5.3.2 Margin, Space, and Indent Properties

The editors,

I am seeking clarification of the last part of the discussion in 5.3.2.

It reads:

<quote>
If the corresponding absolute margin property is not explicitly 
specified, or if the corresponding relative property is specified on the 
formatting object and the absolute property only specified by the 
expansion of a shorthand, the corresponding absolute margin property is 
calculated according to the following formulae:

margin-corresponding = start-indent - inherited_value_of(start-indent) - 
padding-corresponding - border-corresponding-width

margin-corresponding = end-indent - inherited_value_of(end-indent) - 
padding-corresponding - border-corresponding-width

Note:

If the "start-indent" or "end-indent" properties are not specified their 
inherited value is used in these formulae.
</quote>

Looking at the case where neither the corresponding absolute margin 
property nor the corresponding relative property is explicitly 
specified, this becomes (for start):

margin-corresponding = inherited_value_of(start-indent) - 
inherited_value_of(start-indent) - padding-corresponding - 
border-corresponding

If (padding-corresponding + border-corresponding) > 0, we are left with 
a negative margin-corresponding.

If my understanding of these properties is correct, the problem could be 
eliminated as follows.

Change the current wording to:

'If the corresponding relative property is specified on the formatting 
object, and the formatting object does not generate a reference area, 
and the corresponding absolute margin property is not explicitly 
specified, or is only specified by the expansion of a shorthand, the 
corresponding absolute margin property is calculated according to the 
following formulae:'

The formulae are unchanged, but the offending Note is deleted.  Two 
additional conditions are added, along the following lines.

'If the corresponding relative property is specified on the formatting 
object, and the formatting object generates a reference area, and the 
corresponding absolute margin property is not explicitly specified, or 
is only specified by the expansion of a shorthand, the corresponding 
absolute margin property is calculated according to the following formulae:

margin-corresponding = start-indent - padding-corresponding - 
border-corresponding-width

margin-corresponding = end-indent - padding-corresponding - 
border-corresponding-width

If neither the corresponding relative property nor the corresponding 
absolute absolute margin property is specified on the formatting object, 
the corresponding relative property is inherited, and the corresponding 
absolute margin property is calculated according to the following formulae:

margin-corresponding = inherited_value_of(start-indent) - 
padding-corresponding - border-corresponding-width

margin-corresponding = inherited_value_of(end-indent) - 
padding-corresponding - border-corresponding-width'


Peter B. West

Received on Monday, 17 January 2005 14:57:03 UTC