Looking for fixed headers on a window adjustable table

Question

I have tried looking all over the place and couldn't find a good solution to my problem. I am looking to create a table with fixed headers that stay while scrolling the rest of the table. The problem is I also want it to be able to be aligned when the page window adjusts. I have been able to get fixed headers and have been able to get columns to align when I adjust the window, just haven't be able to get both to work together. Is there a script out there that can do this? I have tried fixedheadertable jquery, flexigrid, fixed-header-coffee, chromatable and floatyhead. None of these were able to give me the solution I am looking for. Maybe I am doing something wrong but I have a traditional table using theader, tbody, etc. I would like to avoid splitting up the table into two tables, because it seems they never line up properly but if that's the only solution, I'll take it.

Please help!

Answer 1

Try this answer, It is working in IE8, Firefox and Chrome..

Style

    .Container { margin-left: 200px; background-color: green; overflow: scroll; overflow-x: hidden; height: 200px; }

    .BigTable { width: 100%; }

    .BigTable td { width: 40%; }

    .BigTable td + td { width: 30%; }

    .BigTable td + td + td { width: 30%; }

    .Header { margin-left: 200px; height: 30px; background-color: blue; }

    .Header .Heading { width: 40%; float: left; height: 30px; }

    .Header .Heading + .Heading  { width: 30%; }

    .Header .Heading + .Heading + .Heading { width: 30%; }

Table

<div class="Header">
    <div class="Heading">Heading 1</div>
    <div class="Heading">Heading 2</div>
    <div class="Heading">Heading 3</div>
</div>
<div class="Container">
    <table class="BigTable">
        <tbody class="scrollContent">
            <tr class="normalRow">
                <td>Cell Content 1</td>
                <td>Cell Content 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
            <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>More Cell Content 1</td>
                <td>More Cell Content 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
            <tr class="normalRow">
                <td>Even More Cell Content 1</td>
                <td>Even More Cell Content 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
        <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>

                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
        </tbody>
    </table>
</div>  

or try this

#listBevel, #listTable {
    position: absolute;
    z-index: 2;
    border: 1px solid #989898;
    top: 85px;
    left: 227px;
    right: 37px;
    height: 270px;
    min-width: 654px;
}

/* @group List Table Headers */

#listTableHeaders {
    position: absolute;
    z-index: 3;
    top: 67px;
    left: 39px;
    right: 37px;
    height: 500px;
    min-width: 654px;
    border: 1px solid #989898;
    overflow: hidden;
    overflow-y: scroll;
}

.tableHeaderShadow {
    background: url(/images/interface/bevel_shadow.png) repeat-x;
    position: fixed;
    height: 5px;
    top: 105px;
    right: 53px;
    left: 228px;
    min-width: 639px;
}

#scrollBarCoverContainer {
    position: fixed;
    z-index: 5;
    top: 86px;
    left: 228px;
    right: 38px;
    height: 0;
    min-width: 654px;
    font-size: 11px;
    border: 1px none #989898;
    text-align: right;
}

#scrollBarCoverUp {
    background: url(/images/interface/list_header_bg.png) repeat-x;
    width: 14px;
    height: 18px;
    border-left: 1px solid #e5e5e5;
    float: right;
}

table#entryListHeaders th img.sortArrow {
    float: right;
}

table#entryListHeaders th a {
    color: #000;
    text-decoration: none;
    display: block;
    height: 18px;
}

table#entryListHeaders th:hover {
    background-position: 0 -18px;
    cursor: default;
}

table#entryListHeaders th {
    background: url(/images/interface/list_header_bg.png) repeat-x;
    border-left: 1px solid #e5e5e5;
    border-right: 1px solid #a5a5a5;
    text-align: left;
    padding: 0 5px;
    margin: 0;
    white-space: nowrap;
    overflow: hidden;
    text-overflow: ellipsis;
    height: 18px;
    width: 42%;
    font-size: 11px;
    line-height: 1.6em;
    text-shadow: #fff 0 1px 0;
}
table#entryListHeaders th + th {
    width: 32%;
}

table#entryListHeaders th.selectedHeader {
    text-shadow: #d8e6ff 0 1px 0;
    background-image: url(/images/interface/list_header_selected.png);
    border-left-color: #c2d4f2;
}

