Re: [cssom-view] Add a "smooth" parameter to scrollTo and scrollBy functions

I agree that this is highly needed, but it doesn't solve the most common use case: Smooth scrolling when the UA scrolls to a specific :target due to a URL hash.
Still, it would make things easier, but not easy enough.
Unfortunately, I can't think of any syntax to suggest right now which solves that use case. :(

Lea Verou
W3C developer relations
http://w3.org/people/all#lea ✿ http://lea.verou.me ✿ @leaverou






On Mar 19, 2013, at 19:46, Tab Atkins Jr. <jackalmage@gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm forwarding a request from some of our internal engineers here, but
> I think it's a good idea myself. ^_^
> 
> Apparently, there has been a significant rise in the number of sites
> desiring "smooth" scrolling when adjusting the scroll position of a
> page.  Right now, they're limited to some fairly hacky, bad solutions,
> akin to standard Javascript transitions - run a requestAnimationFrame
> and update scrollTop in increments.
> 
> This is problematic for several reasons.  For one, it's janky, slow,
> and power-intensive, just like all javascript-controlled animations.
> Moving a lot of these types of transitions/animations to CSS has been
> a huge win on several fronts, and it would be nice to extend this same
> win to scrolling.
> 
> For two, it's difficult to get the subtleties of the behavior down
> correctly.  If somebody uses their mousewheel during the transition,
> for example, you want to stop the transition immediately and scroll
> from that point as appropriate.  Expecting authors to get this kind of
> behavior right every time is unrealistic, and if they don't, users
> have a bad experience.
> 
> For three, it requires a layout, even when you're just doing a
> scrollBy to move the page downward by 10px, because you have to
> measure offsetTop.
> 
> Because of this, I believe we should address the problem directly, and
> add a method to say that a given instant-scroll should be "smooth"
> rather than instant.
> 
> There are a few ways we could do this.  One early idea was to make a
> CSS property, like scroll-transition, that controlled this.  I don't
> think this is a good idea - I can see good reasons to want both
> instant and smooth scrolling on the same element in different
> circumstances, which argues that the decision should be made at the
> scroll site, not the element.
> 
> Thus, I propose that we amend the existing scrollTo and scrollBy
> functions in CSSOM View to take a third parameter: an optional
> "smooth" string.  If omitted, the scroll is instant.
> 
> This achieves the desired behavior at a minimal cost.  In downlevel
> clients, the scroll would still work, but would be instant instead of
> smooth, which is the same desirable failure mode that transitions have
> today.
> 
> Thoughts?
> 
> ~TJ
>

Received on Sunday, 19 May 2013 01:31:43 UTC