Re: [CSS3] Generated content: environment variables

Boris Zbarsky wrote:
> 
> fantasai wrote:
>> a) Not all CSS applications are web browsers. PrinceXML, for example,
>>    enables the use of CSS for publications like books, manuals, and 
>> theses.
> 
> Yes, but last I checked this is the World Wide Web consortium.

In case you hadn't noticed, publications like books, manuals, and theses
are increasingly on the Web, and the proportion of printouts that are Web
pages is near 50%.

Why should their printouts have to either look junky or be offered via PDF?

>> b) In a web browser the user should be allowed to override the author's
>>    header styles, but it is quite reasonable for the author to be able
>>    to specify different header content and style if the user doesn't
>>    particularly care.
> 
> There's no way to tell on a per-page basis whether the user cares.  
> Unless you think browsers should ask every time the user prints?

[X] Allow web pages to use their own headers and footers

>>    For example, the CSS specifications could print the
>>    title, page number, url, and official date of publication rather than
>>    the date of printing.
> 
> I don't see why you need "rather than" instead of "in addition to.
>
>>    Driving directions could specify headers with the
>>    the starting address, ending address, site homepage URL, and date of
>>    retrieval and leave out the cropped, unreadable, and useless CGI URL.
> 
> Again, I'm find with all that if you leave out the "leave out" part.

Good information design maximizes the [useful] data-to-ink ratio. A crufty
half-missing URL that nobody will ever type into their web browser is not
useful data. If the date of modification is available, the date of printing
is hardly ever useful data.

~fantasai

Received on Friday, 2 November 2007 19:18:50 UTC