Can we have multiple <tbody> in same <table>?

Solution 1:

Yes you can use them, for example I use them to more easily style groups of data, like this:

thead th { width: 100px; border-bottom: solid 1px #ddd; font-weight: bold; }
tbody:nth-child(odd) { background: #f5f5f5;  border: solid 1px #ddd; }
tbody:nth-child(even) { background: #e5e5e5;  border: solid 1px #ddd; }

<table>
    <thead>
        <tr><th>Customer</th><th>Order</th><th>Month</th></tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        <tr><td>Customer 1</td><td>#1</td><td>January</td></tr>
        <tr><td>Customer 1</td><td>#2</td><td>April</td></tr>
        <tr><td>Customer 1</td><td>#3</td><td>March</td></tr>
    </tbody>
    <tbody>
        <tr><td>Customer 2</td><td>#1</td><td>January</td></tr>
        <tr><td>Customer 2</td><td>#2</td><td>April</td></tr>
        <tr><td>Customer 2</td><td>#3</td><td>March</td></tr>
    </tbody>
    <tbody>
        <tr><td>Customer 3</td><td>#1</td><td>January</td></tr>
        <tr><td>Customer 3</td><td>#2</td><td>April</td></tr>
        <tr><td>Customer 3</td><td>#3</td><td>March</td></tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

You can view an example here. It'll only work in newer browsers, but that's what I'm supporting in my current application, you can use the grouping for JavaScript etc. The main thing is it's a convenient way to visually group the rows to make the data much more readable. There are other uses of course, but as far as applicable examples, this one is the most common one for me.

Solution 2:

Yes. From the DTD

<!ELEMENT table
     (caption?, (col*|colgroup*), thead?, tfoot?, (tbody+|tr+))>

So it expects one or more. It then goes on to say

Use multiple tbody sections when rules are needed between groups of table rows.

Solution 3:

According to this example it can be done: w3-struct-tables.

Solution 4:

Martin Joiner's problem is caused by a misunderstanding of the <caption> tag.

The <caption> tag defines a table caption.

The <caption> tag must be the first child of the <table> tag.

You can specify only one caption per table.

Also, note that the scope attribute should be placed on a <th> element and not on a <tr> element.

The proper way to write a multi-header multi-tbody table would be something like this :

<table id="dinner_table">
    <caption>This is the only correct place to put a caption.</caption>
    <tbody>
        <tr class="header">
            <th colspan="2" scope="col">First Half of Table (British Dinner)</th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th scope="row">1</th>
            <td>Fish</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th scope="row">2</th>
            <td>Chips</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th scope="row">3</th>
            <td>Peas</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th scope="row">4</th>
            <td>Gravy</td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
    <tbody>
        <tr class="header">
            <th colspan="2" scope="col">Second Half of Table (Italian Dinner)</th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th scope="row">5</th>
            <td>Pizza</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th scope="row">6</th>
            <td>Salad</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th scope="row">7</th>
            <td>Oil</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th scope="row">8</th>
            <td>Bread</td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

Solution 5:

Yes. I use them for dynamically hiding/revealing the relevant part of a table, e.g. a course. Viz.

<table>
  <tbody id="day1" style="display:none">
    <tr><td>session1</td><tr>
    <tr><td>session2</td><tr>
  </tbody>
  <tbody id="day2">
    <tr><td>session3</td><tr>
    <tr><td>session4</td><tr>
  </tbody>
  <tbody id="day3" style="display:none">
    <tr><td>session5</td><tr>
    <tr><td>session6</td><tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

A button can be provided to toggle between everything or just the current day by manipulating tbodies without processing many rows individually.