Using Calc() With Tables

Using calc() with tables

Tables have difficult rules about distributing the space of the columns because they distribute space dependent on the content of the cells by default. Calc (atm) just wont work with that.

What you can do however is to set the table-layout attribute for the table to force the child td elements to get the exact width you declared. For this to work you also need a width (100% works) on the table.

table{
   table-layout:fixed; /* this keeps your columns with at the defined width */
   width: 100%;        /* a width must be specified */

   display: table;     /* required for table-layout to be used 
                          (since this is the default value it is normally not necessary;
                          just included for completeness) */
}

and then use plain percentages on the remaining columns.

td.title, td.interpret{
    width:40%;
}
td.album{
    width:20%;
}

After using up the space for the fixed width columns, the remaining space is distributed between the columns with relative width.

For this to work you need the default display type display: table (as opposed to say, display: block). This however means you can no longer have a height (including min-height and max-height) for the table.

See your modified Example.

Using calc() in table

You must set table-layout property to 'fixed'.

See using calc() with tables

And working example: https://jsfiddle.net/rpyydd5n/3/

table-layout: fixed percentage and calc not working

If you have fixed table layout check "CSS Only Fixed Table Headers" on codepen

But if you have dynamic content or a lot of data in a table, you can use position: relative and change top property with js.

Here is a simple codepen to better understand how to do it.
Of course, there are some pros and cons of this method.

Pros

• all widths are calculated in browser-side, so your table header and columns are always the same width
• you use the same table row, so don't need to duplicate any data
• the only calculations on js side is scroll position and position of the header, no need to calculate column widths
• more table data don't slow down calculations, so basically table can be really big.

Cons:

• Js based solution
• scroll events can be really slow.
• more tables slow down calculations
• styling is very limited

Also, there are a lot of other js plugins to make table header fixed

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