Text-Decoration

I'm just resurrecting some topics that have come up before on the list.
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There seems to be a need to get rid of "inherited" text-decoration.

Ex:

<P style="text-decoration: underline">
most text <SPAN>some text</SPAN> more text
</P>

There is no way to get rid of the underline beneath the spanned text.
The default value is 'none', so none isn't going to do the job. Also,
one might want to get rid of one text decoration and not another, so a
suggestion would be something along the lines of "text-decoration:
~underline" (possibly a '~all' value, too?).
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How this would work depends on the interpretation of text-decoration.
Currently, it is specified that underlining does not inherit, but is
drawn underneath child elements as well. Is it drawn by the parent or
the child? Ian Hickson has described at length a model with the
underline drawn by the parent, thereby keeping a constant color,
thickness, and position.* Current browser practice is to have the child
draw the underline, as if it was really inherited, using its own
position and thickness.

Keeping a constant position would look better with these:

   <u>The 2<sup>nd</sup> Edition</u>

   <span style="text-decoration: overline">
     C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>12</sub>O<sub>6</sub>
   </span>

But not these:

   <span style="text-decoration: overline">The 2<sup>nd</sup>
Edition</u>

    <u>C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>12</sub>O<sub>6</sub>

The latter set would have a line cutting through the sub/superscripts.
And there is no way to break that line for them.

However, if one took current browser practice, The 2nd Edition would
look very odd, with a short piece of the underline floating beneath the
'nd' instead of where it ought to be. And striking through either of
them would look strange indeed--I should hardly think one would lift
one's pen to cross out each individual subscript in a chemical equation.

With a method for getting rid of parents' text-decoration, the
parent-draws-decoration model is much more flexible.
__

Either way, I think the thickness should remain, like color, constant
throughout. Otherwise this: <B>W</B>ord would look terrible underlined.
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Another question: If one has nested tags, both with the same
text-decoration (i.e. underline), but at different positions (due to a
font or other change), would one null the other or would both appear?
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"If the property is specified for a block-level element, it affects all
inline-level descendants of the element."

Taking example of <body style="text-decoration: underline">.

This was also previously discussed -> All inline-level descendants would
include those inline boxes generated by block-level descendants.

If the position of the underline is taken from the element that sets the
text-decoration, what would happen to a paragraph rendered in a
different font than the body? Would the line-baseline spacing be defined
by the body's font?
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Any thoughts on an (optional for compliance) word-underline value?
(skips whitespace)
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~Relevant messages~

Text-decoration nullifier:
  http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/msg07906.html

Position of text-decoration:
  http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/msg08211.html **
  http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/1999Nov/0167.html
 *http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2000Jan/0074.html

Word-underline:
  http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/1999Mar/0082.html

"Inheritance":
  http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2000Jan/0220.html
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** Might be interesting to look at for its own sake
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Side comment to Matthew Brealey:

http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/1999Nov/0176.html
If you still have this, would you please send me a copy in HTML?
There isn't much to see in the archived version. ^_^;


                                         ~Fantasai

Received on Wednesday, 29 March 2000 17:45:22 UTC