Since, <table>
element is the one of the most complex structures in HTML, HTML DOM provide new interface HTMLTableElement with special properties and methods for manipulating the layout and presentation of tables in an HTML document.
So, if you want to accomplish expected result using DOM standards you can use something like this:
HTML:
<ul>
<li>
<label for="column">Add a Column</label>
<input type="number" id="column" />
</li>
<li>
<label for="row">Add a Row</label>
<input type="number" id="row" />
</li>
<li>
<input type="button" value="Generate" id="btnGen" />
<input type="button" value="Copy to Clipboard" id="copy" />
</li>
</ul>
<div id="wrap"></div>
JS new:
JavaScript was improved.
(function (window, document, undefined) {
"use strict";
var wrap = document.getElementById("wrap"),
setColumn = document.getElementById("column"),
setRow = document.getElementById("row"),
btnGen = document.getElementById("btnGen"),
btnCopy = document.getElementById("btnCopy");
btnGen.addEventListener("click", generateTable);
btnCopy.addEventListener("click", copyTo);
function generateTable(e) {
var newTable = document.createElement("table"),
tBody = newTable.createTBody(),
nOfColumns = parseInt(setColumn.value, 10),
nOfRows = parseInt(setRow.value, 10),
row = generateRow(nOfColumns);
newTable.createCaption().appendChild(document.createTextNode("Generated Table"));
for (var i = 0; i < nOfRows; i++) {
tBody.appendChild(row.cloneNode(true));
}
(wrap.hasChildNodes() ? wrap.replaceChild : wrap.appendChild).call(wrap, newTable, wrap.children[0]);
}
function generateRow(n) {
var row = document.createElement("tr"),
text = document.createTextNode("cell");
for (var i = 0; i < n; i++) {
row.insertCell().appendChild(text.cloneNode(true));
}
return row.cloneNode(true);
}
function copyTo(e) {
prompt("Copy to clipboard: Ctrl+C, Enter", wrap.innerHTML);
}
}(window, window.document));
JS old:
(function () {
"use strict";
var wrap = document.getElementById("wrap"),
setColumn = document.getElementById("column"),
setRow = document.getElementById("row"),
btnGen = document.getElementById("btnGen"),
copy = document.getElementById("copy"),
nOfColumns = -1,
nOfRows = -1;
btnGen.addEventListener("click", generateTable);
copy.addEventListener("click", copyTo);
function generateTable(e) {
var newTable = document.createElement("table"),
caption = newTable.createCaption(),
//tHead = newTable.createTHead(),
//tFoot = newTable.createTFoot(),
tBody = newTable.createTBody();
nOfColumns = parseInt(setColumn.value, 10);
nOfRows = parseInt(setRow.value, 10);
caption.appendChild(document.createTextNode("Generated Table"));
// appendRows(tHead, 1);
// appendRows(tFoot, 1);
appendRows(tBody);
(wrap.hasChildNodes() ? wrap.replaceChild : wrap.appendChild).call(wrap, newTable, wrap.firstElementChild);
}
function appendColumns(tElement, count) {
var cell = null,
indexOfRow = [].indexOf.call(tElement.parentNode.rows, tElement) + 1,
indexOfColumn = -1;
count = count || nOfColumns;
for (var i = 0; i < count; i++) {
cell = tElement.insertCell(i);
indexOfColumn = [].indexOf.call(tElement.cells, cell) + 1;
cell.appendChild(document.createTextNode("Cell " + indexOfColumn + "," + indexOfRow));
}
}
function appendRows(tElement, count) {
var row = null;
count = count || nOfRows;
for (var i = 0; i < count; i++) {
row = tElement.insertRow(i);
appendColumns(row);
}
}
function copyTo(e) {
prompt("Copy to clipboard: Ctrl+C, Enter", wrap.innerHTML);
}
}());
If you want to copy generated result to clipboard you can look at answer of Jarek Milewski - How to copy to the clipboard in JavaScript?