Re: Comments on HTML 4.0

---MegaZone <megazone@livingston.com> wrote:
>
> I'd like to request a change to TABLES for backwards compatibility.
> 
> The current spec forces authors to put TFOOT ahead of TBODY.  The
problem
> with this is older user agents.
> 
> <TABLE>
> <THEAD>
> <TR><TH>This is the top of the table.
> <TFOOT>
> <TR><TH>This is the bottom of the table.
> <TBODY>
> <TR><TD>This is the contents.
> </TABLE>
> 
> In a new UA that would be:
> 
> This is the top of the table.
> This is the contents.
> This is the bottom of the table.
> 
> But in an old UA, which will ignore the THEAD/TFOOT/TBODY, it is:
> 
> This is the top of the table.
> This is the bottom of the table.
> This is the contents.
> 
> Which is wrong.
> 

Quite.

> On page 103, section 12.1.3, it says:
> 
> TFOOT must appear before TBODY within a TABLE definition so that user
> agents can render the foot before receiving all of the (potentially
> numerous) rows of data. The following summarizes which tags are
> required and which may be omitted:
> 
> I don't get that.

I believe the idea is that if the table has size attributes, then the
head and foot can be displayed at the top and bottom of the reserved
space, and the body (or bodies) can be filled into the middle as the
rest of the document arrives, allowing you to scroll through the table
without losing sight of the header and footer. A nifty concept I must
say, still it does force one to make two versions of a table to be
sure that everyone can read it.
_____________________________________________________________________
Sent by RocketMail. Get your free e-mail at http://www.rocketmail.com

Received on Sunday, 21 September 1997 15:00:34 UTC