How to create fixed table header rows that include colspans?

Question

I have a large dynamic table created from database data. I need the column heading rows to remain fixed and scroll the rows an necessary.

I have tried numerous scripts all over the web trying to get this to work properly. I'd like to keep this simple and easy on browser, since some target computers are rather lame.

Here is what I'm working with:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Sample</title>
  </head>

  <body>
    <br><br><br><br>

    <table id="A" border="0" width="95%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" class="base">
      <tr bgcolor='gray'>
        <td>
          <br><br><br>
          need the blue column heading rows to remain fixed, and scroll the green rows:<br>

    <table id="XYZ" border="1" width="625" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" class="base">
      <thead>

        <tr>
          <th width="50px" bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1a</th>
          <th width="50px" bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1b</th>
          <th width="75px" bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1c</th>
          <th width="100px" style="border-left:medium solid black;" colspan="3" bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" align="center" valign="middle"><b>Col 2</th>
          <th width="100px" style="border-left:medium solid black;" colspan="1" bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" align="center" valign="middle"><b>Col 3</th>
          <th width="150px" style="border-left:medium solid black;" colspan="5" bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" align="center" valign="middle"><b>Col 4<br>more<br>more</th>
          <th width="100px" style="border-left:medium solid black;" colspan="1" bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" align="center" valign="middle"><b>Col 5</th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" colspan="3" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1</th>
            <th bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">A</th>
            <th bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" align="center" valign="middle">B</th>
            <th bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" align="center" valign="middle">C</th>
            <th bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center">1</th>
            <th bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">4-a</th>
            <th bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" align="center" valign="middle">4-b</th>
            <th bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" align="center" valign="middle">4-c</th>
            <th bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" align="center" valign="middle">4-d</th>
            <th bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" align="center" valign="middle">4-e</th>
            <th bgcolor="DeepSkyBlue" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center">Z</th>
        </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
        <tr>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" colspan="3" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1<br>more</td>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">A</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">B</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">C</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center">1</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">4-a</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-b</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-c</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-d</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-e</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center"><input type="text" NAME="b[1]" size="3"></th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1a</td>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" colspan="2" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1b+c</td>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">A</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">B</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">C</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center">1</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">4-a</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-b</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-c</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-d</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-e</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center"><input type="text" NAME="b[2]" size="3"></th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" colspan="2" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1a+b</td>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1c</td>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">A</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">B</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">C</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center">1</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">4-a</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-b</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-c</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-d</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-e</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center"><input type="text" NAME="b[3]" size="3"></th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1a</td>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" colspan="2" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1b+c<br>more</td>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">A</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">B</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">C</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center">1</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">4-a</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-b</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-c</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-d</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-e</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center"><input type="text" NAME="b[4]" size="3"></th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" colspan="2" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1a+b</td>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1c</td>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">A</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">B</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">C</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center">1</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">4-a</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-b</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-c</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-d</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-e</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center"><input type="text" NAME="b[5]" size="3"></th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1a</td>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" colspan="2" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1b+c</td>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">A</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">B</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">C</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center">1</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">4-a</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-b</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-c</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-d</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-e</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center"><input type="text" NAME="b[6]" size="3"></th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" colspan="2" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1a+b</td>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1c</td>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">A</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">B</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">C</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center">1</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">4-a</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-b</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-c</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-d</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-e</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center"><input type="text" NAME="b[7]" size="3"></th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1a</td>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" colspan="2" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1b+c<br>more<br>more</td>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">A</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">B</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">C</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center">1</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">4-a</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-b</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-c</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-d</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-e</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center"><input type="text" NAME="b[8]" size="3"></th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" colspan="2" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1a+b</td>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1c</td>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">A</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">B</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">C</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center">1</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">4-a</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-b</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-c</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-d</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-e</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center"><input type="text" NAME="b[9]" size="3"></th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1a</td>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" colspan="2" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1b+c<br>more<br>more</td>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">A</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">B</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">C</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center">1</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">4-a</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-b</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-c</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-d</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-e</th>
            <td bgcolor="LimeGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center"><input type="text" NAME="b[8]" size="3"></th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" colspan="2" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1a+b</td>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">Col 1c<br>more<br>more<br>more<br>more<br>more<br>more<br>more<br>more<br>more<br>more</td>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">A</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">B</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">C</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center">1</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center" valign="middle">4-a</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-b</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-c</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-d</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" align="center" valign="middle">4-e</th>
            <td bgcolor="PaleGreen" style="border-left:medium solid black;" align="center"><input type="text" NAME="b[9]" size="3"></th>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>

          <br><br><br><br>
        </td>
      </tr>
    </table>

    <br><br><br><br><br><br>

  </body>

</html>

Nope · Accepted Answer

You can have the header row(s) in a separate table to the data rows using the same colgroup settings in both.

