Re: [css-line-grid][css-books] (base)line grids

Also sprach Tab Atkins Jr.:

 > > There are, however, two predefined baseline grids in CSS Books: 'root'
 > > and 'page'. 'root' is there so that all elements can refer to one
 > > common baseline grid, no matter what other ancestor elements have
 > > done. In this example, article and aside content would use the same
 > > baseline grid:
 > >
 > >   body { line-grid: create }
 > >   article { line-grid: root }  /* ignore what <body> did, engage the 'root' baseline grid instead */
 > >   aside { line-grid: root }    /* ignore what <body> did, engage the 'root' baseline grid instead */
 > >
 > > It seems like a good, if not super-important, use case -- it gives you
 > > some of the flexibility of named baseline grids without introducing
 > > arbitrary name spaces. How would you express this in CSS-line-grid?
 > 
 > I'm curious as to why you think it's sufficient to let elements refer
 > to the root line grid over their nearest line grid, as opposed to any
 > other line grid in their ancestor list. 

I don't know of a good use case for fetching line grids from any
(ancestor) element. The use case for 'root' isn't super-strong either,
but it allows elements to sync to a common base if their parents stray.

 > >    @page introduction { margin: 10% }
 > >    @page chapter { margin: 6% }
 > >    body { line-grid: page }
 > >
 > > This seems quite important for printed documents and I suggest it is
 > > added to CSS-line-grid (it's mentioned in a note in the most recent WD).
 > 
 > How do you establish the line-grid here?  Is it established by the
 > first page?  Or by the root element?

It's established on a per-page basis. So as long as the pages have the
same size and orientation, they will have the same baselines. The font
information is borrowed from the root element, but the baseline grid
starts at the edges of the page box, not the page area.

 > > I don't understand why the keywords are called 'block-start' and
 > > 'block-end' -- shouldn't they have "before" and "after" in them
 > > instead of "start" and "end"? I always mix these up myself -- 'before'
 > > and 'start' sounds much too much like synonyms in my head -- but I
 > > believe "before" refers to the top edge (assuming latin), and "start"
 > > refers to the left edge? If so, I don't understand how you would align
 > > the left edge of the block with a baseline grid?
 > 
 > A year or so ago we finally resolved on what to call the logical
 > directions - they're named "block-start/end" and "inline-start/end",
 > or just "start/end" when the axis is unambiguous or irrelevant.

Ahh. Logic redefined. 

Aren't we just passing the headache onto another group? (those who
finally mastered the old logic :-)

I vaguely remember taking part in the debate, and I think I argued
that we should use the term "line" instead of "inline". Elements are
inline, lines have a direction. And we'd save loads of bandwidth. 

Cheers,

-h&kon
              Håkon Wium Lie                          CTO °þe®ª
howcome@opera.com                  http://people.opera.com/howcome

Received on Wednesday, 1 October 2014 18:05:45 UTC