Re: We are where we are.... but how did we get here?

I read the entire article. A very informative one indeed, and it tells me  
a lot of things including:

You cannot solve a problem using the same thinking methodology that  
actually creates the problem. You need to take a new stance. And that new  
stance don't have to shatter your original methodology either. It can  
safely float on top, gracefully opening new possibilities.

Could it be true that you are thinking too philosophical, to solve  
problems just the way how you would imagine CSS should be carried out by  
user-agents? As long as the user agent conforms to how the page should  
look in the end, and returns me with a correct value for what the computed  
style is (IE does so by using currentStyle- only for elements appended in  
the document tree tho), W3 conforming browsers use getComputedStyle, which  
is more eloborate, actually)

Why can't CSS3 have, say, a post-layout-rules module? So we can style  
objects with rules that depend on their layout status. Such rules could  
include coloumn coloring, and even include layout tweaking rules that does  
not alter the flow of the document (such as the content-vertical-align).  
If the UA supports the module and the style is effective, it kindly  
updates the getComputedStyle information, too. No sweating there. We need  
to relax, then think. Maybe there is some joy over trying to solve near  
impossible problems. But I'd rather try new approaches.

The 2nd extra pass, coupled with proper support for the first pass (which  
IE lacks, but the other leading browsers already have), is no big deal. We  
can already change styles, change layout positions, clone nodes, move  
nodes to an entirely different branch in the document tree, all with  
Javascript+DOM. The UA's are that powerful. Why shouldn't a UA, soon as it  
realises the element belongs to a specific coloumn, give it proper  
styling? Why should it be any more complicated than that?


On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 21:53:41 +0300, Adam Kuehn <akuehn@nc.rr.com> wrote:

>
> Orion Adrian wrote:
>> I was around the last time they were discussing the single versus
>> multi-pass argument. Apparently multi-pass would complicate the
>> algorithm. It's far from impossible, unless someone would like to
>> correct me. It seems IE has a multi-pass system; what is it they've
>> lost?
>
> Support for the "inherit" keyword and display: table come to mind. See  
> <http://ln.hixie.ch/?start=1070385285&count=1> if you haven't already.
>
> I'm still trying to think of a brilliant solution to this, since it  
> seems to be one of the biggest shortcomings of CSS.  Unfortunately, I've  
> not yet proven myself to be a brilliant enough person to work it out.   
> Feel free to let us know when you have arrived at an elegant solution.
>



-- 
Emrah BASKAYA
www.hesido.com

Received on Wednesday, 29 June 2005 20:24:34 UTC