Develop Reference

Resizing table columns, that can be hidden

I have a standard table with option to hide columns and I want to use a plugin for re-sizing the width of the columns.
I tried with colResizable and resizableColumns but the things get messy when I hide a column and then try re-sizing.
Edit: My table:
<table id="mytable">
<thead>
<tr><th class="column1"></th>text 1 <th class="column2">text 2</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td class="column1"> cell00 </td> <td class="column2"> cell01 </td></tr>
<tr><td class="column1"> cell10 </td> <td class="column2"> cell11 </td></tr>
<tr><td class="column1"> cell20 </td> <td class="column2"> cell21 </td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Activating colResizable:
$("#mytable").colResizable({
liveDrag:false,
gripInnerHtml:"<div class='grip'></div>",
draggingClass:"dragging",
minWidth:50
});
Function for hidding / displaying columns:
function toggleColumn(index){
if(something){
$('.column'+index).hide();
}else{
$('.column'+index).show();
}
$("#"+tableID).colResizable({
disable:true
});
$("#"+tableID).colResizable({
disable:false,
liveDrag:false,
gripInnerHtml:"<div class='grip'></div>",
draggingClass:"dragging",
minWidth:50
});
}
After each toggle i restart colResizable, so it can get the new values.
The problem comes when I re-size any columns beyond the hidden ones.
I also need the option to set default widths to each column. All suggestions are welcomed.

colResizable 1.5 is compatible with hidden columns. You can download it on http://www.bacubacu.com/colresizable
if you want to change column visibility after colResizable is already activated, those are the steps you have to follow:
call colResizable (as usual)
before you perform any DOM modifications (such as hiding a column), destroy colresizable using disable:true
change columns visibility
call colResizable again

It looks like Datatables has everything you may want.
Check out this fiddle. You get everything: Show, hide columns, resized columns, and many more cool options. And using it is very easy
$(document).ready( function () {
$('#example').dataTable( {
"option": value;
} );
} );

option 1:
Use a class name on the TD. Give the class name in a style element that is added dynamically to the document. To resize, delete the style element from the document then add again with new specifics.
option 2:
Cycle through the rows collection of the table setting style.width on .cells[0], .cells[1], ....
To hide, set style.display to none, then to unhide, inline.

HTML / CSS: Same table-cell width across rows

I have this table that includes details about its items on the right and I need to have all the cells in a column of the exact same width as the longest one, just like in the screenshot below:
This works if I use a regular table, but now I need to add an accordion function on top of it, so when I click on a row, the row's associated content will slide down from under each one.
The only way to add those content divs between table rows is to wrap them in <tr> tags, which don't work with the slideDown() and slideUp() effects.
Now I recreated the table in a fiddle using <dl> tags, hoping to solve this using CSS somehow, but no such luck. Here's the link: http://jsfiddle.net/bbDYX/ - everything is working properly, except for the width issue.
The only solution I can think of now is going through each table-cell on each of the right hand columns with JavaScript and setting their width to the same value as the highest width cell. But I want to avoid that if I can.
Any ideas?

This is what you need: myjsfiddle
css:
.con1
{
width:100%;
height:50px;
background-color:#F3E2A9;
}
Html:
<table border='0' cellspacing='3' width='100%'>
<tr bgcolor='lightblue'>
<td><a href='#' class='open1' >Item</a></td>
<td>detail 1</td>
<td>detail 2</td>
<td>detail 3</td>
</tr>
<tr><td colspan='4'><div class='con1'>con1</div></td></tr>
<tr bgcolor='lightblue'>
<td><a href='#' class='open1' >Item</a></td>
<td>detail 1</td>
<td>detail 2</td>
<td>detail 3</td>
</tr>
<tr><td colspan='4'><div class='con1'>con1</div></td></tr>
<tr bgcolor='lightblue'>
<td><a href='#' class='open1' >Item</a></td>
<td>detail 1</td>
<td>detail 2</td>
<td>detail 3</td>
</tr>
<tr><td colspan='4'><div class='con1'>con1</div></td></tr>
</table>
Script:
$('.con1').hide();
$('.open1').click(function() {
$(this).parent().parent().next().find('.con1').slideToggle();
return false;
});
have fun styling it...
(tested)

You can't slide up the <tr> tag, but you can slide up the <td> tags. Not sure if this would work for you, but worth considering...
$("#somerow").find("td").slideToggle();

Ok, as I stated in a comment, I would keep the table and create a "custom widget" for the accordion-like effect.
The thing would be very simple, using jQuery UI animations etc.
For example, you can create a basic "description toggle" with just four lines of code:
$('.mytable .description').hide();
$('.mytable').on('click', '.title', function(){
$(this).next('.description').toggle();
});
(of course then you can customize the .toggle() by adding effect type, duration, ...)
Here it is a working example: http://jsfiddle.net/JAmFh/

Fix a table cell's height

So, what I want to do is have a list within a cell that has items added to it and after it reaches a certain height, stop it and have a scroll bar appear. How can I create a td with a fixed height? So far I have:
<tr>
<td valign='top' height="200px" border="1">
<ul id="travelList" align='left'></ul>
</td>
</tr>

I would put your <ul> inside a div that has overflow auto and max-height. Like this:
<tr>
<td valign="top" border="1">
<div style="overflow:auto;max-height:200px">
<ul id="travelList" align="left"></ul>
</div>
</td>
</tr>

try adding:
style="max-height:200px"
note: not tested, but this is where you'd start, so google CSS max-height to get more detail of how heights work.

