Re: [XHTML2] Unicode line and paragraph separators

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Woolley" <david@djwhome.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: [XHTML2] Unicode line and paragraph separators


>
> > Eh? The main use of <p> in current (X)HTML practice is to denote
paragraphs,
> > not to style them.
>
> The main use of <p> in current *practice* is to create extended vertical
> gaps, using <p>&nbsp;</p>.  <br> is as likely as <p> to be used to denote
> paragraphs!
>


Are you saying that you are just as likely to see the following construct:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Ut varius lacinia
felis. Duis dui lectus, facilisis in, cursus ac, vehicula sed, risus. Nullam
et odio ut ligula feugiat luctus. Curabitur augue arcu, facilisis sed,
convallis ut, dignissim vel, erat. Ut at diam. Quisque quis arcu at lectus
tempor tempus.<br />
<br />
Donec leo. Sed ut mi. Nullam lobortis venenatis augue. Mauris eu augue id
est egestas viverra. Ut a leo. Integer placerat feugiat urna. Vestibulum
ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae;
Sed tristique, urna non malesuada convallis, enim augue consequat ipsum, in
aliquet est magna et purus. Aenean id nunc.

As you are this construct?:

<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Ut varius
lacinia felis. Duis dui lectus, facilisis in, cursus ac, vehicula sed,
risus. Nullam et odio ut ligula feugiat luctus. Curabitur augue arcu,
facilisis sed, convallis ut, dignissim vel, erat. Ut at diam. Quisque quis
arcu at lectus tempor tempus.</p>

<p>Donec leo. Sed ut mi. Nullam lobortis venenatis augue. Mauris eu augue id
est egestas viverra. Ut a leo. Integer placerat feugiat urna. Vestibulum
ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae;
Sed tristique, urna non malesuada convallis, enim augue consequat ipsum, in
aliquet est magna et purus. Aenean id nunc.</p>

I would be very surprised to hear that. In English composition, one of the
first things people learn is how to write using paragraphs. Only sentences
are more fundamental. I understand that the use of email and instant
messaging has taken us back a few centuries in this regard, but I'm pretty
sure paragraphs still rule the roost by a long way. For those that don't
hand-code, most of the HTML 'generators' I'm aware of use paragraphs unless
a hard line break is forced by the author.

The use of a paragraph containing a non-breaking space to make a big gap is
probably common because so few authors, even now, are CSS-aware. As soon as
I learned basic CSS, I was able to remove such constructs from my markup. I
confess I still use <br /> from time to time, but never adjacent to a
paragraph.

Simon Jessey

w: http://jessey.net/blog/
e: simon@jessey.net

Received on Sunday, 6 April 2003 09:44:30 UTC