[Bug 14360] Count Unicode 'combining marks" together with "inter-element whitespace"

http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=14360

--- Comment #8 from Ian 'Hixie' Hickson <ian@hixie.ch> 2011-10-03 22:41:43 UTC ---
> Because the assumption is that the author wants to represent the combining mark
> as an letter in itself, as if it was a spacing character. The assumption is
> also that he/she wants this character to behave equally regardless of where it
> is placed, and not that it becomes extra difficult to control it each time it
> (or space+combiningMark) is the first character(s) of the line.

Even if the combing mark becomes an isolated one, it'll still render fine. It
doesn't become more difficult at the start of the line. So this is not, IMHO, a
real problem.


> Because it is typically difficult to select a combining character. One
> typically selects the base character plus the combining character as a whole.
> And then, if there is no base character, it is rather understandable that it
> becomes hard to select it.

There's always a base character. Isolated combining characters essentially
magic one out of nowhere to combine with, as if it was a space. So this is not,
IMHO, a real problem.

There may be some implementation issues; those should be filed as bugs with the
implementations.

This is not, IMHO, a real problem, at least not one in the spec.


> > > 3)  Visually, such marks may look as if they combine with something outside the
> > > element
> > 
> > They might well combine with something outside the element's border box. Why is
> > this a problem?
> 
> The situation I described was one where it *looks* as if it it combines with
> something (that is: with something unvisible) outside the element.  That is: A
> situation where there is nothing to combine with. (For all I know, it combines
> withe box - rather than a character - outside the element.)
> 
> If the combining character is inside an element with display:inline-block, and
> combines with another character in a mathml element, then that is another
> matter - and not a problem. 

I have no idea what you're saying here. Could you elaborate? Maybe a concrete
example?


> > > 4)  When the first letter is a combnining mark, then the CSS *:first-letter{}
> > > selector may seem, to authors, to not work
> > 
> > Why not? It would do exactly what CSS says it should, no?
> 
> I said "may seem to not". I did not say "does not". (In addition, there are
> bugs.)

If there are bugs, please file them with the implementations. That does not
affect the spec.


Leaving open for clarification on point 3 above.

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Received on Monday, 3 October 2011 22:41:48 UTC