The attribute is optional.
It is defined with an integer value indicating the
number of columns an entry element needs to span.
For tables with a row >
entry element (thead or tbody), a
colspan attribute is used when a given cell
of the table needs to span multiple columns. The
user indicates the number of columns to span by
adding this attribute and entering the
colspan value (integer).
Right click the entry
element and select Add Attribute >
colspan from the shortcut menu.
In the colspan attribute,
enter an integer value to indicate the number of
columns to span. There is no default value.
If the Tagged PDF option
is selected (see Creating a Tagged PDF), the tag
markup behaves differently for Data Tables versus
Layout Tables.
Data Table
The tag for a cell entry with
the colspan attribute is marked with the
/ColSpan attribute in the attribute element
(/A) to indicate to span the desired number
of columns. The tag for a cell marked with the
/ColSpan attribute only appears once in the
tag tree (it is not repeated for the spanning
columns).
In the following example, the
tag for the cell with contents "Loan Terms" would
include the attribute ‘/ColSpan 2’ to signify that
this value relates to multiple columns.Figure 1. Data Table with colspan
Attribute Figure 2. Table Header Cell Tag
Spanning Two Columns
Layout Table
The use of the colspan
attribute for a given cell entry in conjunction
with the ReadOrder attribute value set to
ColumnByColumn, a <span> cell tag is
created for the colspan cell contents and for each
spanning column at the locations required in the
tag tree structure so it reads in logical
order.Figure 3. Layout Table with colspan
and reading order is ColumnByColumn
The use of the colspan
attribute in conjunction with ReadOrder
attribute value set to RowByRow
(RowByRow is also the default value if the
ReadOrder element is not present), a single
<span> cell tag is created for the
spanning column cell contents.Figure 4. Layout Table with colspan
and reading order is RowByRow
Figure 5. Cell tag is duplicated so
spanning column reads in logical order when
ColumnByColumn
