Is it possible to center div with "absolute" parent?

Question

<style type="text/css">
.square {
    width:251px;
    height:207px; 
    border: 1px solid #d6d6d6;
    -webkit-box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,.1);
    -moz-box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,.1);
    box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,.1);
    margin: 10px;
    overflow: hidden;
    position: relative;
    background-color:#fff;
    /*display: inline-block;*/
    float: left;
    cursor: pointer;
    text-align: left;
}
.square img {
    display: block;
    margin: 0px;
    padding: 9px;
    width:234px !important;
    height:190px !important;
    position:absolute;
}
.square .caption {
    width:214px;
    height:170px;
    background:#000;
    color:#fff;
    padding:10px;
    position:absolute;
    left:9px;
    top:9px;
    /*display:none;*/
    filter:alpha(opacity=80);
    -moz-opacity:0.8;
    -khtml-opacity: 0.8;  
    opacity: 0.8;
}
.square .text{
    border:1px dotted #d6d6d6;
    margin: 10px;
    padding: 5px;
    vertical-align: center;
    max-height: 100px;
    overflow: auto;
}
.square .until {
    font-size: 12px;
    font-style: italic;
    position: absolute;
    right: 10px;
    bottom: 5px;
}
</style>

<div class="square">
    <a href="/" >
        <img width="234" height="190" src="files/2011/12/17.jpg"  alt="17" title="17"/>
    </a>
    <a href="/" rel="bookmark">
        <div class="caption">
            <h2>Half A Beatle</h2>
            <div class="text">lol</div>
            <div class="until">Until: 01 01 2012</div>
        </div>
    </a>
</div>

So is it possible to center div in current situation?

Answer 1

It's entirely possible with CSS alone, though you'd need to make some interesting changes that don't work in IE6 / 7.

If your parent container is set to display: table-cell and vertical-align: middle with the child element set to display: inline-block, you'll get a table-like effect where the content is centered in the middle.

See for yourself!