Re: Request for adjustable font-size: line-fit

On 8/20/2013 3:18 PM, Sylvain Galineau wrote:
> The issue Lea is referring to - I think - is that if the element has
> width:30em, the em in that length refers to the font size of the element
> the width property applies to. Thus if said font-size is in turn a
> function of how wide the element is you have a circularity. And in CSS,
> circularity is awkward.

I do "get" the problem. It's a Catch-22: if the width of the column is 
set in ems, as the font gets bigger so does the pixel to em ratio which 
makes the column bigger, thereby defeating the purpose because the width 
is inherently set to expand with the font size.

What I was pointing out is simply that there IS an initial pixel width 
computed by the rendering engine that corresponds to the font size and 
em value specified and it's that initial width that needs to remain 
unchanged - as if it was set using px - for the technique to work.
But severing the connection between font size and column width when 
using ems to set the column width immediately after the initial width is 
calculated, IS a bit of a mind-bender. Circular, yes. And awkward, yes. 
Don't like it at all.
But how else can the technique work without preserving that initial 
width no matter what measure is used - percent, px, en, em, ex, or 
whatever - and making the width of the line stick to that initial 
computed style width no matter what the font size changes to and what 
measure was used in the style sheet?
Don't know. And I'm not even sure what problem line-fit solves. Hah!
All I know is that I was deeply intrigued by the technique when I saw it 
implemented using JavaScript.
It *feels* like there's something worth pursuing in it even if I'm not 
quite sure what yet.
(If anybody has a use case that demonstrates line fit's effectiveness, 
please share.)

Regards,

rich

Received on Wednesday, 21 August 2013 05:34:19 UTC