Table fixed header and scrollable body

Question

I am trying to make a table with fixed header and a scrollable content using the bootstrap 3 table. Unfortunately the solutions I have found does not work with bootstrap or

Answer 1

You should try with "display:block;" to tbody, because now it's inline-block and in order to set height, the element should be "block"

Answer 2

Multiple scrollable table support in a single window.

Pure CSS & No fixed or sticky.

I am searching fixed table header with auto "td" and "th" width for years. Finally i coded something, it's work well for me but i am not sure is it work well for everyone.

Problem 1: We can't set table or tbody height while have tons of "tr" it's because of default table properties.

Solution: Set table a display property.

Problem 2: When we set a display property, the width of "td" elements can't be equal width of "th" elements. And it is hard to fill elements properly in full width table like 100%.

Solution: CSS "flex" is very good solution for width and fill set-ups, so we will build our tbody and thead elements with CSS "flex".

.ea_table {
  border: 1px solid #ffffd;
  display: block;
  background: #fff;
  overflow-y: hidden;
  box-sizing: border-box;
  float: left;
  height:auto;
  width: 100%;
}

.ea_table tbody, thead {
  flex-direction: column;
  display: flex;
}

.ea_table tbody {
  height: 300px;
  overflow: auto;
}

.ea_table thead {
  border-bottom: 1px solid #ffffd;
}

.ea_table tr {
  display: flex;
}


.ea_table tbody tr:nth-child(2n+1) {
  background: #f8f8f8;
  }

.ea_table td, .ea_table th {
  text-align: left;
  font-size: 0.75rem;
  padding: 1.5rem;
  flex: 1;
}

<table class="ea_table">
    <thead>
      <tr>
        <th>Something Long</th>
        <th>Something </th>
        <th>Something Very Long</th>
        <th>Something Long</th>
        <th>Some</th>
      </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar Sit Amet</td>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum </td>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar Sit Amet</td>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar Sit Amet</td>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum </td>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar Sit Amet</td>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum </td>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar Sit Amet</td>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum </td>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar Sit Amet</td>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum </td>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar Sit Amet</td>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum </td>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar Sit Amet</td>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum </td>
        <td> Lorem </td>
        <td> Lorem Ipsum Dolar </td>
      </tr>

    </tbody>

  </table>

jsfiddle

Answer 3

Here is my copen pen on how to make fixed table header with scrollable rows and columns. The columns are also been fixed width, http://codepen.io/abhilashn/pen/GraJyp

<!-- Listing table -->
        <div class="row">
            <div class="col-sm-12">
                <div class="cust-table-cont">
                <div class="table-responsive">
                  <table border="0" class="table cust-table"> 
                    <thead>
                        <tr style="">
                          <th style="width:80px;">#</th> 
                          <th style="width:150px;" class="text-center"><li class="fa fa-gear"></li></th>  
                          <th style="width:250px;">Title</th>  
                          <th style="width:200px;">Company</th> 
                          <th style="width:100px;">Priority</th> 
                          <th style="width:120px;">Type</th>     
                          <th style="width:150px;">Assigned to</th> 
                          <th style="width:120px;">Status</th> 
                        </tr>
                      </thead>
                      <tbody>
                        <tr>
                          <th style="width:80px;">1</th>
                          <td style="width:150px;" class="text-center"><button class="btn btn-outline-danger del-icon"><span class="fa fa-trash-o"></span></button> <button class="btn btn-outline-success"><span class="fa fa-pencil"></span></button></td>
                          <td style="width:250px;">Lorem ipsum dolor sit</td>
                          <td style="width:200px;">lorem ispusm</td>
                          <td style="width:100px;">high</td>
                          <td style="width:120px;">lorem ipsum</td>
                          <td style="width:150px;">lorem ipsum</td>
                          <td style="width:120px;">lorem ipsum</td>
                        </tr>

