topic Re: Issue with HTML Table Styling in Databricks Alerts in Data Engineering

Issue with HTML Table Styling in Databricks Alerts

VKe — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 13:53:50 GMT

Hi Community,

I’m trying to create an alert in Databricks with a custom email notification that includes the results of a SQL query displayed in an HTML table. However, I am facing issues with styling the table, specifically with adding borders and background colors to the headers.

Here is the HTML code I am currently using:

<table border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"> <tr style="background-color: black; color: white; font-weight: bold;"> <th>Project Name</th> <th>Jira ID</th> <th>Category</th> <th>Site</th> </tr> <tbody> {{#QUERY_RESULT_ROWS}} <tr> <td>{{Project_Name}}</td> <td>{{Jira_ID}}</td> <td>{{Category_1}}</td> <td>{{Site}}</td> </tr> {{/QUERY_RESULT_ROWS}} </tbody> </table>

The table renders correctly with the data, but the following issues persist:

Borders do not appear around the cells.
Background color for the header row doesn’t display.
Overall table styling (such as cellpadding and cellspacing) doesn’t seem to be applied.

I have tried several variations, including inline styles, but nothing seems to work. Is there a limitation with HTML and CSS in Databricks alerts, or am I missing something in the implementation?

Any guidance or solutions on how to display a properly styled table in the alert email would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Re: Issue with HTML Table Styling in Databricks Alerts

szymon_dybczak — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 14:34:40 GMT

Hi @VKe ,

That's because only subsets of html tags and attributes are supported in alerts:

You can use HTML to format messages in a custom template. The following tags and attributes are allowed in templates:

https://docs.databricks.com/en/sql/user/alerts/index.html

Tags: <a>, <abbr>, <acronym>, <b>, <blockquote>, <body>, <br>, <code>, <div>, <em>, <h1>, <h2>, <h3>, <h4>, <h5>, <h6>, <head>, <hr>, <html>, <i>, <li>, <ol>, <p>, <span>, <strong>, <table>, <tbody>, <td>, <th>, <tr>, <ul>

Attributes: href (for <a>), title (for <a>, <abbr>, <acronym>)

Re: Issue with HTML Table Styling in Databricks Alerts

VKe — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 16:23:28 GMT

Hi @szymon_dybczak!

Thank you for your response!

I had seen the list of supported HTML tags in the documentation, but I couldn’t believe that it wouldn’t be possible to format an email neatly. I was hoping that there might still be a way to achieve a cleaner, more styled layout for the alert notifications.

It’s a bit surprising that we’re so limited in formatting options, but I appreciate your clarification.

Thanks again for the help!

Re: Issue with HTML Table Styling in Databricks Alerts

szymon_dybczak — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 16:31:20 GMT

Hi @VKe ,

No problem. I had the same requirement and I must admit I was also surprised that only a subset of attributes and tags are currently supported.

Re: Issue with HTML Table Styling in Databricks Alerts

dec1mo — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 05:08:25 GMT

Hi @VKe , @szymon_dybczak ,

{{#QUERY_RESULT_ROWS}} and {{/QUERY_RESULT_ROWS}} used to work like a charm in presenting query result in custom alert email, but now the results are showing up blank in my alert notifications. Are you experiencing the same?

Re: Issue with HTML Table Styling in Databricks Alerts

skyatall — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 17:41:21 GMT

I am facing the same issue. When I used {{#QUERY_RESULT_ROWS}} and {{/QUERY_RESULT_ROWS}} and it is giving me "Unable to display preview, an invalid templet was provided"

Re: Issue with HTML Table Styling in Databricks Alerts

longchass1 — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 05:37:25 GMT

We are experiencing the same problem with alert v2