[CSS21] Erratum - overflow:auto/scroll on table elements

The 'overflow' property applies to table elements, but as per 17.4 its 
values are "used on the table box and not the table wrapper box".

In response to the observation that 'overflow' is incompletely 
implemented on table boxes by major UAs,[1] the WG resolved[2] that the 
visual effect of the values 'auto' and 'scroll' on the table box is 
exactly the same as that of the value 'visible'.

I propose the following change to address this issue.

Proposal A:

In 11.1.1, in the description of the values of the 'overflow' property:

   : scroll
   :   This value indicates that the content is clipped and that if the
   :   user agent uses a scrolling mechanism that is visible on the
   :   screen (such as a scroll bar or a panner), that mechanism should
   :   be displayed for a box whether or not any of its content is
   :   clipped. This avoids any problem with scrollbars appearing and
   :   disappearing in a dynamic environment. When this value is
   :   specified and the target medium is 'print', overflowing content
   :   may be printed. <ins>When used on table boxes, this value has the
   :   same meaning as 'visible'.</ins>
   : auto
   :   The behavior of the 'auto' value is user agent-dependent, but
   :   should cause a scrolling mechanism to be provided for overflowing
   :   boxes. <ins>When used on table boxes, this value has the same
   :   meaning as 'visible'.</ins>


[1] https://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=18497
[2] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2012Aug/0298.html

Cheers,
Anton Prowse
http://dev.moonhenge.net

Received on Thursday, 9 August 2012 06:30:53 UTC