#listTable {
    background-color: #fefefe;
    top: 104px;
    height: 251px;
    overflow: auto;
    overflow-x: hidden;
    overflow-y: scroll;
    font-size: 11px;
    border-collapse: collapse;
}

table#entryList {
}

table#entryList td {
    width: 42%;
}

span.truncateText {
    display: block;
    height: 18px;
    overflow: hidden;
}




tbody.scrollContent td, tbody.scrollContent tr.normalRow td {
    border-right: 1px hidden #cbd1d8;
    padding: 1px 5px;
    height: 18px;
    line-height: 1.6em;
    margin: 0;
    border-left-style: hidden;
    border-left-width: 1px;
}

tbody.scrollContent tr.alternateRow {
    background: #eaf2ff;
}

tbody.scrollContent tr.selectedRow td {
    background: url(/images/interface/selected_row.png) repeat-x;
    color: #fff;
    border-right-style: hidden;
}

table#entryList td + td {
    width: 32%;
}

tbody.scrollContent tr:hover, tbody.scrollContent tr.alternateRow:hover {
    background-color: #d8e7ff;
    cursor: default;
}




<div id="scrollBarCoverContainer">

        <div id="scrollBarCoverUp"></div>

        <div class="tableHeaderShadow"></div>


    </div>

    <div id="listTableHeaders">

        <table id="entryListHeaders" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">

        <thead class="fixedHeader">
            <tr>
                <th id="selectedHeader">Name</th>
                <th>Domain</th>

                <th>>Modified</th>
            </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody class="scrollContent">
            <tr class="normalRow">
                <td>Cell Content 1</td>
                <td>Cell Content 2</td>

                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
            <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>More Cell Content 1</td>
                <td>More Cell Content 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>

            <tr class="normalRow">
                <td>Even More Cell Content 1</td>
                <td>Even More Cell Content 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>



            <tr class="alternateRow">

                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>

                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>

                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>

                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>

                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>

            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">

                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>

                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>

                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>

                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>

            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">

                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>

                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>

                    <tr class="alternateRow">
                <td>And Repeat 1</td>
                <td>And Repeat 2</td>
                <td>Sep 16, 2007 01:54 AM</td>
            </tr>
        </tbody>
    </table>

</div>  

Answer 2

You can use just standard HTML/CSS. Specifically, utilize display/overflow/height in your CSS and thead/tbody in your HTML. Example CSS:

.scrollableTable tbody {
    display: block;
    overflow-y: auto;
    width: 100%;
    height: 50px;
}
.scrollableTable tr {
    display: block;
}
.scrollableTable td, .scrollableTable th {
    width: 50%;
}

Example HTML:

<table class="scrollableTable">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>Fruit</th>
            <th>Color</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <td>Apples</td>
            <td>Red</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Bananas</td>
            <td>Yellow</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Oranges</td>
            <td>Orange</td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

Answer 3

This is a progressive-enhancement solution that should be cross-browser compatible, thanks to jQuery.

    <!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title></title>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
    <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        var sizeColWidths = function() {
            // reset column widths (in case previously set)
            $('#fruitTable td, #fruitTable th').css('width', 'auto');
            $('#fruitTable').removeClass('scrollableTable');
            $('#fruitTable tbody').css('width', 'auto');
            // record current column widths
            var i=0, colWidth=new Array();
            $('#fruitTable th').each(function() {
                colWidth[i++] = $(this).outerWidth();
            });
            // freeze the current column widths
            $('#fruitTable tr').each(function() {
                var i=0;
                $('th, td', this).each(function() {
                    $(this).css('width', colWidth[i++] + 'px');
                })
            });
            // make the table body scroll (add tbody width for scroll bar)
            $('#fruitTable').addClass('scrollableTable');
            $('#fruitTable tbody').css('width', ($('#fruitTable thead').width() + 20) +'px');
        };
        $(document).ready(function() {sizeColWidths()});
        $(window).resize(function() {sizeColWidths()});
    </script>
    <style type="text/css">
        .scrollableTable tbody {
            display: block;
            height:50px;
            overflow-y:auto;
        }
        .scrollableTable tr {
            display: block;
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <table id="fruitTable">
        <thead>
            <tr>
                <th>Fruit</th>
                <th>Color</th>
            </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
            <tr>
                <td>Apples</td>
                <td>Red</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Bananas</td>
                <td>Yellow</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Grapes</td>
                <td>Purple</td>
            </tr>     
            <tr>
                <td>Limes</td>
                <td>Green</td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
                <td>Oranges</td>
                <td>Orange</td>
            </tr>
        </tbody>
    </table>
</body>
</html>

Answer 4

I modified above answer by Nate Barr. In the previous answer column alignment will become congested.

