3.2.3.8 <simpletable>

The <simpletable> element is used for tables that are regular in structure and do not need a caption. Choose the <simpletable> 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 can 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).

Content models

See appendix for information about this element in OASIS document type shells.

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

The following attributes are available on this element: Universal attribute group, Display attribute group, Simpletable attribute group, outputclass, and spectitle.

Return to main page.