Re: Proposed revision of CSS2.1 description of backslash escapes

Bert Bos <bert@w3.org> wrote:

> >   * Append this text to the first paragraph of the note at the
> > bottom of the section: "When a backslash has 'no special meaning',
> > it is tokenized like any other punctuation character without special
> >     meaning: as part of a comment, part of a string, or as a DELIM,
> >     based on the context."
> 
> ... this appears to put a normative statement (viz., the definition 
> of "no special meaning") inside a note.
> 
> So I wonder if the "no special meaning" phrase can be avoided. How
> about this (which is otherwise the same as your list above):
> 
>    * Replace "indicates three types of character escapes" with "may
>      indicate one of three types of character escape. Inside a CSS
>      comment, a backslash stands for itself, and if a backslash
>      is immediately followed by the end of the style sheet, it also
>      stands for itself (i.e., a DELIM token)."
> 
>    * Append "Outside a string, a backslash followed by a newline
> stands for itself (i.e., a DELIM followed by a newline)." to the
> paragraph beginning "First, inside a string".

The "stands for itself" phrasing seems a little clunky, but I can't
think of a better option, and you're right, we shouldn't bury
definitions in notes.

zw

Received on Wednesday, 4 August 2010 16:04:44 UTC