Re: comments on CSS1

Scott E. Preece (preece@predator.urbana.mcd.mot.com)
Tue, 5 Dec 1995 12:21:29 -0600

From: David Seibert <seibert@hep.physics.mcgill.ca>
| > Actually, I think you argue about as cogently that either towards or
| > away from the default makes sense. I don't think I care, so long as
| > you say one or the other, to make it predictable.
|
| Moving away from the default makes much more sense. If an author puts an
| extra frame around a table element, he probably wants the frame there to
| emphasize that element. I think that a UA should try to do what the
| author wants, and should not take out things that the author wants to add
| unless it cannot render them, since it can always make the document
| larger. UAs should be smart, but they should not assume that they are
| smarter than authors. 
---


There are two possible conflicts:  something has requested a *lighter*
frame than the author requested (or none) or something has requested a
heavier frame than the author requested (or a frame when the author
indicated none).  Moving towards the default or away from the default
will favor the author or not, depending on the specific conflict, the
default, and the author's specification.


There is, by definition, no right answer - the best advice available to
the browser leads to two different answers.  So what do you do?  Circle
back around to "There is, by definition, no right answer".


Either going towards or away from the default is going to be "wrong"
some of the time; I still don't think either makes more sense, given
that you know that there is, by definition, no right answer.


scott



--
scott preece
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