Don't understand jquery - setting equal height contained divs
<p>I am trying to set two side-by-side divs contained by a single larger div to equal column height.  I am trying to use the following jquery script:</p>

<pre><code>&lt;script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"&gt;

        function pageLoad() {         
            $(document).ready(function() {
                setEqualHeight($(".instructionsParent &gt; div"));
            });    
        }

        function setEqualHeight(columns) {
            var tallestColumn = 0;

            columns.each(function() {
                currentHeight = $(this).height();
                if(currentHeight &gt; tallestColumn) {
                    tallestColumn = currentHeight;
                }
            });
            columns.height(tallestColumn);
        }
&lt;/script&gt;
</code></pre>

<p>Then the following are my DIV's:</p>

<pre><code>&lt;div class="instructionsParent borderDiv borderTable0" style="overflow:hidden"&gt;
    &lt;div class="instructionsLeft" style="float:left;width:49.5%"&gt;
  &lt;/div&gt; 
  &lt;div class="instructionsRight" style="float:right;width:49.5%"&gt;
  &lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
</code></pre>

<p>The jquery is running and appears to be returning the largest height (451), but doesn't seem to apply it to the two divs.  I don't know much jquery or javascript and don't understand the following: "setEqualHeight($(".instructionsParent > div"));"</p>

<p>Could it be that I have that coded incorrectly?</p>

<p>Thank you,
James</p>

<p>Ok, here is the entire subform which is my entire page really (I have two subforms on the page with one visible and the other not:</p>

<pre><code>&lt;%@ Control Language="VB" AutoEventWireup="false" CodeFile="ActivexInstructionsSubForm.ascx.vb" Inherits="Controls_ActivexInstructionsSubForm" %&gt;

&lt;div class="instructionsParent borderDiv borderTable0" style="overflow:hidden"&gt;
&lt;div class="instructionsLeft" style="float:left;width:49.5%"&gt;
    &lt;table cellspacing="0" class="borderTable0" width="100%" style="height:430px;" &gt;
        &lt;tr&gt;
            &lt;td align="center"&gt;
                &lt;br /&gt;
                &lt;h3 style="font-family:Arial;color:#17238C"&gt;"The Important Stuff"&lt;/h3&gt;
            &lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;/tr&gt;
        &lt;tr valign="top"&gt;
            &lt;td align="center"&gt;
                &lt;table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" 
                    style="border-collapse: collapse;"&gt;
                    &lt;tr&gt;
                        &lt;td&gt;
                            &lt;table border="0" cellpadding="0"&gt;
                                &lt;tr&gt;
                                    &lt;td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;color:#17238C"&gt;
                                        &lt;p style="font-size:11pt"&gt;&lt;strong style="text-decoration: underline;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal"&gt;If this is the first time&lt;/strong&gt; you've used our downloads, you now can see a
                                            skinny information bar at the top of the page.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;
                                            Click it, and select "Install ActiveX Control" from the dropdown menu.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;
                                            Then, click "Install" when you see the new dialog box appear.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;
                                            This does not collect info about you or hurt your machine.
                                        &lt;/p&gt;
                                    &lt;/td&gt;
                                &lt;/tr&gt;
                                &lt;tr&gt;
                                    &lt;td colspan="2"&gt;
                                        &amp;nbsp;
                                    &lt;/td&gt;
                                &lt;/tr&gt;
                                &lt;tr&gt;
                                    &lt;td colspan="2" align="center"&gt;
                                        &lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;
                                            //Create JavaScript object that will embed File Downloader to the page
                                            var fd = new FileDownloaderWriter("FileDownloader", 172, 28);

                                            //For ActiveX control full path to CAB file (including file name) should be specified
                                            fd.activeXControlCodeBase = "aurigma/FileDownloader2.cab";
                                            fd.activeXControlVersion = "2,0,16,0";

                                            //Set the Download button text
                                            fd.addParam("ButtonDownloadText", "Proceed With Download");

                                            //Set the Download button background color
                                            //fd.addParam("BackgroundColor", "#E0EBFF");
                                            fd.addParam("BackgroundColor", "White");

                                            //Set the Download button regular image
                                            fd.addParam("ButtonDownloadImageFormat", "width=172;height=28;BackgroundColor=#17238C;" + 
                                                "urlNormal=App_Themes/Default/images/BtnProceedDownloadA.jpg;" +
                                                "urlDisabled=App_Themes/Default/images/BtnProceedDownloadA.jpg");

                                            //Set license key 
                                            fd.addParam("LicenseKey", "888822-12222-D8444-111122-55555");

                                            //Set reconnect attampts count
                                            fd.addParam("ReconnectAttemptsCount", "360");

                                            //Set reconnect timeout value (30000 = 10 seconds)
                                            fd.addParam("ReconnectTimeOut", "10000");

                                            //Configure URL from which the file list will be downloaded
                                            //Change this path if necessary
                                            //fd.addParam("FileList", "aurigma/filelist.txt");

                                            //The following listener will perform some actions when the file list is about to be downloaded
                                            fd.addEventListener("DownloadStep", "FileDownloader_DownloadStep");

                                            //The following listener will perform some actions when download of a single file is finished
                                            fd.addEventListener("DownloadItemComplete", "onDownloadItemComplete");

                                            //The following listener will perform some actions when download process is complete
                                            fd.addEventListener("DownloadComplete", "onDownloadComplete");

                                            //The following listener will perform some actions when a general error is detected
                                            //fd.addEventListener("Error", "onError");

