While HTML list boxes are fine for providing a user with a simple list of options, they tend to fall short when you find yourself needing to display multiple columns of information in your selection lists. This article will describe techniques that you can use to create a multiple column selection list that looks much like the selection lists that you would find in a typical desktop application. It's when you start to take all of these different components and use them together that things start to get interesting.
Lets start off by looking at the basic components.
By separating our headers from the list, we prevent the annoying behavior of having our headers scroll out of view as the user scrolls through the list. Placing your list into a frame will also bring about other benefits. For one, you can place a third frame into this main window that displays details about items as the user selects them. These details remain in view on the screen, even as the user scrolls through your list. Another benefit of using frames is that it allows you to specify marginWidth and marginHeight for your list window, values that you need to be aware of when handling row highlighting in Netscape.