Re: Style confirmation descriptors

Ok, let's try this again.

> The point of my idea is to be able to describe, in a different way from 
> how CSS describes, how the output should look, to double check that you're 
> getting what you want, and to provide an alternate style incase there's an 
> inconsistency. I'm not talking about different CSS for different media.

That's still the point. I'll try to explain the below CSS and "style 
confirmation descriptors." Don't hold me to the syntax. I just want to get 
the basic idea across.

DisplayTry {...}
DisplayCheck {res: 1024,768; loc: 100,200,150,250; direction: l,r; find:
border; text; red; end;}
FoundReplace {...}
UnfoundReplace {...}

I shouldn't have written DisplayTry like that. It should probably be used 
with the property to be styled and maybe a class name, like 
DisplayTry:div.name. However, if it is written simply as DisplayTry, the 
agent should determine how the webpage would look if test-content, which 
should be contained within the brackets (for example, "content: test 
content. blah, blah, blah"), was the only content in the webpage, and the 
whatever style is within the brackets is the only style. If a property is 
specified, such as DisplayTry.div, then the style within the brackets would 
be used--in this case for the div tags--and the agent would determine how 
the webpage would look with all of the document's styles and content.

Actually, the resolution that the webpage contained within DisplayTry should 
be "rendered" at (for the purpose if the style confirmation) is specified in 
DisplayCheck. Maybe it should be in DisplayTry. Anyway, once the agent 
determines how the test-webpage would look at the specified resolution, it 
will look at the DisplayCheck "confirmation descriptors" (within the 
brackets next to DisplayCheck) and determine whether they accurately 
describe how the test-webpage was "rendered." Compared to CSS, these 
descriptors would provide a less accurate but easier way to describe part of 
a webpage. If they don't properly describe the test-webpage, then the 
browser rendered the test-webpage differently than you want--the test 
failed, and UnfoundReplace will become part of the stylesheet for the actual 
rendering of the actual webpage. If your descriptors properly describe the 
test-webpage, FoundReplace will become part of the stylesheet for the actual 
rendering of the actual webpage.

Here's what the descriptors mean:

res: described above

loc: As I said in my last post, in my example I use "loc: 100,200,150,250" 
which represents the upper left and lower right coordinates of the area to 
be scanned for the content described in the value of "find." You don't have 
to describe the entire test-webpage--only the part of it that's within the 
loc area.

direction: Indicates the direction in which you're describing the 
test-webpage. For example, top to bottom, left to right, etc.

find: Contains as many new "descriptors" as you want to add to the CSS 
specification. This is where the test-webpage (the part specified by loc) 
will really be described. I haven't given much thought to what should be 
allowed here, but I included an example.

I hope that's a better explanation.

Received on Thursday, 7 April 2005 16:19:04 UTC