CSS1 attribute addition proposal: bg-transparency

I am new to this list, and new to CSS style sheets, but I have been studying the spec intently for the last couple of weeks, and for my purposes I can find really only one thing missing that would be really useful:

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'bg-transparancy'

Value: number | percentage
Initial: 0
Applies to: all elements
Inherited: yes
Percentage values: refer to background's opacity

This property describes a degree of transparency for the element. It differes from the 'background: transparent' attribute in that it allows for a background color or image to be specificed and determins the opacity of that background in regards to elements behind it.

Values range from 0-255, or 0% to 100%, with 0 meaning not transparent at all (that is, completely opaque), and 255 or 100% meaning fully transparent (equivilant to background: transparent).

  BODY ( background: "pattern.gif")
  THEAD ( background: red; bg-transparency: 75% ) 

In the above example, the red background of the table header would be just visable with the pattern in the background showing through.

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What do others on this list think?  To me it seems complimentary to background: transparent tag, while providing a lot more functionality and design options, and seems like it adheres to the spirit of the specification.

Thanks,
James Miller
MetaBridge, Inc
james@metabridge.com

Received on Friday, 22 March 1996 13:38:50 UTC