RE: Minor error in CSS2, section 14.2; 'background'

The root element of a HTML document may be the <HTML> element, according to
SGML.  However, Gordon's question was referring to the root display node -
and there is no explicit requirement that HTML be that root display node
codified in any particular specification that I know of.  The <BODY> element
has long been the implied root display node for HTML documents, given its
BACKGROUND, BGCOLOR, SCROLL and text-color attributes.

Given the model we have for the HTML BODY element, I don't think it's
resolvable to make HTML be the default root display node, without some very
ugly fixups to handle things like SCROLL.

-Chris Wilson

-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Hickson [mailto:py8ieh@bath.ac.uk]
Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 1999 8:10 AM
To: gordon
Cc: www-style@w3.org
Subject: Re: Minor error in CSS2, section 14.2; 'background'


On Tue, 7 Sep 1999, gordon wrote:

> I don't want to cause trouble, but when I look at
> html40/struct/global.html#h-7.3 nothing there indicates that style is
> an attribute of the html element.  I've always been under the
> impression that the body element is the "root [display] node" of an
> html document.

No, the root element of an HTML document is the HTML element. The fact
that that element doesn't take the style attribute is not important to CSS
-- most XML implementations will probably not have a 'style' attribute on
most elements.

-- 
Ian Hickson
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Received on Wednesday, 8 September 1999 18:04:20 UTC