text of indeterminate length and line in HTML/CSS the "right" way - html

Question

I am using Zurb Foundation for page layout. A row on my page needs have some text and then a line that fills the rest of the width, like so:
| Text of Indeterminate Length -------------------------------------- |
I have the desired layout working with <table> and <hr> tags:
<div class="row">
<div class="large-12 columns">
<table style="width:auto;border-collapse:collapse;border:0;padding:0;margin:0;">
<tr>
<td style="white-space:nowrap;padding:0;">
<h3>Text of Indeterminate Length</h3>
</td>
<td style="width:100%;"><hr/></td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
</div>
I realize that the use of <table> for layout and <hr> for drawing lines are both generally frowned upon in modern web design. I spent a while trying to get the same layout using <div>, <span>, and <p> and couldn't come up with anything simple and straightforward that didn't require what seemed like an excessive use of Javascript. On top of that, most recommended solutions suggest using things like border_bottom which doesn't give me a nice line in the middle like <hr> does.
So my question is this: is there a straightforward way to do this without <table> or <hr>? Perhaps with some sort of a custom <span> style?

Answer 1

A potential solution could be to give your heading a background style with display:block and width:100% and the text with a white background to hide the line from the containing heading? http://jsfiddle.net/9o74jbLh/
<h3><span>{% block hightide_pagename %}{% endblock hightide_pagename %}
</span></h3>
h3 {
display:block;
position:relative;
width:100%;
}
h3:after {
content:"";
height:1px;
width:100%;
background: #000;
position:absolute;
top:50%;
}
h3 span {
background:#fff;
}

Answer 2

I've seen this design element pop up a few times, and the best way that I've seen it done (which is by no means a perfect way) is to use overflow hidden on a container, float the heading (or make it inline-block), and set the left attribute of your absolutely positioned line element (preferably a pseudo-element so as to keep your markup clean). In effect you get this:
/* stuff to make the demo pretty */
table {
border: 1px solid red;
}
table:before {
content: 'bad way';
color: red;
display: block;
}
.good-ish-way {
border: 1px solid green;
margin-top: 1em;
}
.good-ish-way:before {
content: 'good-ish way';
color: green;
display: block;
}
/* the actually useful stuff. */
.good-ish-way {
overflow: hidden;
}
.good-ish-way h3 {
position: relative;
display:inline-block;
}
.good-ish-way h3:after {
content: '';
width: 100%;
position: absolute;
left: 100%;
height: 1px;
background: #777;
width: 1000%;
top: 0;
bottom: 0;
margin: auto 0 auto 0.3em;
}
<table>
<tr>
<td style="white-space:nowrap;padding:0;">
<h3>Text of Indeterminate Length</h3>
</td>
<td style="width:100%;"><hr/></td>
</tr>
</table>
<div class="good-ish-way">
<h3>Text of Indeterminate Length</h3>
</div>
The only major problem with it is the 1000% part. I've seen other devs use a large pixel value, but the thing is, you'll never know if it's enough. You could use 100vw, but then there are some compatibility issues with older browsers.
Demo for you to play around with it: http://jsfiddle.net/uru17kox/
Edit: Oh! and here's where I first saw this method illustrated in case you want a different spin on it. https://css-tricks.com/line-on-sides-headers/