How to add a dotted line or add padding to td border

Question

The below image is already close to the solution i am looking for (see my codepen ). The only thing that is missing is a padding / gap between the outline border of <tbody> or <thead> and the border of the <td>

Questions

• What approach would you take if you had to create something that looks like the image above?
• How can i achieve that the dotted lines have some gap between the border of the td (/ tr) and the outline of either tr or tbody or table?

Code

You can take a look at the code on codepen . My CSS approach is this

 table { width: 100%; } /** outline: 0.5pt solid; outline-color: black; border-spacing: .2em 0em; **/ thead, tbody { outline: 0.5pt solid; outline-color: black; } th.sgn { border-bottom: 1pt dotted blue; padding-top: 1ex;} td.sgn { border-bottom: 1pt dotted blue; padding-top: 1ex;}

 <table> <colgroup> <col width="20%"> <col width="35%"> <col width="15%"> <col width="30%"> </colgroup> <thead> <tr> <th>Werkzeugnr:</th> <th class="sgn"> &nbsp; </th> <th>Index</td><th class="sgn"></th> </tr> <tr class="sml"> <th colspan="4"> &nbsp; </th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr><th colspan="4"><h3>Bitte ausfüllen und abheften:</h3></th></tr> </tbody> <tbody> <tr> <td>Einbaudatum;</td><td class="sgn"> &nbsp; </td> <td>Name</td><td class="sgn"> &nbsp:</td> </tr> <tr><td>Anlaufprobleme:</td><td><input type="checkbox"></td><td colspan="2">Bitte Grund angeben</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

Answer 1

I would achieve that spacing with ::before and ::after pseudo classes.

1. First, give elements you want to give space a unique class (eg .spaced ).

<td class="spaced sgn" colspan="3"> &nbsp; </td>

2. Then, give it a relative position so ::before and ::after get positioned relative to it:

.spaced {
  position: relative;
}

3. Add ::before and ::after with the width you want as space, and position them to left and right respectively:

.spaced::before,
.spaced::after {
  content: "";
  position: absolute;
  width: 1rem;
  height: 1rem;
  background: white;
  bottom: -0.5rem;
}

.spaced::before {
  left: 0;
}

.spaced::after {
  right: 0;
}

CodePen: https://codepen.io/moaaz_bs/pen/xxPJoQL?editors=1100

Answer 2

What approach would you take if you had to create something that looks like the image above?

CSS Pseudo elements are perfect for this use case.

.sgn::after {
  content: '';
  position: absolute;
  border-bottom: 2px dotted blue;
  width: 20%;
}

You can adjust this to your liking, I couldn't figure out what width to get it to work but I'm sure you will be able to.