Your second question is easier to tackle: I'd say
+---+---+---+---+---+
| | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 1 +---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |
+---+ 6 +---+---+---+
| 7 | | 8 | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+
It may seem as though the "8" should be "underneath" the lower part of the
"6" cell, but this rendering makes sense if you look at it from the other
direction: Suppose you wanted the table I have drawn here. How else would
you mark it up?
(For what it's worth, Mosaic 2.0B for Windows renders it almost just like
that, if you add a "BORDER" attribute. It's only "almost" because the
second row is actually squashed a little, since it has no non-empty cells
except ones that span other rows.)
Your first question is harder. I don't know the answer. All I know is
that what Mosaic does is clearly wrong -- it gamely tries to make the "6"
cell and the "7" cell overlap each other, and the result is kind of
thin-ish border lines running through the middles of the cells. The
horizontal one goes right through the "6", and (if you add "align=center"
to the "7" cell), the vertical one goes right through the "7".
Maybe it's simply an invalid table. At least that will vindicate Mosaic
somewhat for doing something weird with it. :-)
mag
-- Tom Magliery ** NCSA ** 605 E Springfield ** Champaign IL 61820 ** USA