Re: marker-pattern syntax

Dirk Schulze:
> No, this syntax seems by far to complex to implement. (Note that implementing repeating patterns is very calculation insensitive anyway.)
>
> 10px url() 20px 40% repeat(url() 20px 20px 10% url()) 20px
>
> What does this mean?
>
> Please keep it simple

I think it's pretty simple to interpret.  You repeat the "url() 20px 
20px 10% url()" within the

   pathLength - 10px - 20px - 40% - 20px

section in the middle of the path.

What would be more difficult to interpret was if you had multiple 
repeat() values, but I would think you'd only only one.

I think if we want to allow at least an offset at the start, then we 
should also allow one at the end.  Extending that to support arbitrary 
start/end patterns like the above is kind of neat, although if you don't 
care about painting order, you could achieve it by just adding 
additional tracks.

> <distance> with a <url> defines a pattern. Another proposal would go into the same directions as Tab's proposal:
>
> [   [<url> <distance>*]+ [no-repeat | repeat]?   ]#
>
> Each distance after a url describes the offset for the current marker:
>
>  url(#m1) 20px;
>
> would be:
>
>  --#--#
>
> and
>
>  url(#m1) 20px no-repeat;
>
> would be:
>
>  --#---------
>
> with no-repeat It would not repeat. A url without a distance has an offset of 0:
>
>  url(#m1) 20px url(#m2) url(#m1) 20px 30px
>
> would be
>
>  --#/O--#---#--#/O--#---#….
>
> #/O means both markers are drawn at the same position.

I think I much prefer the length to go before the marker url(), as I 
think of processing the pattern from left to right: if it's a length, 
advance the current position by that length; if it's a url(), draw a 
marker at the current position.

> The advantage is that you always know which offset belongs to which url. It may not be so clear from the beginning with Tabs proposal that 20px url(#m1) 20px 20px 30px url(#m2) is the same as 20px url(#m1) 20px url(#m1) 20px url(#m1) 30px url(#m2). If no keyword repeat or no-repeat is used, then it is the same as no-repeat.

I didn't realise that about Tab's proposal (if it is actually the case), 
that the url()s are implied between each length.  I assumed it was like 
in the current spec text, where consecutive lengths just keep advancing 
the current position.

Received on Wednesday, 28 November 2012 04:51:30 UTC