Re: CSS2 Progress

>As to whether that particular feature makes it into a CSS2 Recommendation,
>well, that depends on consensus in the working group - and yes, that does
>include vendors. Because anyone can write a spec - the trick is to write
>a spec that that both meets user needs and that vendors can agree to
>implement. This is not trivial.

   I'll bet.  Sometimes I'm surprised at how much the vendors agree on,
even without factoring in user needs... it gives me a little bit o' hope.

>> Speaking personally, I have little use
>> for multi-column text in a monitor-based environment.  So cut it out, what
>> the heck do I care?
>
>You never run your browser window in landscape mode on a big monitor?

   Uh, no.  I'd need a big monitor first.  Besides, a sufficiently long
document will create columns which go off the bottom the screen, no matter
how wide the browser window gets.  In the printed page, multiple columns
can be very worthwhile; heck, I use them in a newsletter I edit for a local
arts center.  I'd rather not have to scroll down and then back up on a
monitor, though.
   This exchange has caused me to realize that I would have a use for a
multi-column property:  it would live in some of my print media
stylesheets.  The only time I'd ever use it on a screen-media Web page
would be in a "cover page" setting, such as for an on-line magazine like
Web Review.

>>    Headers and footers are not supported by anyone, so far as I know.
>> Their usefulness is such that they'll make it into the standard eventually.
>> But is it really so crucial that they be part of CSS2?
>
>There are currently three implementations of headers and footers as CSS
>extensions. They are all incompatible. This strikes me as a problem.
>Having a spec on how to do headers and footers in CSS is therefore a
>win for interoperability.

   Absolutely, and I encourage it wholeheartedly.  I was unaware that there
were any implementations, even incompatible ones.  Of course, my style test
pages only cover CSS1.  I can see it's time to create a new test suite...

>> And while it's true that a leader who hesitates is lost, it is a reckless,
>> thoughtless commander who risks utter defeat, both without and within.  No
>> leader can win who does not control his own troops, or have their respect.
>
>Erm, pardon? The purple prose getting the better of you, or an analogy
>pushed too far?

   Probably both.  Sorry.  Just ignore the part that didn't make sense; it
wasn't all that relevant anyway.

--
Eric A. Meyer  -  eam3@po.cwru.edu  -  http://www.cwru.edu/home/eam3.html
  Editor, WebReview's Style Sheets Reference Guide
  http://style.webreview.com/

Received on Wednesday, 26 November 1997 10:02:09 UTC