Re: [CSS21] Scaling of replaced elements

James Hopkins wrote:
> Currently, the spec [1] states that, for replaced elements with an 
> intrinsic ratio, it is an optional requirement that a UA scale the element.
> 
> I'd like to propose that the current spec is further clarified so that 
> scaling a replaced element is recommended (SHOULD), as opposed to just 
> optional (MAY).
> 
> Leaving scaling as optional could (although unlikely) result in a vendor 
> implementing behavior that differs from currently consistent 
> implementations in other browsers - FF, Safari, IE, and Opera all scale 
> replaced elements (which have an intrinsic ratio) in this way. More so, 
> authors have become reliant on the behavior found in these existing 
> implementations, and to allow the possibility of a differing 
> implementation would no doubt affect interoperability.
>
> [1] http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/visudet.html#the-width-property

While for bitmap images this is the right thing to do, other objects
such as Java applets are also replaced elements, and even if they
have a preferred size and intrinsic ratio, scaling them graphically
is rarely the right thing to do. So I don't think we want to require
scaling of the replaced elements' contents.

That said, the sentence as it stands:
   # The width of a replaced element's box is intrinsic and may be
   # scaled by the user agent if the value of this property is
   # different than 'auto'.
doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, and I have no idea what its
author intended.

Tantek, do you have any idea? You were the last person to touch
that sentence.

~fantasai