How to make a compatible scrollable table with fixed header

I need the header to be fixed in the below table.
<thead>
<tr >
<td>tjj</td>
<td>Marketing Phjgjgh </td>
<td>Mhjgjg Program Description </td>
<td>Markjghjghgram type </td>
<td>CRM CjgjgjFlag </td>
<td>Brajghjjative </td>
<td>Marketijhgjhm Brand </td>
<td>Acjhgjting Program </td>
<td>CRMjgjhype</td>
<td>Sweejghjhkes</td>
<td>Oldgjjgjivity Bypass</td>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="alternate1">
<td align="center"></td>
<td>EShjgjARDI</td>
<td>eShojghjmports</td>
<td>4 - Datajgjgjg or gjghjCapture</td>
<td>Y</td>
<td>38 jgjhards</td>
<td>00 jghjhporate</td>
<td>jh</td>
<td>jh</td>
<td>jgh</td>
<td>ghjhg</td>
</tr>
---SNIP-just more rows---
I've tried many solutions, but they only work on some browsers. For example,
thead tr{
position:relative;
top: expression(offsetParent.scrollTop);
}
and <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=7,IE=9"> makes it work in only IE. The two-table concept does not work either.

Have you considered using jQgrid? I highly recommend it. It works in every browser I have ever tried and adds significant functionality.
If you don't want to do that, you may want to take their rendered approach. They have a table for the header and another for the body. The biggest hurdle with this approach is getting the columns to match width, but their approach works well and you can make the full result resize as needed.
You can see it in action here.

HTML table with fixed headers and a fixed column?

Is there a CSS/JavaScript technique to display a long HTML table such that the column headers stay fixed on-screen and the first coloumn stay fixed and scroll with the data.
I want to be able to scroll through the contents of the table, but to always be able to see the column headers at the top and the first column on the left.
If there is a jQuery plugin that would be great! If it helps the only browser I care about is Firefox.

Working example of link posted by pranav:
http://jsbin.com/nolanole/1/edit?html,js,output
FYI: Tested in IE 6, 7, & 8 (compatibility mode on or off), FF 3 & 3.5, Chrome 2. Not screen-reader-friendly (headers aren't part of content table).
EDIT 5/5/14: moved example to jsBin. This is old, but amazingly still works in current Chrome, IE, and Firefox (though IE and Firefox might require some adjustments to row heights).

The jQuery DataTables plug-in is one excellent way to achieve excel-like fixed column(s) and headers.
Note the examples section of the site and the "extras".
http://datatables.net/examples/
http://datatables.net/extras/
The "Extras" section has tools for fixed columns and fixed headers.
Fixed Columns
http://datatables.net/extras/fixedcolumns/
(I believe the example on this page is the one most appropriate for your question.)
Fixed Header
http://datatables.net/extras/fixedheader/
(Includes an example with a full page spreadsheet style layout: http://datatables.net/release-datatables/extras/FixedHeader/top_bottom_left_right.html)

I see this, although an old question, is a pretty good place to plug my own script:
http://code.google.com/p/js-scroll-table-header/
It just works with no configuration and is really easy to setup.

If what you want is to have the headers stay put while the data in the table scrolls vertically, you should implement a <tbody> styled with "overflow-y: auto" like this:
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Header1</th>
. . .
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody style="height: 300px; overflow-y: auto">
<tr>
. . .
</tr>
. . .
</tbody>
</table>
If the <tbody> content grows taller than the desired height, it will start scrolling. However, the headers will stay fixed at the top regardless of the scroll position.

In this answer there is also the best answer I found to your question:
HTML table with fixed headers?
and based on pure CSS.

I have created something which has fixed header, fixed footer, fixed left column and also fixed right column. This only works fine in IE. As most of the users are still using IE this can be helpful. Please find the code here in Scrollable Table. Please let me your suggestions.
Meanwhile I am working to fix columns in other browser. I will keep you posted. :-)

<script>
$(document).ready(function () {
$("#GridHeader table").html($('#<%= GridView1.ClientID %>').html());
$("#GridHeader table tbody .rows").remove();
$('#<%= GridView1.ClientID %> tr:first th').hide();
});
</script>
<div id="GridHeader">
<table></table>
</div>
<div style="overflow: auto; height:400px;">
<asp:GridView ID="GridView1" runat="server" />
</div>

Not quite perfect, but it got me closer than some of the top answers here.
Two different tables, one with the header, and the other, wrapped with a div with the content
<table>
<thead>
<tr><th>Stuff</th><th>Second Stuff</th></tr>
</thead>
</table>
<div style="height: 600px; overflow: auto;">
<table>
<tbody>
//Table
</tbody>
</table>
</div>

I know you can do it for MSIE and this limited example seems to work for firefox (not sure how extensible the technique is).

The first column has a scrollbar on the cell right below the headers
<table>
<thead>
<th> Header 1</th>
<th> Header 2</th>
<th> Header 3</th>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<div style="width: 50; height:30; overflow-y: scroll">
Tklasdjf alksjf asjdfk jsadfl kajsdl fjasdk fljsaldk
fjlksa djflkasjdflkjsadlkf jsakldjfasdjfklasjdflkjasdlkfjaslkdfjasdf
</div>
</td>
<td>
Hello world
</td>
<td> Hello world2
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

YUI DataTable
I don't know if YUI DT has this feature but I won't be surprised if it does.

Here is a good jQuery plugin, working in all browsers!
You have a fixed header table without fixing its width.
Check it: https://github.com/benjaminleouzon/tablefixedheader
Disclaimer: I am the author of the plugin.