                                            //Add page load listener
                                            //fd.fullPageLoadListenerName = "fullPageLoad";

                                            //Set instructions property
                                            fd.instructionsEnabled = false;

                                            //Tell File Downloader writer object to generate all necessary HTML code to embed File Downloader into the page
                                            fd.writeHtml();
                                  &lt;/script&gt;
                                  &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;
                                        &lt;asp:ImageButton ID="BtnReturnHome" runat="server" AlternateText="Return to Home Page" 
                                            ImageUrl="~/App_Themes/Default/images/BtnReturnHomeS.jpg"&gt;
                                        &lt;/asp:ImageButton&gt; 
                                    &lt;/td&gt;
                                &lt;/tr&gt;
                                &lt;tr&gt;
                                    &lt;td colspan="2"&gt;
                                        &amp;nbsp;
                                    &lt;/td&gt;
                                &lt;/tr&gt;
                                &lt;tr&gt;
                                    &lt;td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal;font-style:italic;color:#17238C"&gt;
                                        &lt;p style="font-size:10pt"&gt;&lt;strong style="text-decoration: underline;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal"&gt;Why do I need this?&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;  
                                            This tiny control-program is only installed ONCE on a given machine,
                                            and is there to assist with all future downloads.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;
                                            It allows you to download a batch of several files at once, save
                                            them wherever you wish, AND keeps track of the download progress.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;If your internet connection glitches, the
                                            download will *automatically restart* (after a couple of minutes) 
                                            from where it left off, once the internet connection is restored, presuming that your computer remains powered on.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;
                                            This is a very important feature, since these are BIG files that may take
                                            several hours to download if you have a relatively slow internet connection.&lt;/strong&gt; 
                                        &lt;/p&gt;
                                    &lt;/td&gt;
                                &lt;/tr&gt;
                                &lt;tr&gt;
                                    &lt;td colspan="2"&gt;
                                        &amp;nbsp;
                                    &lt;/td&gt;
                                &lt;/tr&gt; 
                            &lt;/table&gt;
                        &lt;/td&gt;
                    &lt;/tr&gt;
                &lt;/table&gt;
            &lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;/tr&gt;
    &lt;/table&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;div class="instructionsRight" style="float:right;width:49.5%"&gt;
    &lt;table cellspacing="0" width="100%" class="borderTable0" style="height:430px;"&gt;
        &lt;tr&gt;
            &lt;td align="center"&gt;
                &lt;br style="height:20px" /&gt;
                &lt;h4 style="color:#17238C"&gt;Additional Info&lt;/h4&gt;
            &lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;/tr&gt;
        &lt;tr valign="top"&gt;
            &lt;td align="center"&gt;
                &lt;table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" 
                    style="border-collapse: collapse;"&gt;
                    &lt;tr&gt;
                        &lt;td&gt;
                            &lt;table border="0" cellpadding="0"&gt;
                                &lt;tr&gt;
                                    &lt;td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;color:#17238C"&gt;
                                        &lt;p style="font-size:9pt"&gt;&lt;strong style="text-decoration: underline;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal"&gt;Worst-case scenario&lt;/strong&gt;:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;
                                            If the transfer fails because your computer shut down from a power-outage, there may be a temporary file left on your
                                            machine - but the next time you start the download, it automatically cleans up what was left from the aborted transfer.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;
                                            If you tend to get hit by electric power outages more often than normal, we recommend that you purchase a battery-backup UPS
                                            (Uninterruptible Power Supply) that has at least 1500VA capacity so that the computer AND your modem AND router can remain
                                            powered-up for several hours when the power goes out.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Start the download before going to bed, and TURN OFF the monitor
                                            during that process, so that the UPS would not have to feed it if a power outage hits.&lt;/strong&gt;
                                        &lt;/p&gt;
                                    &lt;/td&gt;
                                &lt;/tr&gt;
                                &lt;tr&gt;
                                    &lt;td colspan="2"&gt;
                                        &amp;nbsp;
                                    &lt;/td&gt;
                                &lt;/tr&gt;
                                &lt;tr&gt;
                                    &lt;td colspan="2" style="text-align:left;font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;color:#17238C"&gt;
                                        &lt;p style="font-size:9pt"&gt;&lt;strong style="text-decoration: underline;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal"&gt;Gotta-shut-down scenario&lt;/strong&gt;:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;
                                            If you are in the midst of a long download session, but for some reason you must interrupt it and turn off your computer
                                            a while, then if you want to resume the download from where you left off, be sure to HIBERNATE your machine rather than
                                            doing a simple shutdown.  You can set this up from Control Panel &gt; Power Options &gt; Hibernate Tab.  There will be a button
                                            on your keyboard somewhere that activates hibernation (sometimes called "sleep").  It takes a complete "RAM snapshot" of
                                            what is going on, so that the next time you start the computer, it resumes exactly where it left off (it may take a few
                                            minutes after restart for the download to auto-resume).&lt;/strong&gt;
                                        &lt;/p&gt;
                                    &lt;/td&gt;
                                &lt;/tr&gt;
                                &lt;tr&gt;
                                    &lt;td colspan="2" style="height:24px"&gt;
                                        &amp;nbsp;
                                    &lt;/td&gt;
                                &lt;/tr&gt;
                            &lt;/table&gt;
                        &lt;/td&gt;
                    &lt;/tr&gt;
                &lt;/table&gt;
            &lt;/td&gt;
        &lt;/tr&gt;
    &lt;/table&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
</code></pre>
