3.1.1.3.8 simpletable

The <simpletable> element is used for tables that are regular in structure and do not need a caption. Choose the simple table element when you want to show information in regular rows and columns. For example, multi-column tabular data such as phone directory listings or parts lists are good candidates for simpletable. Another good use of simpletable is for information that seems to beg for a three-part definition list; the keycol attribute may be used to indicate which column represents the "key" or term-like column of your structure.

This close match of simpletable to tabular, regular data makes simpletable suitable as the basis for specialized structures such as properties (for programming information) and choice tables (for tasks).

Contains

Doctype

Content model

topic, map, concept, ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup, reference, task, bookmap, classifyMap, subjectScheme, machineryTask, learningAssessment, learningBookmap, learningContent, learningMap, learningOverview, learningPlan, learningSummary

( (sthead) (optional) then (strow) (one or more) )

Contained by

Doctype

Content model

topic (base)

p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, howtoavoid

map (base), classifyMap, subjectScheme, learningBookmap, learningMap

p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, howtoavoid

topic (technical content)

p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, howtoavoid, pd

map (technical content), bookmap

p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, howtoavoid, pd

concept

p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, conbody, howtoavoid, pd

ditabase

p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, conbody, prereq, context, steps-informal, stepsection, info, tutorialinfo, stepxmp, choice, stepresult, result, postreq, refbody, refbodydiv, refsyn, glossdef, glossUsage, glossScopeNote, howtoavoid, pd

glossary, glossentry, glossgroup

p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, conbody, glossdef, glossUsage, glossScopeNote, howtoavoid, pd

reference

p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, refbody, refbodydiv, refsyn, howtoavoid, pd

task (strict), task (general)

p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, prereq, context, steps-informal, stepsection, info, tutorialinfo, stepxmp, choice, stepresult, result, postreq, howtoavoid, pd

machineryTask

p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, prereq, context, steps-informal, stepsection, info, tutorialinfo, stepxmp, choice, stepresult, result, postreq, reqcond, reqcontp, personnel, perscat, perskill, esttime, supequi, supply, spare, safecond, howtoavoid

learningAssessment, learningOverview, learningSummary

p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, lcIntro, lcAudience, lcPrereqs, lcSummary, lcNextSteps, lcReview, lcResources, lcChallenge, lcInstruction, lcInteractionBase, lcInstructornote

learningContent

p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, lcIntro, lcAudience, lcPrereqs, lcSummary, lcNextSteps, lcReview, lcResources, lcChallenge, lcInstruction, prereq, context, steps-informal, stepsection, info, tutorialinfo, stepxmp, choice, stepresult, result, postreq, conbody, refbody, refbodydiv, refsyn, lcInteractionBase, lcInstructornote

learningPlan

p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, lcIntro, lcAudience, lcPrereqs, lcSummary, lcNextSteps, lcReview, lcResources, lcChallenge, lcInstruction, lcClient, lcPlanTitle, lcCIN, lcModDate, lcDelivDate, lcPlanSubject, lcPlanDescrip, lcPlanPrereqs, lcGeneralDescription, lcGoals, lcNeeds, lcValues, lcOrgConstraints, lcEdLevel, lcAge, lcBackground, lcSkills, lcKnowledge, lcMotivation, lcSpecChars, lcWorkEnvDescription, lcPlanResources, lcProcesses, lcTaskItem, lcAttitude, lcPlanObjective, lcJtaItem, lcGapItemDelta, lcLearnStrat, lcAssessment, lcDelivery, lcLMS, lcNoLMS, lcHandouts, lcClassroom, lcOJT, lcConstraints, lcW3C, lcPlayers, lcGraphics, lcViewers, lcResolution, lcFileSizeLimitations, lcDownloadTime, lcSecurity, lcInteractionBase, lcInstructornote

Inheritance

- topic/simpletable

Example

Source:

<simpletable>
 <sthead>
  <stentry>Type style</stentry>
  <stentry>Elements used</stentry>
 </sthead>
 <strow>
  <stentry>Bold</stentry>
  <stentry>b</stentry>
 </strow>
 <strow>
  <stentry>Italic</stentry>
  <stentry>i</stentry>
 </strow>
 <strow>
  <stentry>Underlined</stentry>
  <stentry>u</stentry>
 </strow>
</simpletable>

Formatted output:

Type style

Elements used

Bold

b

Italic

i

Underlined

u

Example using keycol

In this sample, the first column is identified as a header column through the use of keycol="1" on the <simpletable> element. This indicates that items in the first column should be treated as headers for the row that follows. Rendering of the header column is left up to the implementation.

Source:

<simpletable keycol="1">
 <sthead>
  <stentry>Term</stentry>
  <stentry>Categorization</stentry>
  <stentry>Definition</stentry>
 </sthead>
 <strow>
  <stentry>Widget</stentry>
  <stentry>noun</stentry>
  <stentry>Thing that is used for something</stentry>
 </strow>
 <strow>
  <stentry>Frustration</stentry>
  <stentry>noun</stentry>
  <stentry>What you feel when you drop the widget</stentry>
 </strow>
</simpletable>

Formatted output:

Term

Categorization

Definition

Widget

noun

Thing that is used for something

Frustration

noun

What you feel when you drop the widget

Attributes

Name

Description

Data Type

Default Value

Required?

relcolwidth

 

A relative value to specify the width of a column in relationship to the width of the other columns. The values are totaled and made a percent. For example: relcolwidth="1* 2* 3*"
 causes widths of 16.7%, 33.3%, and 66.7%. relcolwidth="90* 150*" causes width of 37.5% and 62.5%.

CDATA

#IMPLIED

No

keycol

Defines the column that can contains headings for each row. No value indicates no key column. When present, the numerical value causes the specified column to be treated as a vertical header.

NMTOKEN

#IMPLIED

No

refcols

The refcols attribute is currently undefined, and is reserved for future use.

NMTOKENS

#IMPLIED

No

spectitle

The specialized title attribute allows architects of specialized types to define a fixed or default title for a specialized element. Not intended for direct use by authors.

CDATA

#IMPLIED

No

display-atts attribute group (scale, frame, expanse)

A set of related attributes, described in 3.4.1.1 display-atts attribute group

     

univ-atts attribute group (includes select-atts, id-atts, and localization-atts groups)

A set of related attributes, described in 3.4.1.3 univ-atts attribute group

     

global-atts attribute group (xtrf, xtrc)

A set of related attributes, described in 3.4.1.2 global-atts attribute group

     

class, outputclass

Common attributes described in 3.4.1.9 Other common DITA attributes

     

Previous Topic:  3.1.1.3.7 entry

Next Topic:  3.1.1.3.9 sthead

Parent Topic:  3.1.1.3 Table elements

Sibling Topics:

3.1.1.3.1 table

3.1.1.3.2 tgroup

3.1.1.3.3 colspec

3.1.1.3.4 thead

3.1.1.3.5 tbody

3.1.1.3.6 row

3.1.1.3.7 entry

3.1.1.3.9 sthead

3.1.1.3.10 strow

3.1.1.3.11 stentry