The below works fine in IE9, FF14.01 and Chrome 20.0.1132.57.

<table border="1">
    <colgroup>
        <td width="100px">Column 1</td>
        <td width="100px">Column 2</td>
        <td width="100px">Column 3</td>
        <td width="16px" style="background-color: gray;"><td>
    </colgroup>
</table>
<div style="position: absolute; height:75px; overflow-y:scroll; overflow-x:auto">
    <table border="1">
        <colgroup>
            <td width="100px"></td>
            <td width="100px"></td>
            <td width="100px"></td>
        </colgroup>
        <tbody>
            <tr>
                <td>Row 1 - Cell 1</td>
                <td>Row 1 - Cell 2</td>
                <td>Row 1 - Cell 3</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                // rest omitted, see DEMO for full table
            </tr>
        </tbody>
    </table>
</div>

See DEMO

Edit -- August 3rd 2012

The only way I was able to get it to work was with a bit of trickery alright. I separated the header as in the first example. But due to the extremly custom multiple different widths in the header, the most reliable way, keeping everything aligned, was to copy the th rows also into the second table but without text inside. That made them "invisible" but forced the columns in the second table to align as expected.

See DEMO

It feels a bit hackish and I'm sure there is a proper solution but it seems to work well in the meantime.

Edit -- August 7th 2012

Is there any way to "box" this entire table construct up in up 100% of the screen width and change the height for height:150px; to something more dynamic, like $(window).height()-200

There surely is a more elegant way of doing it but I was able to make the table more dynamic.

The width was less of an issue as I capped the toal width at about 95% and hard-capped the table(s) at a min-width: 600px; for the header and a min-width: 584px for the body, thus ensuring the table stays aligned at all times.

For the dynamic height I used jQuery, binding a resize function to the windows resize event:

$(document).ready(function() {
    resizeTableHeight();

    $(window).on("resize.resizeTableHeight", function() {
        resizeTableHeight();
    });
});

function resizeTableHeight() {
    var headerHeight = $("#tableHeaderContainer").height();
    var documentHeight = $(document).height();
    var spacingHeight = 50;

    $("#tableBodyContainer").height(documentHeight - headerHeight - spacingHeight);
}

When you open the fiddle the original height of the fiddle window will most likely be to high to see the dynamics. Just move the divider and shrink the view to see the re-sizing at work.

Do not forget to unbind that event when you are not showing the grid as it still will execute on resize every time.

See dynamic-grid DEMO

You will notice some styles are in the css (top-right) in the fiddle while others are not. My CSS is not very strong and some styles when I moved them from the elements into the CSS area started to be irgnored. I moved into CSS what I could and left the rest hard-coded not to break it. I'm sure someone working with CSS everyday will be able to sort that out for you.

I also added some ids to some elements for CSS and for the jQuery as required.
I suppose for the CSS it can use classes instead. I leave that to you.

Summary
I'm sure there is a way more elegant way to achieve what you want and probably some script-wiz got a plugin for it. Until then this seems to work. What could also happen is that the columns start miss-aligning close to 600 pixels again if a lot of long data is entered into the columns but as stated, this is a very personalised solution and you may need to add some dynamic calculations for some widths with jQuery over time.

Edit -- August 9th 2012

Regarding setting the width of a td I mentioned in the comments. I fixed the issue with the long text in the first column using the classes I mentioned. Works in IE, FF and Chrome.

See DEMO

I used the logic mentioned in the comments. You might find a much better naming convention. I simply used the main-column+ a on/off switch per sub-column. this works out as follows for column 1 styles:

.col01-000{
    width: 0px;
}
.col01-001{
    width: 75px;
}
.col01-010, .col01-100{
    width: 50px;
}
.col01-011, .col01-101{
    width: 125px;
}
.col01-110{
    width: 100px;
}

I have assigned the first td a class of col01-100 which means 50px.
The second td has now a class of col01-011, indicating this td still belongs into the first main column but has a width of sub-column 2 (50px) and 3(75px). This adds up to 125px.

I hope this makes sense but if not I gladly continue the discussion in a chat and work the measurements out with you if that is something you want to apply.

