Re: [css-shapes] basic shape syntax in prose

On Sep 28, 2013, at 12:30 AM, Tab Atkins Jr. <jackalmage@gmail.com> wrote:

>> 
>> but I'm OK with adding grammar back in as long as I
>> can avoid the misleading {3,5} and unreadable repetitions of
>> <length>|<percentage>. If <arg> should not be used as a local shorthand,
>> what do you recommend? Shall I make a local definition of #{A,B} that can
>> eventually be added to Values and Units level 4?
> 
> Just make some appropriately-unique named subterm, like
> <rectangle-arg> or something.

It would be extremely helpful to have a general term for <length> | <percentage> since that combination is used quite a lot across all CSS specifications. Also, Alan's rectangle() is just one function that uses this combination, there is circle(), polygon() and ellipse() too.

Finding the right name is hard though. Sometimes it is a coordinate, sometimes a dimension/size or distance. And it must be short too, so that it makes sense to use this new value :)

Greetings,
Dirk