CSS1 extension: container/noncontainer property

I'm trying to write the HTML parser in GNU E-scape to not directly use 
the name of the tag wherever possible, and encode all the information in 
the style sheet.

Other than certain exceptional tags, this information can be encoded 
almost entirely with CSS1 and with tag attributes.  However, there's no 
way to know if I have something like an <IMG> tag, for which there is no 
corresponding </IMG> tag, or something like <PRE>, where there is a 
corresponding </PRE> tag.

I'd like to add a new property.  I'm thinking about calling it 
`container', with possible values of `container' and `non-container'.  I 
can't really figure out what terminlogy would be good to use, however.  
So any suggestions of names are welcome, as long as they come within the 
next 72 hours.  (Preferably a tenth of that time.)

This should allow you to do XMLish things with HTML and CSS1.

BTW, XML sounds like a good idea, but I learn better from examples than 
from legalistic specs like what we have for XML.  If someone could write 
a plain English version of the spec, that would make my life easier.

I'm aware that I could probably get the functionality I need with a DTD, 
but that means writing a new parser.  Also, using CSS1 means that you 
COULD make the container/non-container property context sensitve.  I 
don't know why you would want to do that; but I've learned that it's a 
good idea not to make things impossible just because they don't seem like 
a good idea.

nemo
                                                 http://www.cyclic.com/~nemo
<nemo@koa.iolani.honolulu.hi.us>                    <devnull@gnu.ai.mit.edu>
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"...For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."  -- Mathew 9:13

Received on Saturday, 11 January 1997 19:25:25 UTC