Re: LINK'ed style sheets -Reply

<<This is a slightly modified version of what I sent out an hour ago - I
realized I skipped over a concept>>

 From: Charles Peyton Taylor <CTaylor@wposmtp.nps.navy.mil>
| >3) Add a second stylesheet value to the LINK REL attribute, e.g.
| >ALTSTYLESHEET, that would indicate stylesheets that should be
| >presented as alternatives, but not automatically applied.  I
| >personally like this one the best.
| 
| This makes sense.  I know it's a matter of interface, 
| but how would you let the user choose between styles?
---

Actually, there's another wrinkle.  Stylesheets can be combined.  So the
alternative may not just be between n alternative stylesheets, but
between n sets of overlaying stylesheets.

How about this rule: use the TITLE attribute of the LINK element to name
individual stylesheets or groups of stylesheets - all the stylesheets
with the same name would be treated as a group, to be combined in order
(presumably the semantics of combining two stylesheets would depend on
the type of the stylesheets).

Distinguish one TITLE value (say, "", the null title) as meaning that the
so-titled stylesheet or stylesheets are to be applied automatically. So,
using the example in <http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/TR/WD-style.html>:

    <LINK TITLE="" REL=stylesheet HREF="old.style" TYPE="application/dsssl">
    <LINK TITLE="" REL=stylesheet HREF="old-overlay.style" TYPE="application/dsssl">
    <LINK TITLE="New" REL=stylesheet HREF="new.style" TYPE="application/rtf">
    <LINK TITLE="Wacky" REL=stylesheet HREF="wacky.style" TYPE="text/css">
    <TITLE>ACME Widgets Corp</TITLE>

would indicate that if the user does nothing specific, the old.style and
old-overlay.style stylesheets are to be applied.

This degenerates nicely - in the most likely default case - one
stylesheet LINK specified, and it is to be the automatic choice, no name
is needed.

scott

--
scott preece
motorola/mcg urbana design center	1101 e. university, urbana, il   61801
phone:	217-384-8589			  fax:	217-384-8550
internet mail:	preece@urbana.mcd.mot.com

Received on Tuesday, 25 June 1996 16:16:20 UTC