Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference

Name

HEIGHT, WIDTH — NN all IE 3 HTML 3.2

Synopsis

HEIGHT=”length"

WIDTH=”length"

Optional

The rectangular dimensions of a table that may be different from the default size as calculated by the browser. When the values for these attributes are less than the minimum space required to render the table cell content, the browser overrides the attribute settings to make sure that all content appears, even if it means that text lines word-wrap. You can also stretch the dimensions of a table beyond the browser-calculated dimensions. Extra whitespace appears inside table cells to make up the difference. If you specify just one attribute, the browser performs the necessary calculations to automatically adjust the dimension along the other axis.

Note that the HEIGHT attribute is not in the HTML specification. The assumption there is that the table height is calculated by the browser to best show all cell content given either the default or attribute-established width. Because different browsers on different operating systems can render text content in varying relative font sizes, it is not unusual to let the height of a table be calculated by the browser.

Example

<TABLE WIDTH="80%">...</TABLE>

Value

Any length value in pixels or percentage of available space.

Default

Navigator: a width of 100% of the next outermost container; height governed by content. Internet Explorer: calculates the height and width based on content size.