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Make column width same for 2 tables

I am trying to implement a table structure in which the header remains fixed when i scroll down. I have used 2 tables for this purpose. The first table has the header values and the second table have the corresponding data(length of data in each column might vary as the data is populated dynamically). The problem is that the header width and data column width are not matching exactly.
I have written some code like shown below to dynamically alter the column width
$('#tdCheckAllBody').width($('#tdCheckAllHead').width());
$('#tdLoginBody').width($('#tdLoginHead').width());
$('#tdStatusBody').width($('#tdStatusHead').width());
$('#tdFNameBody').width($('#tdFNameHead').width());
$('#tdLNameBody').width($('#tdLNameHead').width());
$('#tdCompBody').width($('#tdCompHead').width());
But it doesnt seem to work properly. Any help appreciated.

Use this method
$(window).scroll(function(){
$("#id of the table header").offset({top:$("#id of the control which u placed the scrolling").scrollTop()});
});

Created a working fiddle for this:
http://jsfiddle.net/terjeto/dx7H5/
Offcourse if your case is different, you might need to tweak a litle. In my opinion the problematic areas are if the table use dynamic or % width and coping with the "auto" scrollbar which takes up approx 18px, and offcourse if the table needs horizontal scrollbars it complicates things a litle needing the onscroll event.
Could it be that your exmple is not accurate because of lacking reset-css code?
I use this: http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/reset/

Fixed Header/Scrollable Table with Variable Width

I realize this question has been asked quite a bit on Stack Overflow; however, after looking through a number of them, I believe my question has one more requirement. I want to transform a regular html table, into a table that can be scrolled both vertically and horizontally, while the the header remains at the top. The width of this table exceeds the width of the page, so I need the headers to move horizontally as the table is scrolled. I would prefer to use a pure CSS method; however, I will use Javascript if necessary. Have yet to find a solution that does all of this.

This solution might work for you depending on the style of your headers. It's pure CSS.
http://salzerdesign.com/blog/?p=191

Why would you not just use a and set a height and width for it allowing overflow. Then just simply place your table in there and you are good to go.
To me that just seems like the most logic and easiest way to go about it...

well you can use JQuery to do this in few lines of code,
you can see my other post to create a table with fix header
and scrollable body
Create Table with scrollable body
after that lets imagine you have one div for the headers with class name = "Top1" and one div for the body with class name = "Top2", you can bind the scroll of one to the other
$('.Top2').bind('scroll', function(){
$(".Top1").scrollLeft($(this).scrollLeft());
});
$('.Top1').bind('scroll', function(){
$(".Top2").scrollLeft($(this).scrollLeft());
});
jsFliddle demo

Here is a good jQuery plugin, working in all browsers! (check out the demo)
The result is a table with a fixed header, scrolling (for the moment..) only vertically, but with a variable width.
I develop this plugin to meet the problem of fixed header + flexible width.
Check it: https://github.com/benjaminleouzon/tablefixedheader

JQGrid How do I removed the annoying horizontal scrollbar when autowidth = true? (In IE)

I seem to be getting an annoying horizontal scrollbar when using autowidth=true in IE
What is going on here and how do I get rid of it?

I got perfect Solution. The problem is in CSS. In ui-jqgrid.css the table layout is in Fixed. Make it as auto it will work perfectly. I just copied the same class i.e.,
.ui-jqgrid .ui-jqgrid-btable
{
table-layout:auto;
}

Make your grid tall enough to contain all the rows. The horizontal scrollbar is there because the vertical scrollbar is taking up some of the width normally used by the rows.

Set the scrollOffset option to something like 20 - 30, this will fix the horizontal scrollbar adjustment problem.

Set the scrollOffset to 18 - it's solve the problem.
Quick and effective.
Thanks, Corey Schomer!

setting table-layout: auto could be slow. if you have lots of data
this is from w3school (http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/pr_tab_table-layout.asp)
Automatic table layout algorithm (this is default):
The column width is set by the widest unbreakable content in the cells
Can be slow, since it needs to read through all the content in the table, before determining the final layout

Scrollable HTML table with top row and left column frozen

Has anyone been able to implement a scrollable table in HTML where the TOP row and LEFT columns are frozen, but the rest of the table is scrollable? A perfect example of this is:
Google Squared
I tried to reverse engineer the code for the google squared table, but I have been unsuccessful so far.
Note: I need the ability to FREEZE the TOP ROW and the LEFT COLUMN at the same time.

There's a working example at http://ajaxian.com/archives/freeze-pane-functionality that should be easy to duplicate. Be sure to note the comments -- many of the users have made helpful suggestions for improving the script.
Per #Nirk's request, a direct link to the active demo is at http://www.disconova.com/open_source/files/freezepanes.htm.

