Re: [css3-regions] iframe as content source

On Sep 7, 2011, at 9:03 PM, Alex Mogilevsky wrote:

> Actually the “iframe flow” behavior is anti-transclusion, and it is closer to what happens to formatted content when you put it into a chain of boxes in a DTP system:
>  
> ·         Content styling is not affected by parent styles (other than intentional override via region styling)
> ·         Scripts in content are contained to content document (security options may vary, but script is contained unless it intentionally reaches outside)
>  
> Building up complex documents via Ajax is actually much close to transclusion as it creates a single document from pieces that may be completely unrelated initially. And model of isolated flow is closer to the concept of “template” or “master document”, where layout of magazine page and article content are done by different people and have no reason to share style sheets…
>  

Ok, I don't care what name you give the feature. Let's use "iframe flow" then. My point is that it's not a feature that should be tied exclusively to regions. You might want an iframe to split across pages when printing, or to be splittable across columns, or even simply to flow unpaginated as though it was in the main document.

The act of placing an iframe into a region should not automatically cause it to behave this way. It should behave just as it would with multi-column layout or printing by default. Let's not create an inconsistency in iframe behavior between regions and multi-column/printing.

If you want special behavior for frames, define it in such a way that it is generalizable across all of these layout systems, e.g., with a new CSS property.

I have no objection to the feature itself, but I think it's misplaced in the CSS Regions module, and I think you should explore specifying it in a way that isn't limited to regions only. Once you do that, it really has no business being in the CSS Regions module, and putting it someplace else will let the two features progress independently.

dave
(hyatt@apple.com)