RE: [css3-multicol] pseudo-algorithm

See below

Steve Zilles


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Brad Kemper [mailto:brad.kemper@gmail.com]
> Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2011 6:18 PM
> To: Stephen Zilles
> Cc: Sylvain Galineau; Håkon Wium Lie; www-style@w3.org
> Subject: Re: [css3-multicol] pseudo-algorithm
> 
> On Feb 10, 2011, at 5:23 PM, Stephen Zilles <szilles@adobe.com> wrote:
> 
> > In the long term, it seems reasonable to have a property that sets the
> minimum column-width. But, in the short term, it would be reasonable to
> establish a default value for that property, say 5 characters or 10
> characters.
> 
> That just seems too arbitrary to me. MAYBE a one character minimum would be
> OK. But even then... I think it likely that columns won't always contain
> text. Maybe they contain tiny graphics that do something interesting when
> you hover over them. Maybe the author is just using columns to evenly
> divide spaces with gaps between them (in a way that beats how tables do it)
> and is absolutely positioning some things to the middle of each column. I
> don't think it is right to try to prevent creative use of what columns make
> possible, in order to pick an arbitrary amount that we think will be best
> for everyone's design. If there IS such a minimum set, then it is essential
> to allow author override.
[SZ] 
OK, I will accept that my suggestion of 5 or 10 characters is somewhat arbitrary, but not that it was totally arbitrary. I picked 10 as being the near the minimum width that text is readable at. The important point of what I was saying is that, to me, columns are there for text. They should work well for text. I would also wonder how well that above alternative uses will work as the size of the containing block is scaled down.

If it happens that columns can also be used for other things, that is great. But, their use for other things should not destroy their usefulness for text. I am not attached to any given number for minimum-width, but I know it is more than 1 character (or even 2 or 3 characters). If we (eventually) introduce a minimum-column-width property we will have to define a default value and I, at least, do not believe that either zero or one are reasonable default values.

Received on Friday, 11 February 2011 02:38:51 UTC