[Bug 10815] i18n comment 10 : block elements with display:inline should get ubi instead of default dir

http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=10815

--- Comment #4 from Maciej Stachowiak <mjs@apple.com> 2010-10-07 15:33:20 UTC ---
(In reply to comment #2)
> > I think there is an expectation that
> > <div style="display: inline"></div>
> > renders exactly equivalent to <span>,
> > under default styling.
> 
> That expectation, reasonable as it sounds, did not prevent an explicit
> requirement in the HTML 4 spec that runs counter to it
> (http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/dirlang.html#style-bidi):
> 
> "When a block element that does not have a dir attribute is transformed to the
> style of an inline element by a style sheet, the resulting presentation should
> be equivalent, in terms of bidirectional formatting, to the formatting obtained
> by explicitly adding a dir attribute (assigned the inherited value) to the
> transformed element".

It seems most browsers don't implement that, though. And HTML5, which better
matches implementation reality, and author expectations, does not have this
requirement.

> 
> > Perhaps one possible way to handle this
> > is to give blocks recommended default
> > rendering like this:
> >
> > div {
> >     display: block;
> >     unicode-bidi: isolate;
> > }
> 
> That sounds good, with one potential problem. I would prefer that the behavior
> be controllable through the ubi attribute, i.e. get no isolation for <div
> style="display:inline" ubi=off>, but I don't think that this will be the case
> for this mechanism.

If the ubi attribute is added, then surely it should be defined in terms of a
mapping to the unicode-bidi CSS property. Whether it overrides a generic style
rule depends on whether it is specified as a set of ordinary stylesheet rules
(in which case it would) or a presentational hint (in which case it would not).

> 
> On the other hand, this is not a very strong preference. I think we can live
> with having to use <div style="display:inline;unicode-bidi:normal"> to get no
> isolation.
> 
> So, this solution is acceptable to me (although others should feel free to
> speak up if they do not like it).
> 
> Nevertheless, we still need to remove the language quoted above ("When a block
> element that does not have a dir attribute is transformed...") from the HTML5
> spec (if it is there as it was in HTML 4).

I don't believe it is there in HTML5.

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Received on Thursday, 7 October 2010 15:33:22 UTC