                        <tr>
                          <th scope="row">2</th>
                          <td class="text-center"><button class="btn btn-outline-danger del-icon"><span class="fa fa-trash-o"></span></button> <button class="btn btn-outline-success"><span class="fa fa-pencil"></span></button></td>
                          <td>Lorem ipsum dolor sit</td>
                          <td>lorem ispusm</td>
                          <td>high</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                          <th scope="row">3</th>
                          <td class="text-center"><button class="btn btn-outline-danger del-icon"><span class="fa fa-trash-o"></span></button> <button class="btn btn-outline-success"><span class="fa fa-pencil"></span></button></td>
                          <td>Lorem ipsum dolor sit</td>
                          <td>lorem ispusm</td>
                          <td>high</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                          <th scope="row">4</th>
                          <td class="text-center"><button class="btn btn-outline-danger del-icon"><span class="fa fa-trash-o"></span></button> <button class="btn btn-outline-success"><span class="fa fa-pencil"></span></button></td>
                          <td>Lorem ipsum dolor sit</td>
                          <td>lorem ispusm</td>
                          <td>high</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                          <th scope="row">5</th>
                          <td class="text-center"><button class="btn btn-outline-danger del-icon"><span class="fa fa-trash-o"></span></button> <button class="btn btn-outline-success"><span class="fa fa-pencil"></span></button></td>
                          <td>Lorem ipsum dolor sit</td>
                          <td>lorem ispusm</td>
                          <td>high</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                          <th scope="row">6</th>
                          <td class="text-center"><button class="btn btn-outline-danger del-icon"><span class="fa fa-trash-o"></span></button> <button class="btn btn-outline-success"><span class="fa fa-pencil"></span></button></td>
                          <td>Lorem ipsum dolor sit</td>
                          <td>lorem ispusm</td>
                          <td>high</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                          <th scope="row">7</th>
                          <td class="text-center"><button class="btn btn-outline-danger del-icon"><span class="fa fa-trash-o"></span></button> <button class="btn btn-outline-success"><span class="fa fa-pencil"></span></button></td>
                          <td>Lorem ipsum dolor sit</td>
                          <td>lorem ispusm</td>
                          <td>high</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                          <th scope="row">8</th>
                          <td class="text-center"><button class="btn btn-outline-danger del-icon"><span class="fa fa-trash-o"></span></button> <button class="btn btn-outline-success"><span class="fa fa-pencil"></span></button></td>
                          <td>Lorem ipsum dolor sit</td>
                          <td>lorem ispusm</td>
                          <td>high</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                          <th scope="row">9</th>
                          <td class="text-center"><button class="btn btn-outline-danger del-icon"><span class="fa fa-trash-o"></span></button> <button class="btn btn-outline-success"><span class="fa fa-pencil"></span></button></td>
                          <td>Lorem ipsum dolor sit</td>
                          <td>lorem ispusm</td>
                          <td>high</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                          <th scope="row">10</th>
                          <td class="text-center"><button class="btn btn-outline-danger del-icon"><span class="fa fa-trash-o"></span></button> <button class="btn btn-outline-success"><span class="fa fa-pencil"></span></button></td>
                          <td>Lorem ipsum dolor sit</td>
                          <td>lorem ispusm</td>
                          <td>high</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                          <th scope="row">11</th>
                          <td class="text-center"><button class="btn btn-outline-danger del-icon"><span class="fa fa-trash-o"></span></button> <button class="btn btn-outline-success"><span class="fa fa-pencil"></span></button></td>
                          <td>Lorem ipsum dolor sit</td>
                          <td>lorem ispusm</td>
                          <td>high</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                          <th scope="row">12</th>
                          <td class="text-center"><button class="btn btn-outline-danger del-icon"><span class="fa fa-trash-o"></span></button> <button class="btn btn-outline-success"><span class="fa fa-pencil"></span></button></td>
                          <td>Lorem ipsum dolor sit</td>
                          <td>lorem ispusm</td>
                          <td>high</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                           <td>lorem ipsum</td>
                        </tr>
                    </tbody>
                  </table>
                </div>
                </div> <!-- End of cust-table-cont block -->
            </div>
        </div> <!-- ENd of row -->

.cust-table-cont { width:100%; overflow-x:auto; } 
.cust-table-cont .table-responsive { width:1190px;  }
.cust-table { table-layout:fixed;  } 
.cust-table thead, .cust-table tbody { 
display: block;
}
.cust-table tbody { max-height:620px; overflow-y:auto; } 

Answer 4

Likely you'll get multiple tables on one page, therefore you need CSS classes. Please find a modified @giulio's solution for that.

Just declare it in table:

<table class="table table-striped header-fixed"></table>

CSS

.header-fixed {
    width: 100% 
}

.header-fixed > thead,
.header-fixed > tbody,
.header-fixed > thead > tr,
.header-fixed > tbody > tr,
.header-fixed > thead > tr > th,
.header-fixed > tbody > tr > td {
    display: block;
}

.header-fixed > tbody > tr:after,
.header-fixed > thead > tr:after {
    content: ' ';
    display: block;
    visibility: hidden;
    clear: both;
}

.header-fixed > tbody {
    overflow-y: auto;
    height: 150px;
}

.header-fixed > tbody > tr > td,
.header-fixed > thead > tr > th {
    width: 20%;
    float: left;
}

Be aware that current implementation suits five columns only. If you need a different number, change the width parameter from 20% to *100% / number_of_columns*.

Answer 5

Update

For newer and still maintained library try jquery.floatThead (as mentioned by Bob Jordan in the comment) instead.

Old Answer

This is a very old answer, the library mentioned below no longer maintained.

I am using StickyTableHeaders on GitHub and it works like charm!

I had to add this css to make the header not transparent though.

table#stickyHeader thead {
  border-top: none;
  border-bottom: none;
  background-color: #FFF;
}

Answer 6

It is easier with css

table tbody { display:block; max-height:450px; overflow-y:scroll; }
table thead, table tbody tr { display:table; width:100%; table-layout:fixed; }