When using table for displaying data,?the?repetitious data like showed in the top table, should be merged into one cell for better look. But if the data come from a SQL query result it's quite difficult to know the number of rowspan?for the "<tr>" tag.?
What I do is write out all the repetitious data ( like one in the top table)? and then I run javascript to merge the cells. The javascript could be something like this:
JavaScript:
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<table border="1" width="427" id="merge">
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<tr>
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<th width="195">Supplier</th>
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<th width="216">Product Name</th>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Grandma Kelly's Homestead</td>
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<td>Grandma's Boysenberry Spread</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Grandma Kelly's Homestead</td>
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<td>Uncle Bob's Organic Dried Pears</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Grandma Kelly's Homestead</td>
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<td>Northwoods Cranberry Sauce</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Tokyo Traders</td>
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<td>Mishi Kobe Niku</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Tokyo Traders</td>
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<td>Ikura</td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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<script language="javascript">
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var myTable = document.getElementById('merge');
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var rows = myTable.getElementsByTagName('tr');
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var numRows = rows.length;
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var numRowSpan=1;
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for (var j = 1; j <(numRows-1); j++) {
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if (numRowSpan<=1) {
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var currentRow = myTable.getElementsByTagName('tr')[j];
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var currentCell= currentRow.getElementsByTagName('td')[0]; // the 1st column
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var currentCellData = currentCell.childNodes[0].data;
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}
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if (j<numRows-1) {
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if (myTable.getElementsByTagName('tr')[j+1]) {
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var nextRow = myTable.getElementsByTagName('tr')[j+1];
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var nextCell = nextRow.getElementsByTagName('td')[0];
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var nextCellData = nextCell.childNodes[0].data;
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// compare the current cell and the next cell
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if (currentCellData == nextCellData) {
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numRowSpan += 1;
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currentCell.rowSpan = numRowSpan;
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nextCell.style.display = 'none'; //disappear the next cell
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} else {
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numRowSpan = 1;
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}
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}
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}
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}
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</script>
dear author,
i am trying to use your code. need your help. please contact.