Go with a basic structure like this-
table
row
column (blank)
column
table (1 row high, column headers)
row
column
table (1 column wide, row headers)
column
div (fixed height & width, overflow auto)
table (actual data)
Set a fixed table-layout and specify column widths in pixels explicitly. You should be able to achieve the same effect.

i have a version of this in use (for a Gantt-chart style display).
it uses 3 tables: 1 for left column (the rows), 1 for top (columns), and then the data.
you need to work hard to get the cells to match sizes with the ones they match up to (
table layout-fixed can help achieve this).
The tables then are placed in some divs; the left and top divs have (as suggested above) height & width and overflow-auto in their css.
You then hook up some javascript to sync the scrolling of the left / top divs with the inner one...
As I recall there was a fair bit of 'curse-and-try-again', but it can be done with minimal js.
hth

If you use jQuery there's a lot of plugins for tables with fixed head.

You need Scrollable (jQuery plugin)
Demo is here

Table Row SHOW / HIDE *Without* Column Width Resizing, w/ TableLayout: auto

I have table with multiple rows, showing items for sale. When the user clicks on a row, a Javascript inserts / shows a new row right beneath it with details about the item. The issue is when the description is long, it forces the column widths to readjust / resize. This shifts the columns positions and is really annoying, especially for the user. Right now, I have my table.style.tableLayout: auto. I actually prefer it this way, because the columns are adjusted to the content.
My question is: how do I dynamically "lock" the widths of the columns in my table so that when I insert / show the new row, the columns do not readjust / resize?
I've tried:
dynamically setting the table to temporarily "tableLayout: fixed"
inserting / showing my new row
changing the table back to "tableLayout: auto"
Actions 1 & 2 works in in FireFox, but not in Safari and IE (6 & 7). However, doing all three seems to prevent the columns from shifting too much.
The frustration is unbearable ... loosing lots of sleep ... please help!
Thanks.

For those looking for the code (this is done in jQuery). This also assumes the first row has the proper widths for each cell. Pretty easy changes if needed.
$('table.class_of_table_to_fix tr:first td').each(function() {
$(this).css({'width': $(this).width()+"px"});
});

I would set a percent width on each column simply as a guide. Set it just once on the TH of each column. The browser will still adjust the columns to content if necessary, but the columns will stay in place more consistently.
Next, I would never put css "white-space:nowrap" anywhere on that table. A long description should not break the table layout, it should wrap around properly on multiple lines, and be readable if you set the widths on each column to suit the type of data. Similarly I would keep the use of (non breakable spaces) to dates, times and numbers and allow the text to wrap.
Other than that, I do this at my job on a dialy basis, and there's a time when you need to stop ulling hairs asking the browser to do something it's not designed to do. Content should flow and adapt. Locking column widths to pixels is 99.99999% of the time a bad idea.
PS: If you really, reeally, REALLY need to lock columns, the only solution I'm aware of that works with CSS2 and accross all browsers is to use images. You could insert a 1px high transparent gif image in each column, and counting in the padding of the cells (TD), set a pixel width on each image (IMG), instead of on the columns (TH/TD). You could hide those in the TH for example. You can leave the images at 1 pixel wide and set percent widths on TDs, and when you open a new row, you would get each column width minus TD Padding, and set that to the corresponding IMG. I haven't tried! I just know that in many projects I've worked on, I've used small gif images to lock a minimum vertical spacing between columns, for example.

I had a similar problem when I was implementing a table with groups that could be toggled. I wanted the initial ratio between the columns to stay the same without fixing the widths of the columns. By default the browser would change the widths depending on the visibility of the table's rows, which was undesirable.
I went ahead and followed #faB's suggestion of applying percentages, but doing so using a small script that would calculate the percentages of the th elements and apply them after the initial render. This made my columns stay the same width, even with all rows hidden.
Here's the script, which uses jQuery:
(function($){
var lock_widths = function() {
var total_width = $('table').innerWidth();
var headers = $('table th');
var leftover = 100;
$.each(headers, function(ix, el) {
var header = $(el), width;
// on the last call use the leftover percentage
if (ix == headers.length - 1) {
width = leftover;
} else {
leftover -= width = header.outerWidth() / total_width * 100;
}
header.css({'width': width + '%'});
});
};
$(document).ready(lock_widths);
})(jQuery);
Tested in IE7+, Firefox and Chrome. This works for my special case because I have header columns as a reference, but it could be rewritten to measure some other columns.

You can display the details of the row beneath the clicked one in DIV and set its
style="overflow:auto";
so that details will wrap and scrollbar will be available to display entire text.

I don´t know if you´re familiar with jquery, but that´s what I would use - in combination with a separate class for the column that´s causing resizing in the new row - to:
Calculate / get the with of the column
Set the with of the afore mentioned class
Add the row
I haven´t tried it, but that should do it.
By the way, there are probably other ways to do it, I´m just more familiar with jquery (for point 1. and 2.).