updating lists of properties that must apply to :first-letter and :first-line [selectors][css3-background][css3-text]

Selectors, level 3 says:
  # In CSS, the following properties apply to a ::first-line
  # pseudo-element: font properties, color property, background
  # properties, 'word-spacing', 'letter-spacing', 'text-decoration',
  # 'vertical-align', 'text-transform', 'line-height'. UAs may apply
  # other properties as well.
   --http://dev.w3.org/csswg/selectors3/#first-line
and
  # In CSS, these are the properties that apply to ::first-letter
  # pseudo-elements: font properties, 'text-decoration',
  # 'text-transform', 'letter-spacing', 'word-spacing' (when
  # appropriate), 'line-height', 'float', 'vertical-align' (only if
  # 'float' is 'none'), margin properties, padding properties,
  # border properties, color property, background properties. UAs
  # may apply other properties as well.
   --http://dev.w3.org/csswg/selectors3/#first-letter

It's not clear how these lists ought to be kept up to date as new
properties are added, given CSS modularization.  I think the lists
should certainly be updated in the next level of selectors, but they
should perhaps also be updated in specifications that define new
properties between now and then.

The things that are categories of properties are mostly easy:  "font
properties" clearly covers font-size-adjust and font-stretch,
although they were also defined to apply in CSS 2.0, and
"background-properties" clearly covers background-clip,
background-origin, etc., and "border-properties" clearly covers
'border-image'.  It's not clear whether background-break should
apply, but I think it essentially doesn't matter.

However, there are a few additional properties that I think should
be defined to apply:

  'text-shadow' should apply to both :first-line and :first-letter,
  just like 'text-decoration', 'text-transform', etc.
  http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-text/#text-shadow

  'box-shadow' should apply to ::first-letter, just like the border
  properties
  http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-background/#the-box-shadow

I tend to think that they should apply ought to be noted, for now,
in the specs that introduce them.

We should also think about this as we add new properties.

-David

-- 
L. David Baron                                 http://dbaron.org/
Mozilla Corporation                       http://www.mozilla.com/

Received on Wednesday, 24 December 2008 04:01:11 UTC