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[TIP] Indent Table Elements
mashby's Avatar
mashby
Join Date: Jan 2002
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mashby mashby is offline 09-09-2002, 10:00 PM
Table problems are one of the most common problems that people run into when editing their templates. Forget to close a tag and your entire site can become crippled. To help fix this problem before it starts, I recommend that you indent each element when using tables. By simply adding a tab, or a few spaces to your code, you can make it easier to see if there's a problem with your code.

Compare the following two code samples and you'll see what I mean:

Code:
<!-- without indents -->
<table><tr>
<td>hello world</td></tr>
</table>
<!-- /without indents -->
Code:
<!-- with indents -->
<table>
	<tr>
		<td>hello world</td>
	</tr>
</table>
<!-- /with indents -->
Which is easier to read? When I try and help someone with their code, one of the first things I do is reformat their code with indents. If there's a problem with a missing tag, you can be sure that I can find it in a jiffy with this method.

You'd be surprised at what a difference something as simple as this can make.
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  #12  
Old 10-01-2002, 09:30 AM
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Tony G Tony G is offline
 
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I can live with both, but I find it a little easier. It don't really matter anyway much to me.
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Old 10-01-2002, 11:53 AM
imported_plattopus imported_plattopus is offline
 
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Yeah it's usually easier... especially when you're dealing with a lot of nested tables. If you see a big jump in indents, that suggests you've either missed a few closing tags, or forgotten them.

Example:

Code:
<table>
<tr>
<td valign="top">
This is some text
</td>
<td>
<table width="100%">
<tr>
<td>
Some more text
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">
This is yet more text
</td>
</tr>
</table>
It could be hard to notice errors in code like this (but far more complex, I only used this as an example)... this is much easier:

Code:
<table>
  <tr>
    <td valign="top">
      This is some text
    </td>
    <td>
      <table width="100%">
        <tr>
          <td>
            Some more text
    </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td colspan="2">
      This is yet more text
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
You can see the big jump in space between the text and it's ending TD tag.
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  #14  
Old 10-01-2002, 12:11 PM
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Tony G Tony G is offline
 
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I agree, I prefer the second way but I don't mind. I mean I can still spot errors without the indents but it could be harder.
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  #15  
Old 10-18-2002, 01:25 PM
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Plattopus: upload your files in ASCII mode and there will be no problem with character coding
I often edit files on windows and after upload there is no diffrence from the one made on BSD
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Old 10-19-2002, 06:37 AM
imported_plattopus imported_plattopus is offline
 
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There is a difference, it might just be luck that both of the programs you used are configured similarly.
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Old 10-23-2002, 10:01 AM
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Good points plattopus. My text editor intreprets the Tab and then inserts the number of spaces that you've set.

For those of you editing in multiple OS's, plattopus' idea about using spaces is a good one.

Either way, indention can help.
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  #18  
Old 10-24-2002, 03:30 AM
imported_plattopus imported_plattopus is offline
 
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I've set my text editor (Edit Plus 2) to do the same thing... that way, I can use the TAB key (which is far more convenient than pressing space 4 times) and it will insert 4 non-breaking spaces instead of a tabspace.

But the point is, indentation is a MUST for readability.
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  #19  
Old 10-24-2002, 04:35 PM
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mashby mashby is offline
 
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That's the same text editor I use!
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