Html lists vs html tables

Rails
1

Okay, we know there are issues with html tables and Ajax. Is there
any good reason not to fake tables using CSS and nested lists? Then I
could using Ajax on any row or any part of the table right? Is there
some best-practice for doing this? Here is a sample of the html and
css I am currently using to fake a table…

ul#fake_table {margin: 0; padding: 0; border: 1px solid;} ul#fake_table ul.tr {margin: 0; padding:0; position: relative; border:1 px solid black; width: 100%; height:2em;} ul#fake_table ul.tr li {margin:0; padding:0; position:absolute; display:inline; height: 100%;} ul#fake_table ul.header {text-transofrm: uppercase; font- weight:bold;} ul#fake_table ul.tr li.col_a {left:0%;} ul#fake_table ul.tr li.col_b {left:33%;} ul#fake_table ul.tr li.col_c {left:66%;}

Fake Table

    • a
    • b
    • c
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 11
    • 12
    • 13
2

Just use divs, position & style them as you like with css, like float:
left.

3

I know this is accepted practice for layouts, but I am dealing with
tabular data. Do I still want to replace them with divs? Off hand it
seems to me that this would be more complex then doing it with nested
lists.

4

On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 8:15 AM, Garrett B.
[email protected] wrote:

Okay, we know there are issues with html tables and Ajax.

We do? What are they?

–
Hassan S. ------------------------ [email protected]

5

I would use divs here. Your css to get the li display right
is at least as abstract as anything you would have to do
with the divs.
My rough rule of thumb: If a specialized tag does the job,
use it. Otherwise go to divs right away. They’re the general
template tag. If you have a list, use li but not for anything
else.
Another point is, the list item will limit you, what other tags
you can put into them.

6

Thorsten M. wrote:

I would use divs here. Your css to get the li display right
is at least as abstract as anything you would have to do
with the divs.
My rough rule of thumb: If a specialized tag does the job,
use it. Otherwise go to divs right away. They’re the general
template tag. If you have a list, use li but not for anything
else.
Another point is, the list item will limit you, what other tags
you can put into them.

I use divs for just about everything, even true tabular data. For what I
do, it generally works out really well. The only thing that I’ve
struggled with is how to handle users changing the font size in the
browser. It could be that I just have a lot to learn about layouts and
CSS, but my lists using divs are all pretty much fixed widths (to get
the table effect). So when the font size is increased, text winds up
getting cut off. I’m exploring ways to generate CSS dynamically and
giving the user buttons to change the font size with instead of using
browser keystrokes. It’s a little more complicated, but it may work. I
may be mistaken, but I believe that if I were using tables, I wouldn’t
have as much difficulty with font resizing.

Peace.

7

On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 6:53 AM, Phillip K.
[email protected] wrote:

I use divs for just about everything, even true tabular data.

Why deliberately use non-semantic markup?

may be mistaken, but I believe that if I were using tables, I wouldn’t
have as much difficulty with font resizing.

…and then, worse, have to try to work around the problems created??

–
Hassan S. ------------------------ [email protected]

8

Garett,

Table for layout are generally considered bad but for data when data
is tabular you SHOULD be using a table.

Using divs, lists or other markup will only cloud the actual meaning
of the information you’re presenting and depending on the browser the
visitor is using you could very well render the information
unusable.

Table were meant for tabular data… so if you have tabular data use
them.

Btw, there are multiple tags dealing with tables which you will want
to look into (I mean part the TABLE, TR and TD). look into the THEAD,
TBODY, TFOOT, TH (for headings, to separate titles from data).

Jean-Marc
http://m2i3.com/blog/jean-marc

On Nov 3, 9:33 pm, Garrett B. [email protected]

9

On 4 Nov 2008, at 15:10, Jean-Marc (M2i3.com) wrote:

In particular people with screen readers/other accessibility devices.

Fred

10

Hassan S. wrote:

Why deliberately use non-semantic markup?

Because I find divs easier to work with, both in the formation and
implementation of a particular solution.

…and then, worse, have to try to work around the problems created??

And that is why I’m trying to rethink the path that I usually take to
solve a particular problem. It may be that most of what I’ve done did
not involve tabular data and I get into a particular pattern of using
divs, then when tabular data comes along, I don’t really think about
what I’m going to use to display the data. I very well could be
suffering from the swinging of the pendulum the other way: So many
people say that it’s an evil of incredible magnitude to use tables for
layouts, it becomes very easy to let it swing too far the other way and
not use tables at all. Some developers don’t have that problem, but some
do. Finding the middle ground is often a considerable struggle.

Peace.

