HTML Element Box Attributes

A number of style attributes enables you to work with the box an element are drawn in, such as border, which enables you to draw a border around an element. You can see a sampling of such attributes in Table 21.5.

Table 21.5. HTML Element Box Style Attributes

Attribute	NS2	NS3	NS4	NS6	IE3a	IE3b	IE4	IE5	IE5.5	IE6
border			x	x			x	x	x	x
	CSS1: [ < border-width > < border-style > < color > ]
	CSS2: inherit
	Default:Varies
	Applies to: All elements
	This attribute is a shorthand attribute enabling you to set the width, color, and style for all four borders of a box at one time.
border-top, border-right, border-bottom, border-left				x			x	x	x	x
	CSS1: [ <border-top/right/bottom/left-width> <border style> <color> ]
	CSS2: inherit
	Default:Varies
	Applies to: All elements
	Sets the width, style, and color of the top, right, bottom, and left border of a box.
border-color			x	x			x	x	x	x
	CSS1: <color>{1,4} transparent
	CSS2: inherit
	Default:Varies
	Applies to: All elements
	Sets the color of the borders of a box.
border-top-color, border-right-color, border-bottom-color, border-left-color			x	x			x	x	x	x
	CSS1: <color>
	CSS2: inherit
	Default:Varies
	Applies to: All elements
	Specifies the color of a border of a box.
border-style			x	x			x	x	x	x
	CSS1: <border-style>{1,4}
	CSS2: inherit
	Default:Varies
	Applies to: All elements
	Specifies the style of the four borders of a box. You can give from one to four values at the same time.
border-top-style, border-right-style, border-bottom-style, border-left-style			x	x			x	x	x	x
	CSS1: <border-style>
	CSS2: inherit
	Default: none
	Applies to: All elements
	Specifies the style of a specific border of a box.
border-width			x	x			x	x	x	x
	CSS1: <border-width>{1,4}
	CSS2: inherit
	Default: Not defined
	Applies to: All elements
	Inherited: No
	This is a shorthand attribute for setting the border-top-width , border-right-width , border-bottom-width , and border-left-width attributes at once.
border-top-width, border-right-width, border-bottom-width, border-left-width			x	x			x	x	x	x
	CSS1: <border-width>
	CSS2: inherit
	Default: medium
	Applies to: All elements
	Sets the border widths of the sides of a box.
clear			x	x			x	x	x	x
	CSS1: none left right both
	CSS2: inherit
	Default: none
	Applies to: Block-level elements
	This attribute specifies to the browser that the sides of an element's box should not be next to a previous floating box.
height, width			x	x			x	x	x	x
	CSS1: <length> <percentage> auto
	CSS2: inherit
	Default: auto
	Applies to: All elements except inline elements, table columns , and column groups
	Sets the height or width of boxes.
margin			x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
	CSS1: <margin-width>{1,4}
	CSS2: inherit
	Default: Not defined
	Applies to: All elements
	This attribute is a shorthand attribute for specifying the margin-top , margin-right , margin-bottom ,and margin-left attributes all at once.
margin-top, margin-right, margin-bottom, margin-left			x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
	CSS1: <margin-width>
	CSS2: inherit
	Default:
	Applies to: All elements
	Correspond to the top, right, bottom, and left margin of a box.
max-height, max-width							x	x	x	x
	CSS2 : <length> <percentage> none inherit
	Default: none
	Applies to: All elements except non- replaced inline elements and table elements
	Set constraints on box heights and widths.
min-height, min-width							x	x	x	x
	CSS2: <length> <percentage> inherit
	Default:
	Applies to: All elements except non-replaced inline elements and table elements
	Enables you to set minimum box heights and widths.
padding			x	x			x	x	x	x
	CSS1: <length> <percentage>
	CSS2: inherit
	Default: Not defined
	Applies to: All elements
	This is a shorthand attribute for setting the padding-top , padding right , padding-bottom ,and padding-left attributes all at once.
padding-top, padding-right, padding-bottom, padding-left			x	x			x	x	x	x
	CSS1: <length> <percentage>
	CSS2: inherit
	Default:
	Applies to: All elements
	Specifies the top, right, bottom, and left box padding.