Re: canvas <html> <body>

In message <002801c1f055$52dc72f0$390573d5@mmstudioproj>, Sigurd Lerstad 
<sigler@bredband.no> writes
>Hello,
>
>If I understand correctly, in XHTML the <html> tag is the canvas and creates
>a block box?

Nothing in the (X)HTML specification defines how any given element must 
be rendered (this is for optional style sheets to determine).

So whether <html> or <body> is taken as the root/canvas element for the 
purpose of a particular rendering is dependent either on the style sheet 
language and/or the implementation concerned.

The consensus appears to be that the <html> element can be the canvas 
element for CSS.  (Subject to the user agent's default style sheet.)

It would be bad practice (IMO) to style the <html> element or any of its 
descendants (except <body>) because this would undermine the default 
interpretation of (for example) <head> elements as providing *meta* 
information.  If such information is also intended to be rendered as 
part of the contents of a document, it should (again IMO) also appear in 
the <body> of the document.  This preserves the semantic distinction in 
HTML between the <head> and <body> elements.

-- 
George Lund

Received on Tuesday, 30 April 2002 17:47:09 UTC