Dreamweaver.MX.1002004.The.Missing.Manual [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

7-10 Nesting Tables in Standard View

By merging cells, you can create complex tables that offer precise control over your
layouts. If you use Layout mode to create a detailed, handcrafted design, you'll see
how Dreamweaver can generate complex tables using this technique.

But on the Web, simpler is usually better. Sometimes, instead of spending time and
effort chopping up and merging cells to create a certain look, the best solution is to
nest tablesplacing a table within a tableinstead of creating one complex table
(see Figure 7-25).

Since a table cell acts just like a mini document, you can put anything that you'd
normally place on a page inside a cellgraphics, text, links and, yes, even tables.
Simply click a cell and use one of the techniques described earlier to add and format
the table.

You can even place more than one table in a single cell. In Figure 7-25, for example, three tables are nested in the right-hand cell of the main table. They're in the flow of
the cell contents, separated into individual paragraphs. By compartmentalizing and
aligning information, nested tables make complex Web pages easier to both build
and edit.

The page at top looks complicated, but in
Dreamweaver, it breaks down to a series
of simple tables. The outside table (A) is a
one-row, three-column table with a series
of nested tables (B, C, D, E). The first cell
contains another basic table (B), which
has twelve rows and one column. Using
alternating colors for each cell helps set
off the information inside. The third column
of the primary table holds the main
content of the page; three tables (C, D, E)
are placed within the flow of the cell.

One nice trick: Use the Align property of a
table to create a "floating" sidebar within
the normal flow of text. The announcements
table here, for instance, is aligned
to the right, while text in the cell wraps
around it. Note that aligning a table like
this is only possible in Standard view.

Be aware that there are some limits to nesting tables. For example, it's best not to nest
more than three tables deep; in other words, a table inside of a table inside of a table.
While most browsers can recognize and draw tables that are more deeply nested,
such complexity can be difficult to render, resulting in pages that are slow to load,
especially on slower computers.