- From: Matt Heffron <heffron@falstaff.css.beckman.com>
- Date: Thu, 01 Aug 1996 14:28:08 -0700
- To: www-html@w3.org
>In article <1.5.4.32.19960801134613.00748d04@csclub.uwaterloo.ca>, >Paul Prescod <papresco@calum.csclub.uwaterloo.ca> wrote: >> At 12:32 PM 8/1/96 +0200, Arnoud "Galactus" Engelfriet wrote: >> >It's similar to using <SPAN CLASS=phonenumber> and then specifying how >> >it should be displayed in the style sheet, rather than having a standard >> ><PHONE> element, which the browser can display/render/dial/stuff-in-a- >> >phone-book any way it likes. >> >> It doesn't really matter whether you do it in CLASS or with an element. The >> important thing is that it be _standardized_. We should standardize CLASS >> sets just as we standardize entity and elemenet sets. > >That would only partially solve the problem. By putting information >about the *contents* of marked-up text in a style sheet, you're >actually lessening the power HTML can offer. > >Style sheets are for layout. >HTML elements are for contents. > I agree that HTML elements are for STRUCTURE of the document contents. I hope it is clear that we don't need/want a new tag for each new ROLE that some part of a document plays in the document as a whole. (Heaven forbid that lawyers create new tags for every type of information in a legal document! <PLAINTIFF>, <CASENUMBER>, <UNDERPAID_PUBLIC_DEFENDER>, <CELEBRITY_$$_DEFENDANT>, ... :-) The tags would explode exponentially as EVERY field that has it's own types of information in a document would be creating new tags. There are SOME relatively universal document structures, and significant roles that need their own tags. Some, like <B>, <I>, (and perhaps <U> which started this whole thread) must continue for a long time for backward compability. Using tags such as DIV and SPAN with CLASS attributes does not preclude indexers from using the CLASS info to build smart indices. There could/should be some "standard" CLASSes that are defined a-priori (e.g. your "phonenumber" class from above). Otherwise, let each field define their own standard classes for their documents and define a standard style sheet for the "default" rendering of those documents. The proliferation of tags will slow to a crawl (hopefully) and the "my browser has the <FOO> tag and yours doesn't" wars (akin to the playground "my dad can beat-up your dad" arguments) will be silenced. Matt -- Matt Heffron heffron@falstaff.css.beckman.com Beckman Instruments, Inc. voice: (714) 961-3128 2500 N. Harbor Blvd. MS X-10, Fullerton, CA 92634-3100 I don't speak for Beckman Instruments (or CRFG) unless they say so.
Received on Thursday, 1 August 1996 17:28:23 UTC