Re: [css3-flexbox] miscellaneous comments on Chapter 4. Flex Items

(12/07/04 23:25), fantasai wrote:
> On 07/03/2012 03:04 PM, Kang-Hao (Kenny) Lu wrote:
>> == Technical Comments ==
>>
>>    # A flex item establishes a new formatting context for its contents.
>>    # The type of this formatting context is determined by its
>>    # ‘display’ value, as usual.
>>
>> A flex item of 'display: block'  should probably use the 'height'
>> calculation in "10.6.7 'Auto' heights for block formatting context
>> roots", but 10.6.7 says
>>
>>    # In certain cases (see, e.g., sections 10.6.4 and 10.6.6 above), the
>>    # height of an element that establishes a block formatting context is
>>    # computed as follows:
>>
>> and who knows what "certain cases" means here (10.6.6 doesn't cover
>> 'table-cell', for example). It's not clear to me if this is a CSS 2.1
>> issue or css3-flexbox issue.
> 
> Flex items aren't block-level elements, so those sections don't apply.
> I've added
>   # However, flex items are flex-level boxes, not block-level boxes;
>   # they participate in their container's flex formatting context,
>   # not in a block formatting context.
> to the section to clarify this.

Then which spec/section describes how to calculate the 'height' of a
flex-level box? I thought the sentence

  # In addition, if the element has any floating descendants whose
  # bottom margin edge is below the element's bottom content edge, then
  # the height is increased to include those edges. Only floats that
  # participate in this block formatting context are taken into
  # account, e.g., floats inside absolutely positioned descendants or
  # other floats are not.

in 10.6.7 applies here.


The flex layout algorithm has

  # 6 Resolve the flexible lengths of all the flex items to find their
  # used main size, and determine their hypothetical cross size from
  # this main size.

. Is this "determine their hypothetical cross size from this main size"
something that's not yet defined?

>>    # For example, given two contiguous child elements with
>>    # ‘display:table-cell’, an anonymous table wrapper box around them
>>    # becomes the flex item.
>>
>> Since CSS 2.1 by default doesn't propagate non-inherited properties to
>> the table wrapper box. It should be mentioned that all properties that
>> apply to flex items have this propagation.
> 
> Hmm, I thought it was generally stated in 2.1 how anonymous boxes behave.

17.4 Tables in the visual formatting model

  # The computed values of properties 'position', 'float', 'margin-*',
  # 'top', 'right', 'bottom', and 'left' on the table element are used
  # on the table wrapper box and not the table box; all other values of
  # non-inheritable properties are used on the table box and not the
  # table wrapper box.


>>    # Absolutely positioned children of a flex container are not
>>    # themselves flex items, but they leave behind "placeholders" in
>>    # their normal position in the box tree.
>>
>> I am not sure what "normal position in the box tree" means here. Does it
>> mean that the 'order' value on the absolutely positioned element would
>> be propagated to the placeholder? Is this the only property in
>> css3-flexbox that does this propagation for an abs-pos flex item? If so,
>> I hope this is clarified.
> 
> I went with s/normal/hypothetical normal-flow/. Does that work?

I think my exact question is, for a case like

<div style="display: flex">
  <span>A</span>
  <span style="position: absolute; order: -1;">B</span>
  <span style="order: -1">C</span>
</div>

is the place holder before A or not? Or in other words, does the place
holder has 'order: -1' or 'order: 0'?

Your s/// seems to suggest 'order: 0' but I think the wording is still a
bit vague. The hypothetical non-flex normal flow would be "A placeholder
C" but I think you want "C A placeholder" or "placeholder C A".

>>    | each child element (except those described below) of a flex
>>    | container becomes a flex item.
> 
> I don't know how to fix this to be any more precise than it is,
> so I'm going to leave it. ("Element" is incorrect due to anonymous
> table boxes.)

"except those described below" would include absolutely positioned
elements and mis-parented elements.


Cheers,
Kenny

Received on Wednesday, 4 July 2012 15:56:01 UTC