Re: [CSS3-MultiCol] suggestions for vertical text

Also sprach fantasai:

 > In Section 4.4 Pseudo-Algorithm change "content width" to "used width" to hook
 > into the width calculation algorithms in CSS2.1. Also, add some text to make
 > this be "used height" in vertical text.

I propose this text:

  <li><code>available-width</code>: if the used width of the
  multi-column element has not been determined when the 'column-count'
  and 'column-width' must be determined (e.g., if it is floating with a
  'width' of 'auto' as per CSS 2.1 section 10.3.5) this varible is
  <code>unknown</code>, otherwise it is the same as the used width of
  the multi-column element. In vertical text, the used height replaces
  used width in this calculation.

The only change is the added last sentence.

 > And maybe say somewhere that the UA may calculate column widths
 > independently on different pages, to avoid excessive column gaps at
 > page breaks.

David Ross replied:

 > When a multi-column Web page is printed, the columns on each page
 > should have similar widths.  They should not vary from one printed
 > page to another any more than they vary on a computer monitor.
 > Otherwise, someone reading the printed pages may easily get confused
 > and distracted.  

In most cases, this is not a problem -- for a given document, most
printed pages will have the same page area and columns will therefore
have the same widths.

In cases where, say, the first page has a smaller page area, I believe
it is better to adjust the widths of the columns. so that the page
area is filled.

However, the multicol specification refers to the used width of the
multicol element and not the page area. Therefore, I don't think the
multicol spec should address this issue -- it should be a natural
fallout from the definition of the used width. 

 > Define somewhere that page breaks are allowed in column gaps but not within
 > the column itself when the column flow is parallel to the page break, e.g.
 > 
 >    ..............
 >    : |||||||||| :
 >    : |||||||||| :
 >    :            :
 >    : |||||||||| :
 >    : |||||||||| :
 >    :            :
 >    :            :
 >    ..............
 > 
 >    ..............
 >    : |||||||||| :
 >    : |||||||||| :
 >    :            :
 >    :            :
 >    :            :
 >    :            :
 >    :            :
 >    ..............
 > 
 > is ok but
 > 
 >    ..............
 >    : |||||||||| :
 >    : |||||||||| :
 >    :            :
 >    : |||||||||| :
 >    : |||||||||| :
 >    :            :
 >    : |||||||||| :
 >    ..............
 > 
 >    ..............
 >    : |||||||||| :
 >    :            :
 >    :            :
 >    :            :
 >    :            :
 >    :            :
 >    :            :
 >    ..............
 > 
 > is not.

This is a complex example involving both page breaks and vertical
text. In a specification that has no examples using vertical text, I
think this is getting too detailed. In any case, the spec establishes
the principle that column breaks and page breaks can happen in the
same places. Therefore, it would probably be better to describe this
restriction in another specification. 

Cheers,

-h&kon
              Håkon Wium Lie                          CTO °þe®ª
howcome@opera.com                  http://people.opera.com/howcome

Received on Wednesday, 9 January 2008 12:01:00 UTC