##### 33.3.3.1 Specifying default header and footer counts for all tables

You can specify how many column-header rows, row-header columns, and footer rows the tables in your document typically have. These settings are intended primarily to support WAI interpretation; see §35. Identifying HTML table structure for WAI for more information. Table 33-3 shows the settings.

Table 33-3 Default counts of table header rows/columns and footer rows

[Tables] setting | Default value | [TableAccess] override | Purpose
TableHeaderCols | 0 | HColsN | Number of columns (counting from the left) to use for row headers
TableHeaderRows | 0 | HRowsN | Number of rows (counting from the top) to use for column headers,
TableFooterRows | 0 | FRowsN | Number of rows (counting from the bottom) to treat as footer rows for row-grouping purposes, significant only when HeadFootBodyTags=Yes

Use these settings to establish document-wide defaults for the number of columns in row headers, the number of rows in column headers, and the number of rows in table footers.

[Tables]
; TableHeaderCols = count of cols in which to make td -> th,
; counting from left at the start of each row in the table
TableHeaderCols=0
; TableHeaderRows = count of rows in which to make td -> th,
; counting from the top of the table
TableHeaderRows=0
; TableFooterRows = count of footer rows from bottom of the table,
; significant only when RowGroupIDs = Yes.
TableFooterRows=0

For example, if your tables typically have two DITA-defined header rows, and you want the first body row in most of them to be considered a header row also, you would set TableHeaderRows=3. To designate cells in the first column as row headers, set TableHeaderCols=1.

Note: You need the TableHeaderRows and TableFooterRows settings only if some header rows are misclassified as body rows in DITA. If you consistently use DITA header (there is no DITA concept of footer) rows for the headers in your tables, and you provide an @outputclass for rows to be treated as footer rows, you do not need either of these settings. See §6.9 Specifying formats and options for tables.

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33.3.3.2 Specifying different header and footer counts for selected tables

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