On 7/6/06, Robert O'Rourke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > There isn't an 'equivalent' without going crazy with classes and extra > markup. You have to think differently when using css for layout. Its > more about making things flow rather than controlling them as tightly as > a table does.
That's more or less what I feared. Well, so much for me going clean ;-) > Sometimes for more complicated forms it's acceptable and still > accessible to use a table, so long as the inputs are in a logical order > i.e. in a row as opposed to columns of input sections and the labels > correspond to the input ids correctly. Judging by the above examples > this is the case. Seeing as you can't tell how how much text the labels > contain or how many columns you need then a table is your best option > for similar results cross-browser . Yes, I never know in advance how much space the text is going to take. I do know the label's length, but I don't know the size of that when rendered, of course. > Alternatively if you really want it all layed out with css forget > 'columns' and 'rows' altogether and use fieldsets to group labels and > inputs (this is really how it should be done). You can get fieldsets to > stack up nicely using floats and a width in px/em/%. Fieldsets look promising, although I could not get them to work in my situation as I need them. Because I really need to have certain objects firmly at their "column position". Probably the minimalistic worst-case is the following scenario: row 1: label1 [input1] | label2 [input2] | label3 [input3] row 2: label4 [input4 spans the whole length ] row 3: label5 [input5] | label6 [input6] | label7 [input7] In this case, labels 1+4+5, 2+6, 3+7 must be aligned as well as the left side of their corresponding input form fields. Well, I just need columns actually ;) > This is a good example of CSS forms: > http://www.themaninblue.com/experiment/InForm/ One or two variants look great, though I cannot achieve the above result if I understand it all correctly. A single column works but not several aligned with some form fields that span multiple columns. > I could also provide a sample page, though believe > > me, you really don't want to take a close look at that HTML. > > > Probably not ;) > > What else is written out in columns, rows and sections besides forms? > Oh a lot of stuff. I have tables (true tables, ie tabular data), buttons, links, labels, user-defined custom HTML injected, and some other things. By the way, when I said input component or used the word "objects" that had a bit of hidden meaning. You don't put formular fields in rows actually. You can put an "input component" down. Those components are always connected to some database object and depending on the type this then becomes a text box, text area, combo box (if there is only limited choice), list, checkbox (if the type of the underlying database field is bit/boolean). Also there might be more than just one visual object, for example if you put an input component that is connected to a date-field in the database, you'll get an appropriately large input form field followed by a little calendar icon which brings up one of the well-known javascript calendar-chooser widgets. (Guess what currently glues the calendar icon and the input field together - a nested and hidden structural table) As I said, it's a quite complex piece of software actually generating a webapplication which is more modelled than programmed (if you want the correct buzzword, look for MDA, Model Driven Architecture, though it isn't really 100% what I do) In any case, thanks for the answer, I wasn't sure if I simply didn't knew how to do it in CSS or wheter it isn't possible currently. I'll leave the structural table that layouts the content of the section and rows in and will only replace all the other ones, which are unneccessary and have become cumbersome. -- C U - -- ---- ----- -----/\/ René Gallati \/\---- ----- --- -- - ______________________________________________________________________ css-discuss [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.css-discuss.org/mailman/listinfo/css-d IE7b2 testing hub -- http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=IE7 List wiki/FAQ -- http://css-discuss.incutio.com/ Supported by evolt.org -- http://www.evolt.org/help_support_evolt/
