XSL/CSS properties coordination

James Clark wrote (on XSL-list - http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list):
>The official and public W3C position on the relationship between XSL and
>CSS is available at:
>
>  http://www.w3.org/Style/Activity.html
>
>which says "The general aim is that the XSL and CSS Working Groups keep
>their formatting models compatible and their properties the same for all
>areas of functionality where XSL and CSS overlap."
>
>and at
>
>http://www.w3.org/Style/
>
>which says "CSS and XSL will use the same underlying formatting model
>and designers will therefore have access to the same formatting features
>in both languages."

While I'm glad to see that the XSL Formatting Objects (FOs) are moving
toward the vocabulary those of using CSS already understand, I wonder about
the implications for CSS.  XSL FOs seem to use an extended vocabulary, and
it seems like it would be a good idea for CSS developers to take a look at
that vocabulary and make sure it works as well with CSS.

In the long run, it seems like it would be a good idea to separate the
vocabulary used to describe formatting (which XSL and CSS will
theoretically have in common) from the mechanisms used to apply that
formatting, which will be very different.

Simon St.Laurent
XML: A Primer / Building XML Applications
Inside XML DTDs: Scientific and Technical (July)
Sharing Bandwidth / Cookies
http://www.simonstl.com

Received on Wednesday, 16 June 1999 11:11:52 UTC