Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:08:58 +0100
[css-overflow] Record issues about paginated overflow
1 <h1>CSS Overflow Module Level 3</h1>
2 <pre class="metadata">
3 Status: ED
4 ED: http://dev.w3.org/csswg/css-overflow/
5 Shortname: css-overflow
6 Group: csswg
7 Level: 1
8 TR: http://www.w3.org/TR/css-overflow-3/
9 Previous version: http://www.w3.org/TR/2013/WD-css-overflow-3-20130418/
10 Editor: L. David Baron, Mozilla, http://dbaron.org/
11 Editor: Florian Rivoal, Invited Expert, [email protected]
12 Abstract: This module contains the features of CSS relating to new mechanisms of overflow handling in visual media (e.g., screen or paper). In interactive media, it describes features that allow the overflow from a fixed size container to be handled by pagination (displaying one page at a time). It also describes features, applying to all visual media, that allow the contents of an element to be spread across multiple fragments, allowing the contents to flow across multiple regions or to have different styles for different fragments.
13 Status Text: The following features are at risk: …
14 !Change Log: <a href="https://hg.csswg.org/drafts/log/tip/css-overflow/Overview.bs">from 27 January 2015 to the present</a>
15 !Change Log: <a href="https://hg.csswg.org/drafts/log/tip/css-overflow/Overview.src.html">from 28 March 2013 to 27 January 2015</a>
16 !Change Log: <a href="https://hg.csswg.org/drafts/log/tip/css3-overflow/Overview.src.html">from 31 July 2012 to 27 March 2013</a>
17 </pre>
18 <!-- FIXME: Regressions from bikeshed conversion: -->
19 <!-- - Value lines in propdef tables no longer link to #values. -->
20 <!-- - no longer says "Test suite: none yet" -->
21 <!-- - Abstract has the most introductory sentence last -->
22 <!-- FIXME: other bikeshed issues -->
23 <!-- <integer> in max-lines value line should link to the dfn below, not to css-values -->
24 <pre class="link-defaults">
25 spec:css-transforms-1; type:property; text:transform-style
26 </pre>
27 <!-- FIXME: the break-* link doesn't actually work! -->
28 <pre class="anchors">
29 url: http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/CR-css3-marquee-20081205/#the-overflow-style; type: property; text: overflow-style;
30 url: http://dev.w3.org/csswg/css-break/#breaking-controls; type: property; text: break-*;
31 url: http://dev.w3.org/csswg/css-multicol/#overflow-columns; type: dfn; text: overflow columns;
32 url: http://dev.w3.org/csswg/selectors-3/#subject; type: dfn; text: subject;
33 </pre>
34 <style>
35 table.source-demo-pair {
36 width: 100%;
37 }
39 .in-cards-demo {
40 width: 13em;
41 height: 8em;
43 padding: 4px;
44 border: medium solid blue;
45 margin: 6px;
47 font: medium/1.3 Times New Roman, Times, serif;
48 white-space: nowrap;
49 }
51 .bouncy-columns-demo {
52 width: 6em;
53 height: 10em;
54 float: left;
55 margin: 1em;
56 font: medium/1.25 Times New Roman, Times, serif;
57 white-space: nowrap;
58 }
59 .bouncy-columns-demo.one {
60 background: aqua; color: black;
61 transform: rotate(-3deg);
62 }
63 .bouncy-columns-demo.two {
64 background: yellow; color: black;
65 transform: rotate(3deg);
66 }
68 .article-font-inherit-demo {
69 font: 1em/1.25 Times New Roman, Times, serif;
70 white-space: nowrap;
71 }
72 .article-font-inherit-demo.one {
73 width: 12em;
74 font-size: 1.5em;
75 margin-bottom: 1em;
76 height: 4em;
77 }
78 .article-font-inherit-demo.two {
79 width: 11em;
80 margin-left: 5em;
81 margin-right: 2em;
82 }
84 .dark-columns-demo {
85 width: 6em;
86 height: 10em;
87 float: left;
88 margin-right: 1em;
89 font: medium/1.25 Times New Roman, Times, serif;
90 white-space: nowrap;
91 }
92 .dark-columns-demo.one {
93 background: aqua; color: black;
94 }
95 .dark-columns-demo.one :link {
96 color: blue;
97 }
98 .dark-columns-demo.one :visited {
99 color: purple;
100 }
101 .dark-columns-demo.two {
102 background: navy; color: white;
103 }
104 .dark-columns-demo.two :link {
105 color: aqua;
106 }
107 .dark-columns-demo.two :visited {
108 color: fuchsia;
109 }
111 .article-max-lines-demo {
112 font: 1em/1.25 Times New Roman, Times, serif;
113 white-space: nowrap;
114 }
115 .article-max-lines-demo.one::first-letter {
116 font-size: 2em;
117 line-height: 0.9;
118 }
119 .article-max-lines-demo.one {
120 font-size: 1.5em;
121 width: 16em;
122 }
123 .article-max-lines-demo.two {
124 width: 11.5em;
125 float: left; margin-right: 1em;
126 }
127 .article-max-lines-demo.three {
128 width: 11.5em;
129 float: left;
130 }
131 </style>
133 <p>
134 </p>
136 <h2 id="intro">
137 Introduction</h2>
139 <p>
140 In CSS Level 1 [[CSS1]], placing more content than would fit
141 inside an element with a specified size
142 was generally an authoring error.
