Re: [VTT] continued discussion in the CSS WG

> On Mar 31, 2015, at 9:22 , Silvia Pfeiffer <silviapfeiffer1@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Is there a possibility to turn these feedbacks from the CSS group into
> something as concise as what the i18n group provided, so we can
> actually address the feedback?

Yes.  I just noticed that Bert Bos is proposing to ask on their next call that they do exactly that.  So we can expect a summary and recommendation.  Hold on!

> 
> For example: is this thread suggesting to replace the WebVTT line
> balancing algorithm in section 6.1, step 11 with "text-wrap:balance"?
> I'd be happy to register that as a bug on the VTT spec if that is the
> actual recommendation by the CSS group.

Let’s see what they say, but it may be that referring externally to text wrapping and line balancing will get us out of international, aesthetic, and algorithmic uncertainties… :-)

> 
> Thanks for any clarification.
> 
> Regards,
> Silvia.
> 
> 
> On Wed, Apr 1, 2015 at 3:13 AM, David Singer <singer@apple.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>> 
>>> From: Alan Stearns <stearns@adobe.com>
>>> To: Simon Pieters <simonp@opera.com>, David Singer <singer@apple.com>, Bert Bos <bert@w3.org>
>>> Cc: "www-style@w3.org" <www-style@w3.org>, Randy Edmunds <redmunds@adobe.com>
>>> Subject: Re: Agenda+ review 1st WD of WebVTT
>>> Date: March 31, 2015 at 07:40:00 PDT
>>> 
>>> On 3/31/15, 4:26 AM, "Simon Pieters" <simonp@opera.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> (Again move technical discussion to the public list....)
>>>> 
>>>> On Tue, 31 Mar 2015 13:19:30 +0200, Simon Pieters <simonp@opera.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> On Mon, 30 Mar 2015 23:22:58 +0200, Alan Stearns <stearns@adobe.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> My comment for the collection is either on WebVTT or CSS Text level 4.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The
>>>>>> definitions for line balancing should be rationalized, and probably a
>>>>>> note
>>>>>> should be added to both that the definition may only hold for Latin
>>>>>> text.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> In WebVTT section 6.1 [1], step 11 of the algorithm for obtaining CSS
>>>>>> boxes says:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> -----
>>>>>> any line breaks inserted by the user agent
>>>>>> for the purposes of line wrapping must be
>>>>>> placed so as to minimize Δ across each run of
>>>>>> consecutive lines between preserved newlines
>>>>>> in the source. Δ for a set of lines is defined
>>>>>> as the sum over each line of the absolute of
>>>>>> the difference between the line's length and
>>>>>> the mean line length of the set.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> -----
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> In Text level 4 section 5.1 [2], the definition of text-wrap:balance
>>>>>> says:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> -----
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Line boxes are balanced when the standard deviation from
>>>>>> the average inline-size consumed is reduced over the block
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> (including lines that end in a forced break).
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> -----
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I’d be happy to adopt WebVTT’s second sentence if that’s deemed better,
>>>>>> but I’m not that happy about the first sentence. If you assume a forced
>>>>>> break is always a paragraph boundary, then different line lengths
>>>>>> before
>>>>>> and after the break are fine. But if you consider a forced break to not
>>>>>> break apart the paragraph, then different line lengths before and after
>>>>>> the break are bad.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I think it would be good if WebVTT used text-wrap:balance instead of
>>>>> its
>>>>> own prose to handle line balancing, so UAs can have a single
>>>>> implementation for both WebVTT and CSS.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I don't have a strong opinion on what the rule should be, but for CSS
>>>>> it
>>>>> would be good if it allows an implementation to balance many lines of
>>>>> text with acceptable performance (e.g. O(n^2) is not acceptable).
>>>>> 
>>>>> Also see https://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=19458
>>> 
>>> On performance, Randy Edmunds demonstrated a proposal a while back [1]
>>> where the algorithm runs at most two layout passes. One of the reasons I
>>> used the word “reduced” rather than “minimized” is to allow some variation
>>> in the ways that different browsers can achieve the balanced effect.
>>> 
>>> Browser interop does not (and I believe it can not) include identical line
>>> breaks in the non-balanced case, so I don’t think it makes any sense to
>>> require ideal breaks when balancing. The general result should merely show
>>> more balance (when possible), and we can construct some obvious test cases
>>> as a baseline for any algorithm to pass.
>>> 
>>> Thanks,
>>> 
>>> Alan
>>> 
>>> [1] https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2013Jan/0597.html
>>> 
>> 
>> David Singer
>> Manager, Software Standards, Apple Inc.
>> 
>> 

David Singer
Manager, Software Standards, Apple Inc.

Received on Tuesday, 31 March 2015 16:25:46 UTC