> <TD>Friday</TD>    <TD>09/29/2000</TD> <TD>Mary Kay</TD>     </TR>
<TR> <TD>Saturday</TD>  <TD>09/30/2000</TD> <TD>Hallie</TD>       </TR>
<TR> <TD>Sunday</TD>    <TD>10/01/2000</TD> <TD>Paul</TD>         </TR>
</TBODY>

</TABLE>

which gives us this table:

Weekday	Date	Manager
Monday	09/11/2000	Kelsey
Tuesday	09/12/2000	Lindsey
Wednesday	09/13/2000	Randy
Thursday	09/14/2000	Susan
Friday	09/15/2000	Randy
Saturday	09/16/2000	Lindsey
Sunday	09/17/2000	Susan
Monday	09/18/2000	Melody
Tuesday	09/19/2000	Christiane
Wednesday	09/20/2000	Symphony
Thursday	09/21/2000	Starflower
Friday	09/22/2000	Miko
Saturday	09/23/2000	Cleo
Sunday	09/24/2000	Alyx
Monday	09/25/2000	Dancing Star
Tuesday	09/26/2000	Dawn
Wednesday	09/27/2000	Josh
Thursday	09/28/2000	Ryan
Friday	09/29/2000	Mary Kay
Saturday	09/30/2000	Hallie
Sunday	10/01/2000	Paul

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Table Borders: Between Groups of Columns

In the previous example we set borders between groups of rows. In this page we'll set borders between groups of columns. Like in the previous example, we indicate that the table should have borders between groups with the RULES attribute in the <TABLE ...> tag:

<TABLE BORDER=1 CELLPADDING=4 RULES=GROUPS FRAME=BOX>

To set which columns are grouped together we use the <COLGROUP ...> tag. <COLGROUP ...> takes a little getting used to because it doesn't actually go around any table cells. It goes at the top of the table code where it sets rules about the table columns including which are grouped together. <COLGROUP SPAN="..."> to indicates how many columns are in each group. If you leave SPAN out then it is assumed the group has just one column. So, for example, the following code says that the first column is in a group by itself and the three after that are together in a group. Notice that <COLGROUP ...> requires an end tag. Borders will go only between the groups:

<TABLE BORDER=1 CELLPADDING=4 RULES=GROUPS FRAME=BOX>

<COLGROUP></COLGROUP>
<COLGROUP SPAN=3></COLGROUP>

which gives us this table:

Weekday	Date	Manager	Qty
Monday	09/11	Kelsey	639
Tuesday	09/12	Lindsey	596
Wednesday	09/13	Randy	1135
Thursday	09/14	Susan	1002
Friday	09/15	Randy	908
Saturday	09/16	Lindsey	371
Sunday	09/17	Susan	272