Re: [css3-gcpm] border-length

On Oct 15, 2008, at 8:51 AM, Håkon Wium Lie wrote:

>> With this dash notation, you could create even more complex patterns:
>>
>> border: 1px dashed black;
>> dashes: 12px 4px 10px 4px 8px 4px 6px 4px 8px 4px 10px 4px;
>
> It's an interesting proposal. Would you restrict it to one proprerty?

Do you mean restricted to one type of measurement unit? No, I would not.

> In which case, you couldn't achive example XXXVI (36) here:
>
>  http://dev.w3.org/csswg/css3-gcpm/#border1
>

Oh, that example wouldn't work with my notation if the dash pattern  
was the same for all for sides, because my presumption is that the  
dash pattern is the same for the entire border (as it is today).  
However, perhaps it could be extended to use commas, like this:

border: 1px dashed black;
dashes: 10px auto 10px, 5px auto 5px;

Or, for a usage of the space character that was more consistent with  
other border properties, we'd probably need the comma separating the  
dashes and gaps instead:

border: 1px dashed black;
dashes: 10px,auto,10px 5px,auto,5px;

In which case, my earlier example would be written like this:

border: 1px dashed black;
dashes: 12px,4px,10px,4px,8px,4px,6px,4px,8px,4px,10px,4px;


> Also, by saying that patterns with one or two values repeat, example
> XL (40, I'm starting to hate the Romans. They didn't die from lead
> poisoning, their number system is the culprit) will not work:
>
>  border-parts: 10px;
>
> Because, in this example, you don't want the pattern to repeat.
>
> Perhaps one could use the (implied) presence of the 'auto' keyword (or
> flex unit) to stop repetitions?
>
> Hmm.

I would write that like this (assuming my more recent variation with  
commas):

border: thin dashed black;
dashes: 10px,auto;

In essence the "auto" keyword, when used as the first or last part of  
the value, would work similarly to how it works with "margin": adding  
space to one end or the other, or both ends (at least I think that's  
how margin works, as I don't often add auto margin to just the left  
edge).