So far I can see the measurements to be:

Col01

Col1 = colspan 3 over 175px
3 Sub-columns breaking 175px down as follows: 50px-50px-75px

Col02

Col2 = colspan 3 over 100px
3 Sub-columns breaking 100px down as follows: 40px-30px-30px

Col03

Col3 = colspan 1 over 100px
No sub-columns

Col04

Col4 = colspan 5 over 150px
5 sub-columns breaking 150px down as follows: 30px-30px-30px-30px-30px

Col05

Col5 = colspan 1 over 100px
No sub-columns

Selvakumar Arumugam · Answer

Edit: Fix for fixed position on window resize:

http://jsfiddle.net/eReBn/13/

Complete Code:

$(function() {
    (function($) {
        $.fn.fTable = function(o) {

            var tableTmpl = '<table id="XYZ_fixed" border="1" width="625" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" class="base"></table>';

            this.wrap('<div class="fTable_container" />');
            var fc = this.parent();
            fc.css('width', this.width() + 18);

            this.wrap('<div class="fTable_rContainer" />');
            var rc = this.parent();
            rc.css('height', o.height);

            var fTable = $(tableTmpl);
            fTable
             .addClass('fTable_fixedHead')
             .html(this.find('thead').clone())
             .prependTo(rc);

            $(window).on('scroll resize', function () {
                console.log(isScroll());
                if (isScroll()) {
                    fTable.css('left', $(this).scrollLeft() * -1);
                } else {
                    fTable.css('left', '');
                }
            });
        };

        function isScroll() {
           var root= document.compatMode=='BackCompat'?
               document.body : document.documentElement;
            return root.scrollWidth>root.clientWidth;
        }

    })(jQuery);

    $('#XYZ').fTable({
        height: 300
    });
});

Edit: Try below solution.. since you were ok to manually add styles and adjust table.

DEMO: http://jsfiddle.net/eReBn/12/embedded/result/

Manual:

a. Copy below CSS to your style sheet

.fTable_rContainer {
    position: relative;
    overflow: auto;    
    height: 300px; /* Height of the table */
}

.fTable_container {
    width: 643px;  /* Total width of the table you set + 18px (scroll size) */
}

.fTable_fixedHead {
    position: fixed; 
}

b. Wrap the Table with div class="fTable_container"

c. Copy the thead part of the original table and move to a new table as in DEMO.

d. Add class fTable_fixedHead to the new table

Automated with some scripts:

DEMO: http://jsfiddle.net/eReBn/11/embedded/result/

I tried to solve it using 2 tables,

Original table (untouched)
Fixed Header table(absolute positioned) over the original table

Check it out and let me know if you like it.

DEMO

Tested in Firefox & Chrome. [Will test on other browsers later today]

Full code @ http://jsfiddle.net/eReBn/7/

JS:

$(function() {
   (function($) {
     $.fn.fTable = function(o) {
        /* Preserve the attr list from original table    */
        var el = this[0], arr = [], it;
        for (var i = 0, attrs = el.attributes, l = attrs.length; i < l; i++) {

          it = attrs.item(i);

          if (it.nodeName == 'id') {
           arr.push(it.nodeName + '="' + it.nodeValue + '_fixed"');
          } else {
           arr.push(it.nodeName + '="' + it.nodeValue + '"');
          }
        }

        var tableTmpl = '<table ' + arr.join(' ') + '></table>';

        /* Wrap it inside div's */
        this.wrap('<div class="fTable_container" />');
        this.wrap('<div class="fTable_rContainer" />');

        var rc = this.parent();

        /* Clone the thead and add it to the fixed table head */
        $(tableTmpl)
          .addClass('fTable_fixedHead')
          .html(this.find('thead').clone())
          .prependTo(rc);

        /* Position the fixed head table on scroll */
        rc.scroll(function() {
          rc.find('.fTable_fixedHead').css('top', $(this).scrollTop());
        });

        var _that = this;
        rc.find('.fTable_fixedHead').css('left', _that.aPosition().left);

        /* Position the left on resize*/
        $(window).resize(function() {
          rc.find('.fTable_fixedHead').css('left', _that.aPosition().left);
        });
     };

     /* Position fix for webkit browsers */
     jQuery.fn.aPosition = function() {
        thisLeft = this.offset().left;
        thisTop = this.offset().top;
        thisParent = this.parent();
        parentLeft = thisParent.offset().left;
        parentTop = thisParent.offset().top;
        return {
           left: thisLeft - parentLeft,
           top: thisTop - parentTop
        }
     }
  })(jQuery);

});

Usage:

$('#XYZ').fTable({
    height: 300
});

How to create fixed table header rows that include colspans?

Tags:

KM.

2 Answers

Nope

Selvakumar Arumugam

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How to create fixed table header rows that include colspans?

Tags:

KM.

2 Answers

Nope

Selvakumar Arumugam

Related questions

Recent Activity

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