[CSS21] Can column boxs span multiple columns?

Hi,

Reading http://www.w3.org/TR/2011/REC-CSS2-20110607/tables.html

Section 17.2 of CSS 2.1 defines elements with `display: table-column` as 
describing "a column" and matching the col element in HTML. However, a 
HTML col can represent more than one column if it has a span attribute:

HTML 4: http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/tables.html#h-11.2.4.2
HTML 5: http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/tabular-data.html#the-col-element

This is reflected in point 3 of 17.5: "A column box occupies one or more 
columns of grid cells".

However this is not mentioned anywhere else. Everything else in the CSS 
spec seems to assume that columns and column boxes are the same thing.

So, is multiple columns for a column box allowed in the CSS table model? 
Do borders on the box affect borders between these columns and how? What 
does a non-auto width on this box mean? Several parts of the spec need 
clarifications in such cases.

I’m not sure any of this is useful as we already have column groups, but 
should user agents support it?

Regards,
-- 
Simon Sapin

Received on Wednesday, 16 November 2011 17:34:03 UTC