###### 3.1.1.3.8 simpletable

The <simpletable> element is used for tables that are regular in structure and do not need a caption. Choose the simple table element when you want to show information in regular rows and columns. For example, multi-column tabular data such as phone directory listings or parts lists are good candidates for simpletable. Another good use of simpletable is for information that seems to beg for a three-part definition list; the keycol attribute may be used to indicate which column represents the "key" or term-like column of your structure.

This close match of simpletable to tabular, regular data makes simpletable suitable as the basis for specialized structures such as properties (for programming information) and choice tables (for tasks).

###### Contains

Doctype | Content model
topic, map, concept, ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup, reference, task, bookmap, classifyMap, subjectScheme, machineryTask, learningAssessment, learningBookmap, learningContent, learningMap, learningOverview, learningPlan, learningSummary | ( (sthead) (optional) then (strow) (one or more) )

###### Contained by

Doctype | Content model
topic (base) | p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, howtoavoid
map (base), classifyMap, subjectScheme, learningBookmap, learningMap | p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, howtoavoid
topic (technical content) | p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, howtoavoid, pd
map (technical content), bookmap | p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, howtoavoid, pd
concept | p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, conbody, howtoavoid, pd
ditabase | p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, conbody, prereq, context, steps-informal, stepsection, info, tutorialinfo, stepxmp, choice, stepresult, result, postreq, refbody, refbodydiv, refsyn, glossdef, glossUsage, glossScopeNote, howtoavoid, pd
glossary, glossentry, glossgroup | p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, conbody, glossdef, glossUsage, glossScopeNote, howtoavoid, pd
reference | p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, refbody, refbodydiv, refsyn, howtoavoid, pd
task (strict), task (general) | p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, prereq, context, steps-informal, stepsection, info, tutorialinfo, stepxmp, choice, stepresult, result, postreq, howtoavoid, pd
machineryTask | p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, prereq, context, steps-informal, stepsection, info, tutorialinfo, stepxmp, choice, stepresult, result, postreq, reqcond, reqcontp, personnel, perscat, perskill, esttime, supequi, supply, spare, safecond, howtoavoid
learningAssessment, learningOverview, learningSummary | p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, lcIntro, lcAudience, lcPrereqs, lcSummary, lcNextSteps, lcReview, lcResources, lcChallenge, lcInstruction, lcInteractionBase, lcInstructornote
learningContent | p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, lcIntro, lcAudience, lcPrereqs, lcSummary, lcNextSteps, lcReview, lcResources, lcChallenge, lcInstruction, prereq, context, steps-informal, stepsection, info, tutorialinfo, stepxmp, choice, stepresult, result, postreq, conbody, refbody, refbodydiv, refsyn, lcInteractionBase, lcInstructornote
learningPlan | p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, draft-comment, abstract, body, bodydiv, section, sectiondiv, example, lcIntro, lcAudience, lcPrereqs, lcSummary, lcNextSteps, lcReview, lcResources, lcChallenge, lcInstruction, lcClient, lcPlanTitle, lcCIN, lcModDate, lcDelivDate, lcPlanSubject, lcPlanDescrip, lcPlanPrereqs, lcGeneralDescription, lcGoals, lcNeeds, lcValues, lcOrgConstraints, lcEdLevel, lcAge, lcBackground, lcSkills, lcKnowledge, lcMotivation, lcSpecChars, lcWorkEnvDescription, lcPlanResources, lcProcesses, lcTaskItem, lcAttitude, lcPlanObjective, lcJtaItem, lcGapItemDelta, lcLearnStrat, lcAssessment, lcDelivery, lcLMS, lcNoLMS, lcHandouts, lcClassroom, lcOJT, lcConstraints, lcW3C, lcPlayers, lcGraphics, lcViewers, lcResolution, lcFileSizeLimitations, lcDownloadTime, lcSecurity, lcInteractionBase, lcInstructornote

###### Inheritance

- topic/simpletable

###### Example

Source:

    <simpletable>
     <sthead>
      <stentry>Type style</stentry>
      <stentry>Elements used</stentry>
     </sthead>
     <strow>
      <stentry>Bold</stentry>
      <stentry>b</stentry>
     </strow>
     <strow>
      <stentry>Italic</stentry>
      <stentry>i</stentry>
     </strow>
     <strow>
      <stentry>Underlined</stentry>
      <stentry>u</stentry>
     </strow>
    </simpletable>

Formatted output:

Type style | Elements used
Bold | b
Italic | i
Underlined | u

###### Example using keycol

In this sample, the first column is identified as a header column through the use of keycol="1" on the <simpletable> element. This indicates that items in the first column should be treated as headers for the row that follows. Rendering of the header column is left up to the implementation.

Source:

    <simpletable keycol="1">
     <sthead>
      <stentry>Term</stentry>
      <stentry>Categorization</stentry>
      <stentry>Definition</stentry>
     </sthead>
     <strow>
      <stentry>Widget</stentry>
      <stentry>noun</stentry>
      <stentry>Thing that is used for something</stentry>
     </strow>
     <strow>
      <stentry>Frustration</stentry>
      <stentry>noun</stentry>
      <stentry>What you feel when you drop the widget</stentry>
     </strow>
    </simpletable>

Formatted output:

Term | Categorization | Definition
Widget | noun | Thing that is used for something
Frustration | noun | What you feel when you drop the widget

###### Attributes

Name | Description | Data Type | Default Value | Required?
relcolwidth |
    A relative value to specify the width of a column in relationship to the width of the other columns. The values are totaled and made a percent. For example: relcolwidth="1* 2* 3*"
     causes widths of 16.7%, 33.3%, and 66.7%. relcolwidth="90* 150*" causes width of 37.5% and 62.5%.
| CDATA | #IMPLIED | No
keycol | Defines the column that can contains headings for each row. No value indicates no key column. When present, the numerical value causes the specified column to be treated as a vertical header. | NMTOKEN | #IMPLIED | No
refcols | The refcols attribute is currently undefined, and is reserved for future use. | NMTOKENS | #IMPLIED | No
spectitle | The specialized title attribute allows architects of specialized types to define a fixed or default title for a specialized element. Not intended for direct use by authors. | CDATA | #IMPLIED | No
display-atts attribute group (scale, frame, expanse) | A set of related attributes, described in 3.4.1.1 display-atts attribute group |  |  |
univ-atts attribute group (includes select-atts, id-atts, and localization-atts groups) | A set of related attributes, described in 3.4.1.3 univ-atts attribute group |  |  |
global-atts attribute group (xtrf, xtrc) | A set of related attributes, described in 3.4.1.2 global-atts attribute group |  |  |
class, outputclass | Common attributes described in 3.4.1.9 Other common DITA attributes |  |  |

Previous Topic: 3.1.1.3.7 entry

Next Topic: 3.1.1.3.9 sthead

Parent Topic: 3.1.1.3 Table elements

Sibling Topics:

3.1.1.3.1 table

3.1.1.3.2 tgroup

3.1.1.3.3 colspec

3.1.1.3.4 thead

3.1.1.3.5 tbody

3.1.1.3.6 row

3.1.1.3.7 entry

3.1.1.3.9 sthead

3.1.1.3.10 strow

3.1.1.3.11 stentry