Creating a scrollable matrix in html with tables - html

Question

I want to have something like a matrix in a html page. The content of the table/matrix should be scrollable but the row and column titles should be fixed so they are always visible.
I tried to do that with having 3 tables: one for the column-titles, one for the row-titles and one for the content itself. It looks fine when all the content fits on the page. However, as soon as there is not enough space to fit all the content, the whole thing gets messed up. How can I prevent this from happening and make the tables always appear on one line and add a scrollbar if necessary instead of moving the content table to the next line?
This is my html:
<div class="container">
<div class="tableparent">
<table class = "table rowtitle table-striped">
<tr><td>Logo</td></tr>
<tr><td>1</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td></tr>
</table>
<table class="table columntitle table-striped">
<tr>
<th>1</th>
<th>2</th>
<th>3</th>
<th>4</th>
<th>5</th>
</tr>
</table>
<table class="table table-striped">
<tr>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>X</td>
<td>X</td>
<td>X</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
And this is the relevant part of the CSS:
table {
max-width: 100%;
background-color: transparent;
border-collapse: collapse;
border-spacing: 0;
}
.table {
white-space: nowrap;
}
.table th,
.table td {
padding: 8px;
line-height: 20px;
text-align: center;
vertical-align: top;
border: 1px solid #dddddd;
}
.table th {
font-weight: bold;
}
.table-striped tbody > tr:nth-child(odd) > td,
.table-striped tbody > tr:nth-child(odd) > th {
background-color: #f9f9f9;
}
.rowtitle {
float: left;
padding: 8px;
border-right: 0px;
height: 200px;
}
.rowtitle th,
.rowtitle td {
border-right: 0px;
}
.columntitle {
padding: 8px;
border-bottom: 0px;
}
.columntitle th,
.columntitle td {
border-bottom: 0px;
}
.tableparent {
width: 100%;
}
Any help appreciated!

Answer 1

This works in all modern browsers that I tried. I had to mess around with several things for a while, but the result seems to be what you wanted. The trick was to put position:absolute for top row and the content section. I changed your html slightly as well
HTML (changed slightly):
<div class="container">
<div class="tableparent">
<table class = "table rowtitle">
<tr><td>Logo</td></tr>
<tr><td>1</td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td></tr>
<tr><td>3</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>6</td></tr>
</table>
<table class="table columntitle">
<tr>
<th></th>
<th>1</th>
<th>2</th>
<th>3</th>
<th>4</th>
<th>5</th>
</tr>
</table>
<table class="table content table-striped">
<tr>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>X</td>
<td>X</td>
<td>X</td>
<td>X</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>X</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>X</td>
<td>X</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
CSS:
table {
border-collapse:collapse;
table-layout:fixed;
}
table * {
height:50px;
width:50px;
min-width:50px;
min-height:50px;
margin:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.rowtitle {
float:left;
opacity:1;
z-index:3;
}
.table th,
.table td {
text-align: center;
border: 1px solid #dddddd;
}
.table th {
font-weight: bold;
}
.table-striped tbody > tr:nth-child(odd) > td,
.table-striped tbody > tr:nth-child(odd) > th {
background-color: #f9f9f9;
}
.columntitle {
z-index:1;
position:fixed;
}
.content {
position:fixed;
left:60px;
top:59px;
width:255px;
overflow-x:auto;
display: block;
}