Datatype and CSS alias proposal

 I can't understand the Datatype propsal:
 
 <BLOCKQUOTE 
   cite="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-html/1998Mar/0111.html">
 
 "The markup
      
         <DATATYPE type=date format=full>3/26/98</DATATYPE>
         <DATATYPE type=date format=short>3/26/98</DATATYPE>
         <DATATYPE type=number>1000.00</DATATYPE>
         <DATATYPE type=currency unit=USD>1000.00</DATATYPE>
      
      could be shown as follows in a Dutch User Agent:
      
         26 Maart 1998
         26/3/98
         1000,00
         $ 1.000,00 "
  
 </BLOCKQUTE>
  
 The text of an HTML  document should be represented in the human 
 language of the document and not of the user / UA.
 This applies also to dates and to decimal points.
 
 Do people in  France expect their email program
 will translate this message into French?
 And if not, why translate the date?
 
 
 In HTML 1000.00 is a word, 26/3/98 is 
 another word. If they have to be a number and a 
 date one should use some application of XML.
 HTML should not become a general data formatting language, but 
 remain something for regular human language text.
 
 
 
 About the CSS alias. 
 
 Does it apply only to the document where the alias is defined or 
 to all documents that compose one stylesheet?
 
 The latter is impossible, since the user's and author's stylesheets merge, 
 and one may get contradicting aliases.
 
 But then authors will get confused since they 
 may combine several stylesheets (say an external with  LINK and 
 embedded with STYLE) and will have to redefine the alias in 
 every document.
 
 One can define it to apply to all stylesheets of the 
 same source (e.g. author) but this may confuse 
 user agents, who have enough trouble already 
 getting CSS1 right.
 
 Regards,
 
 Nir Dagan                            
 Assistant Professor of Economics      
 Universitat Pompeu Fabra
 Barcelona (Spain)
 
 email: dagan@upf.es
 Website: http://www.econ.upf.es/%7Edagan/

Received on Thursday, 26 March 1998 14:31:20 UTC