Style sheet

<style type="text/css">
.scrollableTable thead {
 display: block;
    //overflow-y: auto;
    width: 105%;
    height: 25px;
}
.scrollableTable tbody {
 display: block;
    overflow-y: auto;
    width: 105%;
    height: 200px;
}

Table

<table width="439" border="1" align="center" class="scrollableTable">
    <thead>
        <tr>
          <th width="20">No</th>
            <th width="140">Fruit</th>
          <th width="131">test</th>
          <th width="120">Color</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        <tr>
          <td>1</td>
            <td>Apples</td>
            <td>ohyoijmnpkjoijikjm;kl</td>
            <td>Red</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>2</td>
            <td>Bananas</td>
            <td>ghjghjghj</td>
            <td>Yellow</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>3</td>
            <td>Oranges</td>
            <td>hfkjhkjhkhjkl</td>
            <td>Orange</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>4</td>
          <td>fghgfmjhgjhgjhg</td>
          <td>hjkhjkgk</td>
          <td>fghfg</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>5</td>
          <td>fghfg</td>
          <td>fgjfjfd</td>
          <td>gfh</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>6</td>
          <td>fghfhj</td>
          <td>gjdfhgkgfk</td>
          <td>ghjgfk</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>7</td>
          <td>jkgfk</td>
          <td>hjfkgfk</td>
          <td>hjlklh</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>8</td>
          <td>hgjfgghjghj</td>
          <td>fgjkjhljk</td>
          <td>hjkj</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>9</td>
          <td>jhkjkf</td>
          <td>fgjghj</td>
          <td>gkhkfjghhgjgh</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>10</td>
          <td>fkjfhk</td>
          <td>hjg</td>
          <td>fjkhgk</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>11</td>
          <td>ghkkh</td>
          <td>fghd</td>
          <td>ghkgh</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>12</td>
          <td>kjhjklhgkjgljghjh</td>
          <td>hlg</td>
          <td>kjghkjhgkj</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>13</td>
          <td>kgk</td>
          <td>d</td>
          <td>kkjhgklh</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>14</td>
          <td>hkjhgkjhklj</td>
          <td>hjgk</td>
          <td>lhjljhgygyh</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>15</td>
          <td>ijihgjil</td>
          <td>fg</td>
          <td>lhjoklh</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>16</td>
          <td>lohkjl</td>
          <td>ghj</td>
          <td>lholhuhity</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>17</td>
          <td>kgjhgikghiu</td>
          <td>ghjk</td>
          <td>ljhljkyhklj</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>18</td>
          <td>kgihgik</td>
          <td>ghjg</td>
          <td>iuhgouygih8</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>19</td>
          <td>uoiughuiohou</td>
          <td>ghkkj</td>
          <td>oijhoiyhigouohu</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>20</td>
          <td>ihnohnjoikjnm</td>
          <td>fghfg</td>
          <td>ioojhjphiuhiuhohouh</td>
        </tr>            
    </tbody>
</table>

Answer 5

jQuery DataTables may not be quite what you're looking for, but have you looked into it? The datatables documentation includes a special section for "FixedHeader", so you have a number of implementations you can review.

http://datatables.net/examples/

Some relevant DataTables Fixed header examples from the documentation:

1. http://datatables.net/release-datatables/extras/FixedHeader/two_tables.html

   "The following example shows two ... tables both with FixedHeader enabled on them. The footer is also fixed..."

2. http://datatables.net/release-datatables/extras/FixedHeader/top_bottom_left_right.html

   "This example shows how FixedHeader can be made to look more like a spreadsheet application."