Question

Replacing Nested Tables wth Divs and CSS

Asked by: rmk

I'm trying to replace a nasty nested table layout with divs and css and I'm a real newbie at this. In the following test file everyhting is working correctly except that garage should be to the right of driveway instead of under it and garage should have a border. How do I modify the following test file to accomplish this?
<style type="text/css" media="screen">
 body
 {
  margin:0;
  padding:0;
 }
 #parcel
 {
  float: left;
  width: 66%;
  border: 1px solid black;
 }
 #photo
 {
  float: left;
  width: 33%;
  border: 1px solid black;
 }
 #driveway
 {
  clear: both:
  float: left;
  width: 33%;
  border: 1px solid black;
 {
 #garage
 {
  float: left;
  width: 33%;
  border: 1px solid black;
 }
 #bldgcolor
 {
  clear: both;
  float: left;
  width: 33%;
  border: 1px solid black;
 }
 #bldgmtl
 {
  float: left;
  width: 33%;
  border: 1px solid black;
 }
 #roof
 {
  float: left;
  width: 33%;
  border: 1px solid black;
  }
 #fence
 {
  clear: both;
  float: left;
  width: 99%;
  border: 1px solid black;
 }
 #other
 {
  clear: both;
  float: left;
  width: 66%;
  border: 1px solid black;
 }
 #action
 {
  float: left;
  width: 33%;
  border: 1px solid black;
 }
</style>

<div id="container">
 <div id="parcel">
  parcel
 </div>
 <div id="photo">
  photo
 </div>
 <div id="driveway">
  driveway
 </div>
 <div id="garage">
  garage
 </div>
 <div id="bldgcolor">
  bldgcolor
 </div>
 <div id="bldgmtl">
  bldgmtl
 </div>
 <div id="roof">
  roof
 </div>
 <div id="fence">
  fence
 </div>
 <div id="other">
  other
 </div>
 <div id="action">
  action
 </div>
</div>

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Asked On
2007-05-14 at 13:05:31ID22571500
Tags

nested

,

css

,

tables

,

replace

Topic

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
6

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Answers

 

by: ThogekPosted on 2007-05-14 at 15:16:59ID: 19088919

With the layout you're using, I don't think you need any of the "clear: both" settings.  Might wanna try dumping those, especially the one on the "driveway" element.

 

by: ThogekPosted on 2007-05-14 at 15:23:15ID: 19088952

You could also try something a bit simpler, like:

    <style type="text/css">
    #myContainer div { float: left;  border: 1px solid black; }
    #myContainer .single { width: 33%; }
    #myContainer .double { width: 66%; }
    #myContainer .triple { width: 99%; }
    </style>

    <div id="myContainer">
        <div class="double">parcel</div>
        <div class="single">photo</div>

        <div class="single">driveway</div>
        <div class="double">garage</div>

        <div class="single">bldgcolor</div>
        <div class="double">bldgmtl</div>

        <div class="triple">fence</div>

        <div class="single">other</div>
        <div class="double">action</div>
    </div>

 

by: rmkPosted on 2007-05-15 at 04:58:30ID: 19091956

Per your suggestion, I've removed the "clear: both;" lines and the items line up properly. However the driveway div still won't display its border - why? Can you help me understand why the "clear: both;" lines were causing a problem?

 

by: ThogekPosted on 2007-05-15 at 11:18:01ID: 19094937

The "clear: both" lines were triggering line-wraps, effectively kicking divs onto the next line when (it sounds like) you didn't want them to.

It was less clear to me why your garage element was not showing its border.  The second comment above with the more compact code suggestion does not seem to have that problem.  If that's not acceptable for your current purpose, I can take a closer look at the border behavior on your original code...

 

by: rmkPosted on 2007-05-15 at 11:35:51ID: 19095091

I'll be accepting your answer to the problem I've described, although as I take it to the next level, I'm still having some problems which I may post in a new questions. Can you recommend a thorough book or web site that would walk me through an indepth explanation of floats and replacing nested tables with css?

 

by: ThogekPosted on 2007-05-15 at 11:47:12ID: 19095179

If there is such a thorough book, I'd love to see it.  :-(

There are Web sites concerning those sorts of CSS subjects all over, but I haven't seen any that've struck me as one-stop references for all of it -- maybe someone can suggest one? -- and I've always found myself searching via Google when some of the odder such questions come up.  :-/

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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