4.8. The COL Element

   <!ELEMENT col - O EMPTY>

   <!ATTLIST col                      -- column groups and --
                                      -- properties --
           %attrs;                    -- id, lang, dir and class --
           span    NUMBER   1         -- number of columns spanned --
                                      -- by group --
           width   CDATA    #IMPLIED  -- column width specification --
           %cell.halign;              -- horizontal alignment in --
                                      -- cells --
           %cell.valign;              -- vertical alignment in cells --
           >

This optional element is used to specify column based defaults for table properties. It is an empty element, and as such has no content, and shouldn't be given an end tag. Several COL elements may be given in succession. COL attributes override those of the parent COLGROUP element.

ID, CLASS, LANG and DIR

See earlier description of common attributes.

SPAN

A positive integer value that specifies how many columns this element applies to, defaulting to one. In the absence of SPAN attributes the first COL element applies to the first column, the second COL element to the second column and so on. If the second COL element had SPAN=2, it would apply to the second and third column. The next COL element would then apply to the fourth column and so on. SPAN=0 has a special significance and implies that the COL element spans all columns from the current column up to and including the last column. Note that a COL SPAN does not define a group. It is merely a way to share attribute definitions.

WIDTH

Specifies the width of the columns, see standard units. If the element spans several columns then the WIDTH attribute specifies the width for each of the individual columns - not the width of the span. In addition, the "*" suffix denotes relative widths, e.g.

            width=64        width in screen pixels
            width=0.5*      a relative width of 0.5

Relative widths act as constraints on the relative widths of different columns. If a COL element specifies a relative width of zero, the column should always be set to its minimum width. When widths are given in absolute units, the user agent can use these to constrain the width of the table. The "*" suffix is used to simplify importing tables from the CALS representation.

ALIGN, CHAR, CHAROFF and VALIGN

Specify values for horizontal and vertical alignment within table cells. See inheritance order of alignment properties.