Re: CSS multi-column layout (was Re: From CSS to DSSSL)

Liam Quinn wrote:

>> (if only css
>> could accommodate multi-column layout....)
>
>What about the following, using CSS Positioning:
>
>div.col1 { position: absolute; left: 1%; width: 31% }
>div.col2 { position: absolute; left: 35%; width: 48% }
>div.col3 { position: absolute; left: 70% }
>
>and then
>
><DIV CLASS=col1>
><!-- Column 1 -->
></DIV>
><DIV CLASS=col2>
><!-- Column 2 -->
></DIV>
><DIV CLASS=col3>
><!-- Column 3 -->
></DIV>
>
>Or is that not what you meant?

As I see it, the problem with this method is that each column is still 
hand-coded. You need to know the UA's window size before you know how 
much text to pour into those columns, or else you run the risk of making 
columns of text too tall for the window. Are we back to the semi-standard 
(as Iearned it) 600x330px live area?

I suspect that true column-ing requires a certain amount of intelligence 
on the part of the UA, which would expand and contract the columns to fit 
the text. But what happens with a tiny screen? What if it can't possibly 
fit the text you spec'ed into the space? Maybe it should ignore the 
multi-columnar layout and convert everything to a single column, thus 
using scroll space to fit the text... or perhaps this has already been 
settled.


Dan Hale 
dhale@pobox.com
http://www.pobox.com/~dhale/

Received on Thursday, 17 April 1997 21:20:45 UTC