help..weird bug using a list in a table cell

[kmaddox1]

This has happened a couple of times now and I can't figure out why. Below are two screen shots of a page created in RH8. The first screen shot is from within RH when I clicked View Item. Notice that the second row of the table includes a bulleted list and a note inside a box, which is also how it looks when I edit the topic. The second screen shot is from the generated WebHelp. The second bullet and the note now appear ABOVE the table.

The HTML for the table is pasted below the screen shots. Can anyone help me figure out what's wrong?

<table class="TableRTP" cellspacing="0">
  <tr class="t1st">
   <td><p class="tableheading">Field</p></td>
   <td><p class="tableheading">Specify…</p></td>
  </tr>
  <tr class="t2Row">
   <td><p class="tabletext">Language</p></td>
   <td><p class="TableText">Select a language from the drop-down
    list. For example, select <span style="font-weight: bold;">English
    (United States)</span>.</p>
   <p class="tableNote">The Languages in the drop-down list are
    defined using Session Language administration. Refer to the
    <a href="../../RTPOneAdministrationUsersGuide/SystemAdministration/SystemManagement/sessionlanguage.htm"
     target="_blank" id="a1">online help for RTP|ONE Administration</a>.</p></td>
  </tr>
  <tr class="t1Row">
   <td><p class="tabletext">Default</p></td>
   <td><ul type="disc">
    <li class="p-TableText"><p class="TableText">If selected,
     this is will be the default language for this eStore site.</p></li>
    <li class="p-TableText"><p class="TableText">If not selected,
     another language will be the default language.</p></li>
   </ul>
   <p class="tableNote">An eStore site can have only one default
    language.</p></td>
  </tr>
  <tr class="t2Row">
   <td><p class="tabletext">Language Description</p></td>
   <td><p class="TableText">Enter a description for this language.
    This is text that eStore customers will see when selecting
    the language in a multi-language eStore.</p>
   <p class="tableNote">To use text with special characters, simply
    copy the text from another application and paste it in the
    text box.</p></td>
  </tr>
</table>

[kmaddox1]

A bit more information. I was able to temporarily fix the problem, by removing all formatting (including the list) from the table. I then formatted the cells with my TableHead and TableText tags and things still looked good. However, after I selected the two list items and clicked the Bullet icon in the ribbon, they were bulleted as expected in the View Item mode, but broken in the generated output.

[Willam_van_Weelden · Accepted solution]

Hi,

The HTML of the table looks correct. How does the HTML around the table look? (It looks like the table is inside a list). Perhaps you can share an example topic so we can try working with it.

Greet,

Willam

[MergeThis]

Might it be that the three table rows in the internal table are classed t2Row-t1Row-t2Row, with the t1Row the one whose text is jumping out of the external table? Can't tell without seeing the css for those classes.

BTW, that cell also contains a typo: "If selected, this is will be..."

Good luck,

Leon

[kmaddox1]

ooh. good catch on that typo!    I should submit all of my topics to the forum just to get some extra copyediting! As for the list bug in the table, I'm still playing with it, trying to figure it out. Yes, the table is within a bulleted list, but I do that in many, many topics without error. And I'm using my standard table style, which has the t2row, t1row, t2row tags. 99% of the time these topics work, but every so often I find one that's broken.  It's helpful to know that the HTML for the table is good though. I'll take a look at the CSS.

[kmaddox1]

The problem turned out to be that the </li> tag for the Enter the following information numbered list item appeared before the <table> tag. As soon as I moved the </li> for this list item to after the </table> tag (as shown below), the bulleted list within the table worked as expected. Here's the corrected html:

<li class="p"><p>Enter the following information:</p>
<table class="TableRTP" cellspacing="0">
  <col width="96" />
  <col width="727" />
  <tr class="t1st">
   <td><p class="TableHeading">Field</p></td>
   <td><p class="TableHeading">Specify…</p></td>
  </tr>
  <tr class="t2Row">
   <td><p class="TableText">Language</p></td>
   <td><p class="TableText">Select a language from the drop-down
    list. For example, select <span style="font-weight: bold;">English
    (United States)</span>.</p>
   <p class="tableNote">The Languages in the drop-down list are
    defined using Session Language administration. Refer to the
    <a href="../../RTPOneAdministrationUsersGuide/SystemAdministration/SystemManagement/sessionlanguage.htm"
     target="_blank" id="a1">online help for RTP|ONE Administration</a>.</p></td>
  </tr>
  <tr class="t1Row">
   <td><p class="TableText">Default</p></td>
   <td><ul type="disc">
    <li><p class="TableText"><span style="font-weight: bold;">If
     selected</span>, this will be the default language for
     this eStore site.</p></li>
    <li><p class="TableText"><span style="font-weight: bold;">If
     not selected</span>, another language will be the default.</p></li>
   </ul>
   <p class="tableNote">An eStore site can have only one default
    language.</p></td>
  </tr>
  <tr class="t2Row">
   <td><p class="TableText">Language Description</p></td>
   <td><p class="TableText">Enter a description for this language.
    This is text that eStore customers will see when selecting
    the language in a multi-language eStore.</p>
   <p class="tableNote">To use text with special characters, simply
    copy the text from another application and paste it in the
    text box.</p></td>
  </tr>
</table></li>

[Willam_van_Weelden]

Hi,

This makes sense, as all items in a list have to be inside the <li></li> tags. This includes tables, divs and other lists. Mostly, browsers are forgiving if you place content outside the li tags, but you seem have hit a weak spot. Glad it's solved.

Greet,

Willam

[kmaddox1]

Thanks, Willam. That's very useful information. What's frustrating is that the HTML renders just fine within Robohelp and when you view an individual topic. The coding error doesn't appear until you generate the Webhelp, making it a nasty little bug to find. I'll be more careful with my tables going forward....