[Bug 8404] Refocus the figure element back to being a figure

http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=8404


Maciej Stachowiak <mjs@apple.com> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
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                 CC|                            |mjs@apple.com




--- Comment #3 from Maciej Stachowiak <mjs@apple.com>  2009-11-30 18:49:30 ---
In academic writing, a table is not traditionally considered a figure; when a
list includes both, it is usually identified as "figures and tables", and
tables and figures are numbered separately. Equations are also not
traditionally considered figures and are also numbered separately, so if the
<figure> content model is restricted, perhaps it should not include <math>.

However, a figure may include multiple logically independent images, so
multiple figure content elements should definitely be allowed. Likewise,
sometimes figures have text identifying the separate image pieces, such as (a)
and (b) which are referred to in the figure caption.

I also looked for examples of code listings being treated as figures. It seems
like this is relatively uncommon -- code listings are more commonly included
inline between paragraphs, or marked distinctively from figures. But I did find
a few examples of code listings as figures. In particular, the USENIX 1998
Technical Conference Proceedings include several papers which have source code
snippets labeled as figures. I also found at least one example of an ordered
list as a figure. I even found an example of a table marked as a figure. I also
found a number of programming books that lay out source code examples just like
figures, but say "Listing" or "Example" instead of "Figure". I could not find
an example of an equation marked as a figure by itself, but I did find numerous
examples of plots of functions annotated with an equation. It seems that, to
accomodate the realities of academic writing, <figure> needs to have a very
generous content model.


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Received on Monday, 30 November 2009 18:49:40 UTC