Errors in the CSS2 *errata* document...

Instead of listing errors in the spec, I thought that today I would
list errors in the list of errors. :-)

Quotes marked '#' are from
 http://www.w3.org/Style/css2-updates/REC-CSS2-19980512-errata.html

# Shorthand properties                                                
#
#  Shorthand properties take a list of subproperty values or the value
#  'inherit'. One cannot mix 'inherit' with other subproperty values as
#  it would not be possible to specify the subproperty to which 'inherit'
#  applied. The definitions of a number of shorthand properties do not
#  enforce this rule: 'border-top', 'border-right', 'border-bottom',
#  'border-left', 'border', 'background', 'font', 'list-style', 'cue',
#  and 'outline'.

Of the above, only 'font' has the error mentioned.

For example, in the definition of 'outline':

: 'outline'
:     Value:         [ <'outline-color'> || <'outline-style'> ||
:                    <'outline-width'> ] | inherit

...I understand this as disallowing:

       { outline: blue inherit }

Thus, IMHO this errata item should be changed to the following:

# Shorthand properties                                                
#
#  Shorthand properties take a list of subproperty values or the value
#  'inherit'. One cannot mix 'inherit' with other subproperty values
#  as it would not be possible to specify the subproperty to which
#  'inherit' applied. The definitions of the 'font' shorthand property
#  does not enforce this rule.


Also, in the Minor Typographical Errors section, the first entry says:
   
# Section 2.1
#  
#  For the example with the LINK element, the list following the example 
#  incorrectly refers to the "ref" attribute. This should be the "href"
#  attribute.

I could not find such an example.

Furthermore:

# Section 9.2.1
#
#  In the example after the diagram, the HTML fragment "<P>jThis is the
#  content of P.</>" should end instead with the end tag "</P>".

First of all, there is an extraneous j in the errata (which I have
already pointed out once), and secondly, there is nothing wrong with
using </> in that example, as it is perfectly valid HTML (use of the
SGML SHORTTAG feature, which is enabled in HTML).

 
# Sample Style Sheet for HTML 4.0
#  
#  The value of the 'line-height' property set for the BODY element
#  should be "1.12em".

I am pretty convinced that the units are extraneous and erroneous in
that errata item, and that the line-height property should merely be
"1.12". As in:
   
   BODY            { padding: 8px; line-height: 1.12 }


Ok, that's it for today.

-- 
Ian Hickson

Received on Friday, 26 February 1999 14:37:32 UTC