Issue with table spacing

Question

I've set-up a table that populates based on a stored procedure that runs. The width of the div that the table is contained in is 96% of the page. The width of the table is 100%. The problem that I'm having is when I have two-three items populate the table there is a massive space in-between the items. I specify the space in the table, but that isn't working. I'm also having issues with the font being black. I took all the CSS out that pertained to <a></a> hyperlinks, but it's still not displaying the correct font color. Any suggestions?

 Dim con5 As New SqlConnection
    Dim cmd5 As New SqlCommand
    Dim index As Integer = 0
    Dim dt1 As New DataSet




    con5.ConnectionString = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings("ConnectionString")
    con5.Open()
    cmd5.Connection = con5
    cmd5.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure


    cmd5.CommandText = "ProductBreakdown"

    cmd5.Parameters.Add(New SqlParameter("ProductID", SqlDbType.Int)).Value = Session("Product")
    cmd5.Parameters.Add(New SqlParameter("DesignName", SqlDbType.VarChar, 50)).Value = Request.QueryString("o")




    Dim da1 As SqlDataAdapter = New SqlDataAdapter(cmd5)
    da1.Fill(dt1)

    Dim table1 As New HtmlTable

    Dim numells As Integer = 6


    dv = New DataView(dt1.Tables(0))
    Dim tablestring = ""
    Dim strTable As New StringBuilder()
    Dim rowIsOpen As Boolean = False
    Dim itmCounter As Integer = 0
    strTable.Append("<table width=""100%"" ""cellspacing=10px"" ""cellpadding=10px""> ")

    For Each dr As DataRowView In dv



        Dim crossover As String = dr("CrossoverID").ToString()
        Dim picid As String = dr("Description").ToString()
        Dim picdescrip As String = dr("DesignColor").ToString().ToUpper()
        Dim collectionname As String = dr("CollectionDescription").ToString().ToUpper()
        Dim designinfo As String = dr("DesignName").ToString()
        Session("Collection") = dr("CollectionDescription").ToString()
        'collectionname.ToUpper()
        ' For every 5 items create a new row.
        If itmCounter Mod 4 = 0 Then
            ' Since we want new row, first close any open row
            If rowIsOpen Then strTable.Append("</tr>")

            ' Start a new row and mark row as open so we can keep track
            strTable.Append("<tr>")
            rowIsOpen = True
        End If


        strTable.Append("<td><a href=""Sheet Vinyl Tile Product Page.aspx?p=" & crossover & "&o=" & designinfo & """>")
        strTable.Append("<img src=""Images/Products/" + picid + ".jpg""width=""188"" height=""188"" border=""0"""" /><br/><br/>")
        strTable.Append("<b><color=Black>" & collectionname & "</b><br />")
        strTable.Append(picdescrip & "</a></td>")

        itmCounter += 1

    Next
    ' Next

    ' Make sure we close any open rows
    If rowIsOpen Then strTable.Append("</tr>")

    If strTable.Length > 0 Then
        product.InnerHtml = "<table>" & _
            strTable.ToString() & _
            "</table>"
    End If

Answer 1

Tables have a specific role in HTML but you may want to use DIVs in this circumstance. DIVs will automatically float and reposition themselves based on the width of the browser.

Here is a example in jsFiddle

HTML

<div class="table">
    <div class="banner">The preferred developer response</div>
    <div class="cell">
        <img src="happy-icon.png">
    </div>
    ... 
    <div class="banner">Other emotions</div>
    <div class="cell">
        <img src="sad-icon.png">
    </div>
...
</div>

CSS

.table {
    margin-left: 50px;
    margin-right: 50px;
}
.banner {
    padding: 10px;
    margin-top: 20px;
    clear: both;
    background-color: #336699;
    color: white;
    font-weight: bold;
}
.cell {
    width:   150px;
    float: left;
}

Your code may look like this

Dim con5 As New SqlConnection
Dim cmd5 As New SqlCommand
Dim index As Integer = 0
Dim dt1 As New DataSet

con5.ConnectionString = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings("ConnectionString")
con5.Open()
cmd5.Connection = con5
cmd5.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure
cmd5.CommandText = "ProductBreakdown"
cmd5.Parameters.Add(New SqlParameter("ProductID", SqlDbType.Int)).Value = Session("Product")
cmd5.Parameters.Add(New SqlParameter("DesignName", SqlDbType.VarChar, 50)).Value = Request.QueryString("o")


Dim da1 As SqlDataAdapter = New SqlDataAdapter(cmd5)
da1.Fill(dt1)

dv = New DataView(dt1.Tables(0))

Dim strTable As New StringBuilder()
Dim itmCounter As Integer = 0
strTable.Append("<div class=""table""> ")

For Each dr As DataRowView In dv

    Dim crossover As String = dr("CrossoverID").ToString()
    Dim picid As String = dr("Description").ToString()
    Dim picdescrip As String = dr("DesignColor").ToString().ToUpper()
    Dim collectionname As String = dr("CollectionDescription").ToString().ToUpper()
    Dim designinfo As String = dr("DesignName").ToString()
    Session("Collection") = dr("CollectionDescription").ToString()

    strTable.Append("<div class=""cell""><a href=""Sheet Vinyl Tile Product Page.aspx?p=" & crossover & "&o=" & designinfo & """>")
    strTable.Append("<img src=""Images/Products/" + picid + ".jpg""width=""188"" height=""188"" border=""0"""" /><br/><br/>")
    strTable.Append("<b><color=Black>" & collectionname & "</b><br />")
    strTable.Append(picdescrip & "</a></div>")

    itmCounter += 1

Next
strTable.Append("</div>")
product.InnerHtml = strTable.ToString()

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