11

I understand the difference between tables for layout and tables for
tabular data, but I am also running headlong into problems with tables
and AJAX. Am I just being really dense? I want to have a table where
I can I replace certain parts of it (edit a row in place when you
click on it, filter rows using a form that is in the first row of the
table, add rows to the table through a form that is the last row of
the table, etc.) To do this don’t I need a bunch of divs and forms
scattered through my table, which is not allowed?
Garrett

On Nov 4, 10:10 am, “Jean-Marc (M2i3.com)” [email protected]

12

If you’re using input fields to filter you don’t need to embed them
into a form… that way you can put the fields directly into some TD`s
(better… intject those directly with Javascript so they are not
present on the “non-interactive” version of your page).

On Nov 4, 12:08 pm, Garrett B. [email protected]

13

On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 9:08 AM, Garrett B.
[email protected] wrote:

To do this don’t I need a bunch of divs and forms
scattered through my table, which is not allowed?

No. You can manipulate the DOM of your page pretty much any way
you want using Javascript; it’s not dependent on particular tags.

–
Hassan S. ------------------------ [email protected]

14

On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 8:11 AM, Phillip K.
[email protected] wrote:

So many
people say that it’s an evil of incredible magnitude to use tables for
layouts, it becomes very easy to let it swing too far the other way and
not use tables at all.

A bizarre over-reaction I’ve noticed but never understood…

Finding the middle ground is often a considerable struggle.

Not sure I understand how using appropriate semantic tags for a
given content type is a struggle :slight_smile: but good luck.

–
Hassan S. ------------------------ [email protected]

15

On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 10:55 AM, Phillip K.
[email protected] wrote:

There are a lot of bizarre overreactions in the IT world.

So true. And I’m not trying to minimize the difficulty of keeping up
with rapidly evolving technologies and best practices. I doubt
there’s anyone who doesn’t feel that to some extent.

Plus, I am self-employed (as a contract programmer) and get
paid by the hour. I don’t have a lot of time to figure out the
semantically correct way to do everything.

I’ve been an independent consultant more or less full-time since
1996. My wife hates it when I refer to myself as “self-unemployed” :slight_smile:

Regardless, maintaining an acceptable work-life balance while also
pursuing self-driven (and -financed) professional development is
certainly a challenge.

Thanks for input, Hassan. Your comments are sometimes a bit on the
abrasive side, but when taken in the proper spirit, they can definitely
lead someone to give more thought to what they do.

Sorry, truly – never intentionally abrasive, and thank you for the
frank
feedback – but if my comments are even somewhat helpful I’m glad.

We all achieve mindfulness in our own way and at our own pace, eh? :slight_smile:

Best,

H*

Hassan S. ------------------------ [email protected]

16

Hassan S. wrote:

On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 8:11 AM, Phillip K.

A bizarre over-reaction I’ve noticed but never understood…

There are a lot of bizarre overreactions in the IT world. For those of
us who are not leaders but followers, it can sometimes be difficult to
filter out the garbage to get down to the valuable information. If lack
of time to properly try to digest something is taken into consideration,
it becomes that much more difficult to find the right path.

Finding the middle ground is often a considerable struggle.

Not sure I understand how using appropriate semantic tags for a
given content type is a struggle :slight_smile: but good luck.

Well, let me put it as simply as I can, though it certainly won’t be a
compliment to myself. Some of us aren’t quite a smart as others are.
There is a very long continuum of intelligence, and different people
find themselves on different parts of it. While I try to understand
something that you understand very easily, I just might not get it.
Something you find very easy to grasp, maybe I don’t. Sadly, this might
be something that is truly fundamental to web development. So be it. I
came to the web development party late, just a couple of years ago,
after many years of developing desktop applications. Some things I can
get a hold of, some things I can’t. I’ve also got a lot going on in my
life, which complicates things. Not trying to whine here, just pointing
out that one person’s mental capacity is not necessarily equal to
another’s. Plus, I am self-employed (as a contract programmer) and get
paid by the hour. I don’t have a lot of time to figure out the
semantically correct way to do everything. I love it when I can research
something while on the clock, but that is a luxury I don’t often have.
If I have a way that works, I use it and move on. Am I a hack? Maybe.
But I’ve got a family to take care, so I use what works, even if not
technically correct or the best way to do it.

Believe me when I say that I’m always looking out for better ways to do
things. That’s why I follow this forum. There is lots and lots of great
information here. I recognize my weaknesses and am not afraid to change
the way I do things when I find a better way. If I have time, that is.

Thanks for input, Hassan. Your comments are sometimes a bit on the
abrasive side, but when taken in the proper spirit, they can definitely
lead someone to give more thought to what they do.

Peace.