Re: CSS3 UI "icon" property

On 5/12/04 6:22 PM, "Boris Zbarsky" <bzbarsky@MIT.EDU> wrote:

> Tantek Çelik wrote:
>>>> Surely the correct icon depends on the platform; it is the icon that the
>>>> platform's user interface guidelines would dictate for the context.
>> 
>> David is exactly correct.  For example many platforms have a default/plain
>> "document" or "content" icon that is used when little is known about an
>> item.
> 
> Perhaps I'm still missing something.. but what item?  The specification just
> says that the node with that style is replaced by the icon.  Say I have:
> 
> <html>
>  <body>
>    <div style="content: icon; icon: auto">Text</div>
>  </body>
> </html>
> 
> What exactly can be reasonably done here?

Just show the default icon on the system for a piece of text content, or
lacking that, content, or lacking that, a document.


> Or is interoperability
> there 
> not an issue?

As is often the case with 'auto' values, there is some amount of UA and/or
platform specific presentation/behavior that cannot be helped, so yes, this
is a case where pixel-for-pixel interoperability is neither expected nor
desired.

In addition, hard and fast rules about this sort of thing would likely get
in the way or otherwise obstruct a more optimal implementation than we could
have thought up at this point.  Thus it is better to leave it loosely
specified as it were.


> In my opinion it is, since otherwise you end up with
> assumptions 
> about what should or should not be done based on whatever UA implements this
> first and other UAs having to reverse-engineer behavior.

I'd doubt it.  In cases involving platform look and feel defaults, you'll
get whatever the UA deems appropriate.  The same UA may provide different
presentations on different platforms or devices for example.


> Again, all this could use explaining in the spec, in my opinion

In my opinion I disagree and thus it is left deliberately up to the UA.


>> Check the platform's user interface guidelines.
> 
> They say nothing about the case I cite above...

Platform user interface guidelines are just that, guidelines.

They cannot (and should not) necessarily be expected to provide specific
rules or any other explanation for particular markup languages or even
document types at all.

Just check what they say for a default icon for a document or a piece of
content in general.

E.g. for classic MacOS (I googled for Macintosh default icon)

<http://developer.apple.com/documentation/mac/MoreToolbox/MoreToolbox-104.ht
ml>

Search in that document for "genericDocumentIconResource".

Tantek

Received on Wednesday, 12 May 2004 21:51:29 UTC