- From: Dr. Olaf Hoffmann <Dr.O.Hoffmann@gmx.de>
- Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2012 17:20:53 +0100
- To: public-fx@w3.org
Øyvind Stenhaug: > On Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:47:05 +0100, Dr. Olaf Hoffmann > > <Dr.O.Hoffmann@gmx.de> wrote: > > Hello, > > > > the section > > http://www.w3.org/TR/2012/WD-css3-transforms-20120228/#definitions > > notes an 'atomic inline-level element'. I think, neither the (X)HTML > > recommendations HTML4.01, XHTML 1.0/1.1, XHTML+RDFa nor > > the HTML5 draft does not contain such a construction. > > See the second paragraph here: > http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/visuren.html#inline-boxes This explains 'atomic boxes' (delicate construction as well by the way ;o), not necessarily atomic elements ... For example an element decorated with 'display: inline-block' becomes/creates an atomic inline box, as far as I understand this section. > > (The meaning of "atomic" in this context is "of or forming a single > irreducible unit or component in a larger system", as > oxforddictionaries.com puts it; this alludes to the fact that thb box of > an "atomic" inline-level element cannot be further split up across > multiple lines) Interesting, in another online translation tool I found only the meaning related to atoms ... But maybe only some other languages are more careful about what can be 'irreducible', therefore it is not translatable into such languages ;o) Concerning (X)HTML and 'atomic elements' it is still not clear. As we can learn from real atoms, what it means to be 'a single irreducible unit or component in a larger system' depends on the point of view or the abstraction level or level of knowlegde - in chemistry atoms are maybe more a less such a unit, in atomic physics not, in particle physics not even the nucleus is or the protons and neutrons and so on - quarks, strings? Who knows ... Related to (X)HTML: Is <br /> atomic, because it is in general an empty element without attributes? (But it can have attributes, is it sufficient, if the author does not provide any?) <span></span> because it is empty without attributes? The follwoing has obviously a substructure like attribute and content, therefore not atomic, because it can be reduced to a substructure? <span title="ex">ample</span> This one? <span title="sample"><em>ex</em>ample</span> And atomic inline-element - is the 'inline' related to the CSS-decoration of the element or to some intrinsic knowledge of the meaning of the element, resulting from the definition of the element, here in (X)HTML? Olaf
Received on Friday, 9 March 2012 16:21:26 UTC