colspan Attribute

Where to use the colspan Attribute

• As Type Number - default="1":
  colspan is declared on the elements: th, td

Description

The colspan attribute is used on a table cell (td or th) to specify the number of columns to be spanned by the cell.

<table border="1"><tbody>
<tr><td colspan="3">This cell spans three table columns</td> <td>but</td></tr>
<tr><td>each</td> <td>other cell</td> <td>spans</td> <td>only one</td></tr>
</tbody></table>

The default value is "1" and the special value of "0" indicates that the cell should span all remaining columns, from the current column to the last column in the current column group (defined by a colgroup element). If no column groups are explicitly defined, the cell should span to the last column of the table itself.

Note: the special case of colspan="0" is not very well supported across user agents.

Although not stated officially (not that I can find, anyway) I would suggest that any cell which spans multiple columns should not cross a colgroup boundary.

See also the rowspan attribute.