HTML <table> model or <div> model?

[inktherapy]

Hi,I have a page with table layout but when I convert it to PDF the design becomes different, the result is not the same as the page itself. Columns exploded, layout is totally thrashed! I was thinking if the problem is in the layout model?Help please I need an answer and advise.Thanks!

[Ingolme]

I always discourage the use of table for laying out websites. It's a whole lot of extra unnecessary mark-up and is not semantically correct. They are less flexible and harder to control too.Tables were a smart idea to make complex sites when CSS did not exist, but it's been over 8 years since then so people have to move on.

[jeffman]

Just to emphasize Ingolme's point: complex table-layouts were a pretty smart HACK before divs and CSS, but they were always a hack. The fact that there are school teachers and even college teachers who still promote that skill amazes me.

[inktherapy]

Hi,How do you convert an HTML to PDF in adobe professional? I want the PDF to be exactly same as the HTML layout! I still can't find any answers online... this is frustrating... hehehe.

[jlhaslip]

Try Open Office. A free, Open Source download.http://openoffice.org

[javaholic5]

complex table-layouts were a pretty smart HACK before divs and CSS, but they were always a hack.

Yeh, Originally tables were implemented to display data. Not layout.On the other hand, I always say that if I need to build a simple small page, then tables are OK.

[Ingolme]

Yeh, Originally tables were implemented to display data. Not layout.On the other hand, I always say that if I need to build a simple small page, then tables are OK.

I don't see what's so hard about making a "simple page" in CSS. Really, once you're used to it, you simply cannot go back to tables.With CSS you just need to write something like this:

<div id="title"></div><div id="menu"></div><div id="main"></div><div id="footer"></div>

And add a bit of CSS:

#menu { width: 160px; float: left; }#main { margin-left: 160px; }#footer { clear: both; }

With tables that loks something like this:

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">  <tr><td colspan="2"></td></tr>  <tr>	<td class="menu"></td>	<td></td>  </tr>  <tr><td colspan="2"></td></tr></table>

with this CSS:

.menu { width: 160px; }

I don't know about you, but I just find the table method much longer and harder to do. Aside from that, if you put a really long word in the menu it's going to make the menu wider no matter what you try to do to stop it.