ADF FACES: af:table and cellpadding

Question

How do I control the basic table attributes of cellspacing and cellpadding when using an af:table with sortable headers?
I have searched through the documentation, and it's not clear at all. The attributes you'd expect (ala h:table) are not legal on af:table.
Thanks.

Answer 1

Andy, thanks for picking up this thread - I know the demands of a development schedule :-)
The problem with no padding on the table is that the data becomes very difficult to read when the cell contents are fairly uniform in size. You need padding around the contents in order to make it easy to read. Also, you should have some control over the border size (cell spacing) in order to create specific visual effects. I need control over the alignment of the cell contents. Not just left, right, and center, but also control over the vertical alignment as well. Finally, some control over things like background color and border color would be very helpful.
Although abstracting away from the underlying HTML has merits from a device independence perspective, there are capabilities in the HTML model that should not be lost in the process. Since HTML is the underlying view model in almost all cases, we should have proper control over that view. I don't really care how the functionality is realized, but tables are one of the most versatile components in HTML and we need solid control of that component from the ADF abstractions. The ability to control the table cell layout is just one example. Also, L&F guidelines should be just that - guidelines. The defaults should provide your goal L&F, but the developer should have the capability to override that guideline to meet specific project needs.
Thanks,
Larry.