>I don't think so on the <tr></tr> ... I generally only use a Row tab
>when I want to position a bunch of stuff on a single line, and give
>it a set width ...
<quote>
The only content allowed within the <table> is one or more <tr> tags
</quote>
(HTML 4.0 adds <thead>, <tfoot> etc.) The <tr>...</tr> tags then contain
all the other formatting and content not specified within the <table> tag
itself. You use <td width="number-of-pixels OR percentage"> to set the
width. One day I hope Arachne will recognize <td height=...>.
<quote>
Be liberal in what you accept and strict in what you create.
</quote>
-- it's more laborious, but less hassle in the long-run, to explicitly
state what you want the code to achieve, rather than rely on cancelling
prior tags e.g. </font>. Closing optional tags e.g. </p> is a good habit
to get into, especially for when we are faced with writing XML.
>I fail to see the purpose of using row commands when it will be a single
>cell that doesn't need any particular background colors or spacing
>amongst other cells in a row. Have I really missed something here?
That it's the <td> tag, Yes; but that you can get away without strict
adherance to <table> structure, No! The Opera browser claims stricter-
than-most standards' compliance, but it does some weird things as far
as I'm concerned; and I had a set of tricks for tables in earlier versions
of Arachne.
>If you stop and think about it, you'd realize that using </font> after
>the first line not only sends font size back to default, but also sends
>font *color* back to default. I want all three lines yellow, not just
>the first one. The </font> on the 2nd & 3rd lines were OK because they
>canceled the <font> nearest to them -- the ones with only size=""
If you discard the </font> tags and verbosely code what you want to occur
at each change-point, it gets the job done and is easier to edit or
diagnose at a later date. So, at the start of each change you could have
any or all of <font size="n" color="#nnnnnn" face="some-TrueType-name">.
Remember to close any intervening <b> or <i> etc.
>But I am *also* going to remember that trick [front command outside active
>area] for cases where I don't want everything underlined even if it is
>active. <G>
I wouldn't rely on it! In cascading style sheets the default text-decoration
property is "none", so unless you specified otherwise you'd get
non-underlined links. I've seen them at the website for the Pixel32 graphics
software. Generally not a good idea. <style> opens up a can-o'-worms of
JavaScript wriggliness (and disgust, eh Sam?).
>Now I have a question -- I don't have time to check it out myself ...
>sorry. Since it is possible to use the <tr></tr> tabs to set bgcolor
>etc., can the Row command be used to set the *entire* contents of that
>row as active??? Something to think about ... possible "mapping" in
>frames???
We can only use text, line-breaks, headings and images as anchor content,
so the following example using a nested table won't work (though it tries
to achieve something akin to what you describe):
<table>
<tr>
<td>
<a href="surprise.htm">
<table>
<tr bgcolor="#FFFF00">
<td align="center" valign="top">
<img src="dare.gif" width="100" height="75" alt="Dare? logo">
</td>
<td>
<font size="4"><b>Dare you click here
<br>
for a real surprise?</b>
</td>
<td align="center">
<img src="surprise.gif" width="150" height="100" alt="Surprise! logo">
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</a>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
So, we do it this way (and being strict about keeping tags out of the
anchor content):
<table>
<tr bgcolor="#FFFF00">
<td align="center" valign="top">
<a href="surprise.htm">
<img src="dare.gif" border="0" width="100" height="75" alt="Dare? logo">
</a>
</td>
<td>
<font size="4"><b>
<a href="surprise.htm">
Dare you click here
<br>
for a real surprise?
</a>
</b></font>
</td>
<td align="center">
<a href="surprise.htm">
<img src="surprise.gif" border="0"
width="150" height="100" alt="Surprise! logo">
</a>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
The first (non-working) example looks better if the table itself is given
the bgcolor. The second example is a bit glitchy in A-1.61, with the cell
divisions visible.
Remember: "tags" not "tabs" :-)
BTW, there's a page generator that uses &009; for a tab-space, forgetting
to include the #.
Hope yer tent's ready... and the pickup!
Jake
