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Syntax and mark-up
Tables
The purpose of a table is to structure, organise and present factual data that a user will need to look up or reference. There are two general purpose table types in DITA: table and simpletable.
Nested tables
Simple tables can be inserted within a cell of an existing table to create complex nested tables. However, you should not use such complex tables.

Introduction
Information types and topics
Topics are the building blocks of modular documents, and organising topics by semantic information types is one of the architectural features of DITA.
DITA map files
Syntax and mark-up
- Organisation of DITA elements
  Elements in DITA are grouped together into a number of categories for organisational and comprehension purposes.
- Working with mark-up
- Element domains
  Elements in DITA are arranged into domains for organisational purposes and technical reasons.
- Short descriptions
  The short description (or shortdesc) is arguably the most important component of a DITA topic, and is also one of the most difficult elements to write. Short descriptions should be written for every topic.
- Lists
  The purpose of a list is to make it easier for the reader to understand sequences of information and collections of like information. Different types of lists are used for different information structures.
- Paragraphs
  Paragraphs are the basic components of topics. A paragraph (p) element should be a self-contained unit dealing with one idea or point, typically expressed in two or more related sentences. The p element should be used when no other semantically-specific block element is available.
- Procedures and steps
  The purpose of procedural documents is to explain to the reader how to accomplish tasks. The task information type is specifically designed for procedures, with a well-defined structure built around steps.
- Tables
  The purpose of a table is to structure, organise and present factual data that a user will need to look up or reference. There are two general purpose table types in DITA: table and simpletable.
  - Types of tables
    There are two different types of general purpose tables in DITA, table and simpletable, both of which are based on the CALS table model standard.
  - Working with tables
    Tables should be used for storing tabular information, and not to achieve formatting outcomes.
  - The keycol and refcols attributes
    The keycol and refcols attributes are used to control the way in which choicetable, simpletable and properties tables are processed to a reading format. The keycol attribute nominates which column is used for row headings, while refcols nominates which columns will be automatically linked (although this functionality is not yet implemented in all publishing tools).
  - Column and row headers
    Information in tables is most often arranged in columns, although some tables are arranged into rows, and complex tables into both rows and columns. Column headings are defined using the thead element, and row headings with the rowheader attribute on the table element or the keycol attribute on the simpletable element.
  - Nested tables
    Simple tables can be inserted within a cell of an existing table to create complex nested tables. However, you should not use such complex tables.
- Phrases
  The semantics of words and phrases in DITA content is expressed through a broad range of phrase elements.
- Special characters and dates
Language and punctuation
Graphics and figures
Cross-referencing
Cross-references are a means of binding individual topics into a coherent and navigable document.
Content re-use
Metadata, conditional processing, and indexing
The DITA documentation process
DITA authoring concepts
Moving from style-based authoring to a structured authoring methodology such as DITA requires a radically different approach to writing.

Nested tables

Simple tables can be inserted within a cell of an existing table to create complex nested tables. However, you should not use such complex tables.

DITA supports nested tables (table and simpletable) through a small workaround. While the DITA content model does not allow a table cell (entry element) to include a table element, it does allow a p element. And a p element can contain a table.

A table can therefore be nested within a table cell provided a paragraph is first added. This results in the following structure:

<table>
 <tbody>
  <row>
   <entry>
     <p><table>....</table></p>
   </entry>
  ...
  </row>
 </tbody>
</table>

In the interests of simplicity, you should not use nested tables. Complex tables can often be avoided by chunking the information into smaller units.

If the type of information is such that nested tables are absolutely necessary, you should only include simple tables (simpletable) within other tables. In other words, you should use a simpletable within a (normal) table, or a simpletable within a simpletable, but not a (normal) table within a (normal) table. The more complex structure of normal tables (such as titles and column specifications) may cause processing problems. It is not semantically sound to include a full table structure within an existing full table structure.

Note:

Some publishing tools cannot process nested tables.