There is nothing in the spec -- or anywhere else -- that says
that the use of HTML is limited to online browsers. I can
cite two uses of HTML which do have a definition of a page:
the ICADD applications which convert HTML into Braille and large print,
and SCO's online documentation system which allows users to
print out whole chapters -- a collection of nodes -- can both
make use of table heads and feet.
For online uses, I can forsee browsers which present a persistent
head and foot while allowing you to scan the contents of the table.
In this example, the window is the virtual page.
>
> I like having the table footer defined at the end of the table body because
> it seems more natural to me, especially when I am authoring a *small* table
> by hand or via an SGML editor.
If you are authoring with an SGML editor, then it will be up to
that editor to decide how it will accomodate your needs --
possibly by reordering the screen presentation to match your
view of a table foot as an object which occurs at the end
of a table. If you are editing by hand -- oh, well... I guess
that you may have to adjust your conceptual model of a table foot,
just as you would have to do for a footnote which may not
occur at the bottom of a page online.
>
> - Bernie
Murray