Re: display="none", but is copied

Einar Westermann writes:
> In CSS2, should non-displayed text as in the following example be copied
> from the user agent to the clipboard?
> 
> <span style="display:none">Non-displayed text</span>
> 
> - or lies this within the realm of the user agent?

This is probably outside the scope of CSS, but here is what I expect
to happen:

Firstly, it depends on negotiation between what the application
expects that receives the paste event and what the application from
which the text is copied can deliver. Assuming the latter application
can deliver every format:

  - If the receiving application expects plain text, I would assume
    only the visible text is pasted.

  - If it expects formatted text (XSL-FO, RTF...), the hidden text may
    be pasted as well, but will remain invisible (if the receiving
    application is capable of that).

  - If the application expects structured text (HTML, XML...), the
    hidden text will be pasted as well.

  - If the application expects a bitmap, there will be no trace of the
    hidden text.

  - etc.

On different platforms there may be restrictions on what can happen.
On platforms that have a clipboard, the origin and the target do not
directly talk to each other and the fomats may be limited to those
that the clipboard application knows about.


Bert
-- 
  Bert Bos                                ( W 3 C ) http://www.w3.org/
  http://www.w3.org/people/bos/                              W3C/INRIA
  bert@w3.org                             2004 Rt des Lucioles / BP 93
  +33 (0)4 92 38 76 92            06902 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France