Re: XHTML2 dt/dd Nesting

> | In particular, it is both correct and sensible for the visual
> | effect of "hanging indentation" to use:
> |   <dl>
> |     <dd>
> |       <p>...</p>
> |       <p>...</p>
> |       ...
> |     </dd>
> |   </dl>
>
> Huh? What have you been smoking?

Nearest XHTML 1.0 approximation of a single item simple list.

> It is both correct and sensible for the visual effect of "hanging 
> indentation" to use:
>
> <div style="margin-left:2em;">
>   <p>...</p>
>   <p>...</p>
> </div>

Well, you might have suggested:

   <div class="SimpleList">
     <p>...</p>
     <p>...</p>
   </div>

but it would not do well in a user agent that does not do CSS,
e.g. "lynx", "w3m", "links", ...

But what is your point?

(1) A simple list is not the correct content model for the
    presentation model "hanging indentation".

OR

(2) A simple list should be modeled in HTML with "div".

My point is the content model for "dl" should be left as it is.
It might also be good if XHTML 2.0 provided a more straightforward
simple list.

It is correct that section 11 of the XHTML 2.0 draft of May, 2003
says:

    Authors must not use lists purely as a means of indenting
    text. This is a stylistic issue and is properly handled by
    style sheets.

Is this statement a coverup for the absence of a simple list?

While it could be argued that "ul" is a simple list, the history of
its default rendering with "bullets" makes that unworkable.

                                    -- Bill

Received on Monday, 6 October 2003 09:27:42 UTC