Re: Tables loading question

> Dilemma is that we need one main enclosing table
> to fix the overall width and put percentages in the
> nested tables to control the page width.

hi chris

well, right there is your problem -- that's not the only way to do a page
but if that's the way you choose to do it, you have to live with the
consequences

no offence

> My boss is adamant about download times,

rightly so

> but i am arguing for a relatively fast compromise,
> but I need your input on how tables download.  I realize
> the browser must load the main table first.

um, not quite

there is a subtle difference between "download" and "render"

if you're using one big table to hold the entire page, then as far as
rendering is concerned, the browser will not show anything until the entire
page has downloaded

if you break it up into several "stacked" tables, the first one can be
rendered quickly, thus giving the page the appearance that something is
happening

factors affecting download time such as internet traffic, number of hops to
the user, size of the user's pipe, et cetera, are all beyond your control

however, size of your html page is within your control, as is whether you
choose to have one large table or not

>1) Is it less time to load a one row, one cell table than one
> with multiple rows and cells?

no, either way it is all ascii text (html source code) so downloading is
really quick

but i think you meant render, right?  you will never be able to detect the
diffence, i assure you -- once the page and images have downloaded,
rendering is almost instantaneous

okay, if the browser is running on an old 8088 with 64K memory, it might be
slower, but on current computers, you will not notice the difference

>2) Would the next download after the big table,  be the first nested table
> at the top, that's within the one big cell? (then the next and the next
etc.)

no, downloading is linear, top of page straight to the bottom

as far as rendering goes, this is way too complicated to go into, but it
should be obvious that simpler tables will render more quickly, and
separate tables even more so

>3) What exactly is the browser interpreting  -- the table tag structure or
>every single thing in the table?  Does that have a specific weight in
itself?

everything in the table

not sure what you mean by "weight"

>4) and HOW do i test something like this?

i would suggest not worrying about it too much, the best thing you can do
is stack several tables and keep your tables simple

hint: if you are using a lot of rowspans or colspans, break up your tables


rudy
http://rudy.ca/

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