Col

Table Column Support Key: [2\|3\|3.2\|4] [X1\|X1.1] [*IE3A1\|M\|N6B1*\|O4]	What is it? Attributes Tag Example	Parent/Content Model Tips & Tricks Browser Peculiarities
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Quick Statistics
End Tag:		Omitted
Standards Details:		In all HTML 4.x/XHTML DTDs
XHTML Modules:		Tables
CSS 'display' Type:		"table-column"
CSS Mapping:		NA
Default Rendering:		NA
Official Docs:		HTML 4.x, XHTML 1.1

What is it?: COL is used to define the generic properties of a table column rather than using the traditional row structure (TR, THEAD, TBODY and TFOOT.) COL is used within a COLGROUP grouping structure to define properties of a single column within the group (attributes specified in the COL element override those found in the parent COLGROUP structure.) It can also be used at the same table structure nesting level as COLGROUP to define properties for single columns (those not participating in a column grouping.)

Common Attributes
%Core%: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4B1|M|N|O7]
%Accessibility%: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE|M|N|O]
%Events%: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE|M|N|O]
%Language%: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4|M|N|O]
Specific Attributes
Align
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4B1|M|N|O7]: Standards Details: In all HTML 4.x/XHTML DTDs; Required? No; Description:
This controls the horizontal alignment of text within the current column.; Values: Left | Center | Right | Justify | Char
BGColor
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4|M|N|O]: Standards Details: NA; Required? No; Description:
This attribute sets the background color to be used for the current table column.; Values: The standard HTML color specification methods apply.
Char
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE|M|N|O]: Standards Details: In all HTML 4.x/XHTML DTDs; Required? No; Description:
This attribute specifies a character in the cell content to be used to align the data in each cell of the current column (the first occurrence should be used.) The default value for this attribute is the decimal point character for the current specified language.; Values: CDATA. [A case-sensitive character within the current browser character set.]
Charoff
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE|M|N|O]: Standards Details: In all HTML 4.x/XHTML DTDs; Required? No; Description:
This attribute specifies the spacing offset to the first occurrence of the alignment character (specified by the CHAR attribute) on each line of cells in the current column. The direction of the offset is determined by the current text direction (set with the DIR attribute or the BDO element.); Values: CDATA. [Integers indicating pixel offset values.]
Span
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE3A1|M|N6B1|O7]: Standards Details: In all HTML 4.x/XHTML DTDs; Required? No; Description:
This attribute specifies how many columns the current column specification applies to (default value is 1. The number of total columns in a table should equal the number of cells specified later in the table structure, but it is possible to specify a SPAN value of 0, which indicates that the current COL element spans all remaining columns. Using the SPAN element does not actually DEFINE a column grouping, it is rather a method used to more easily specify shared column attributes. Note: This attribute was actually added in HTML 4.01 and not HTML 4. In HTML 4, the functionality of SPAN was indicated using an attribute called REPEAT (not listed here) that basically served the same purpose.; Values: Positive integers [DEFAULT: 1]
VAlign
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4B1|M|N|O4]: Standards Details: In all HTML 4.x/XHTML DTDs; Required? No; Description:
This attribute specifies the vertical alignment of cell contents relative to the cell boundaries for all cells in the current column.; Values: Top | Middle | Bottom | Baseline
Width
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE3A1|M|N6B1|O6]: Standards Details: In all HTML 4.x/XHTML DTDs; Required? No; Description:
Specifies the overall width of the specified column.; Values: CDATA. [Specified in pixels, a percentage of the table width, or a relative measure given as a multiple (eg "1*","2*", etc) of other COL widths. The special value "0*" should indicate that the minimum width necessary be used to render the column and no more.]

Example: <table border="2" align="left" cellpadding="5"
bordercolor="#ff0000" cols="4" frame="vsides"
rules="cols" width="75%">
<colgroup>
   <col align="right" />
</colgroup>
<colgroup>
   <col align="center" />
   <col align="center" />
   <col align="center" />
</colgroup>
<caption align="top">Juggling Capabilities of Waterfront Performers</caption>
<thead>
      <tr> <th>Juggler</th> <th>Pins</th> <th>Bowling Balls</th> <th>Flaming Baseballs</th> </tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
      <tr> <td>Bob</td> <td>5</td> <td>2</td> <td>5</td> </tr>
      <tr> <td>Larry</td> <td>2</td> <td>7!!!</td> <td>NA</td> </tr>
      <tr> <td>Julie the Great</td> <td>1</td> <td>2</td> <td>20<br />(She IS great!)</td> </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Parent Model: <colgroup> | <table>
Content Model: This element does not accept any content.

Tips & Tricks

The Table model (even the Simple Table Model) is easily the most complex markup structure in HTML. If you have other general questions about this structure see the Table Overview.
Note: At the risk of repeating what I just mentioned twice, it must be stressed that the SPAN attribute was added in HTML 4.01 and was not present in HTML 4. In HTML 4, the functionality of SPAN was indicated using an attribute called REPEAT (not listed here) that basically served the same purpose.

Browser Peculiarities

Nothing to Report

Table Column