CSS table column autowidth

Question

Given the following how do i make my last column auto size to its content? (The last column should autosize-width to the content. Suppose i have only 1 li element it should shrink vs. having 3 li elements etc):

            <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
            <thead><!-- universal table heading -->
                <tr>
                    <td class="tc first"><input type="checkbox" value="true" name="data-1-check-all" id="data-1-check-all"></td>
                    <td class="tc">Type</td>
                    <th>File</th>
                    <th>Sample</th>
                    <th>Action</th>
                </tr>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
                <tr>
                    <td>Division 1</td>
                    <td>Division 2</td>
                    <td>Division 3</td>
                    <td>Division 4</td>
                    <td>Division 5</td>
                </tr>
                <tr>
                    <td>Division 1</td>
                    <td>Division 2</td>
                    <td>Division 3</td>
                    <td>Division 4</td>
                    <td class="last">
                        <ul class="actions">
                            <li><a class="iconStats" href="#">Statystyki</a></li>
                            <li><a class="iconEdit" href="#">Edytuj</a></li>
                            <li><a class="iconDelete" href="#">Usuń</a></li>

                        </ul>
                    </td>
                </tr>
            </tbody>
        </table>

Css:

table { table-layout: fixed; width: 100%; }
table tr { border-bottom:1px solid #e9e9e9; }
table thead td, th {border-left: 1px solid #f2f2f2; border-right: 1px solid #d5d5d5; background: #ddd url("../images/sprites4.png") repeat-x scroll 0 100% ; font-weight: bold; text-align:left;}
table tr td, th { border:1px solid #D5D5D5; padding:15px;}
table tr:hover { background:#fcfcfc;}
table tr ul.actions {margin: 0;}
table tr ul.actions li {display: inline; margin-right: 5px;}

Answer 1

You could specify the width of all but the last table cells and add a table-layout:fixed and a width to the table.

You could set

table tr ul.actions {margin: 0; white-space:nowrap;}

(or set this for the last TD as Sander suggested instead).

This forces the inline-LIs not to break. Unfortunately this does not lead to a new width calculation in the containing UL (and this parent TD), and therefore does not autosize the last TD.

This means: if an inline element has no given width, a TD's width is always computed automatically first (if not specified). Then its inline content with this calculated width gets rendered and the white-space-property is applied, stretching its content beyond the calculated boundaries.

So I guess it's not possible without having an element within the last TD with a specific width.

Answer 2

The following will solve your problem:

td.last {
    width: 1px;
    white-space: nowrap;
}

Answer 3

If you want to make sure that last row does not wrap and thus size the way you want it, have a look at

td {
 white-space: nowrap;
}

Answer 4

use auto and min or max width like this:

td {
max-width:50px;
width:auto;
min-width:10px;
}