143 Doing so caused the content to extend
144 outside the bounds of the element,
145 which would likely cause
146 that content to overlap with other elements.
147 </p>
149 <p>
150 CSS Level 2 [[CSS21]] introduced the 'overflow' property,
151 which allows authors to have overflow be handled by scrolling,
152 which means it is no longer an authoring error.
153 It also allows authors to specify
154 that overflow is handled by clipping,
155 which makes sense when the author's intent
156 is that the content not be shown.
157 </p>
159 <p>
160 However, scrolling is not the only way
161 to present large amounts of content,
162 and may even not be the optimal way.
163 After all, the codex replaced the scroll
164 as the common format for large written works
165 because of its advantages.
166 </p>
168 <p>
169 This specification introduces
170 a mechanism for Web pages to specify
171 that an element of a page should handle overflow
172 through pagination rather than through scrolling.
173 </p>
175 <p>
176 This specification also extends the concept of overflow
177 in another direction.
178 Instead of requiring that authors specify a single area
179 into which the content of an element must flow,
180 this specification allows authors to specify multiple fragments,
181 each with their own dimensions and styles,
182 so that the content of the element can flow from one to the next,
183 using as many as needed to place the content without overflowing.
184 </p>
186 <p>
187 In both of these cases, implementations must
188 break the content in the block-progression dimension.
189 Implementations must do this is described
190 in the CSS Fragmentation Module [[!CSS3-BREAK]].
191 </p>
193 <h2 id="overflow-concepts">Types of overflow</h2>
195 <p>
196 CSS uses the term <dfn>overflow</dfn> to describe
197 the contents of a box
198 that extend outside that one of that box's edges
199 (i.e., its <i>content edge</i>, <i>padding edge</i>,
200 <i>border edge</i>, or <i>margin edge</i>).
201 The overflow might be described as the elements or features
202 that cause this overflow,
203 the non-rectangular region occupied by these features,
204 or, more commonly,
205 as the minimal rectangle that bounds that region.
206 A box's overflow is computed based on the boxes and styles
207 of the box and of all its descendants whose containing block chain
208 <span class="issue">undefined term?</span>
209 includes the box.
210 </p>
212 <p>
213 In most cases, any of these types of overflow
214 can be computed for any box
215 from the bounds and properties of that box,
216 and from the overflow (of that type)
217 of each of its children.
218 However, this is not always the case; for example,
219 when ''transform-style: preserve-3d'' [[CSS3-TRANSFORMS]] is used on
220 some of the children, their descendants with
221 ''transform-style: preserve-3d'' must also be examined.
222 </p>
224 <h3 id="ink-overflow">Ink overflow</h3>
226 <p>
227 The <dfn id="ink-overflow0">ink overflow</dfn> of a box
228 is the part of that box and its contents that
229 creates a visual effect outside of
230 the box's border box.
231 </p>
233 <p>
234 Since some effects in CSS (for example, the blurs in
235 'text-shadow' [[CSS3TEXT]] and 'box-shadow' [[CSS3BG]])
236 do not define what visual extent they cover, the extent
237 of the <a>ink overflow</a> is undefined.
238 </p>
240 <p class="issue">
241 Should we try to define it at all and just leave pieces undefined?
242 </p>
244 <p>
245 The <dfn>ink overflow region</dfn> is the non-rectangular region
246 occupied by the <a>ink overflow</a>, and the
247 <dfn>ink overflow rectangle</dfn> is
248 the minimal rectangle whose axis is aligned to the box's axes
249 and contains the <a>ink overflow region</a>.
250 Note that the <a>ink overflow rectangle</a> is a rectangle
251 in the box's coordinate system, but might be non-rectangular
252 in other coordinate systems due to transforms [[CSS3-TRANSFORMS]].
253 </p>
255 <h3 id="scrollable-overflow">Scrollable overflow</h3>
257 <p>
258 The <dfn id="scrollable-overflow0">scrollable overflow</dfn> of a box is the
259 set of things extending outside of that box's padding edge
260 for which a scrolling mechanism needs to be provided.
261 </p>
263 <p class="issue">
264 The following definition should be rewritten to use
265 the concept of <a href="http://dev.w3.org/csswg/css-transforms/#3d-rendering-context">3D rendering context</a> [[!CSS3-TRANSFORMS]]
266 and related terms,
267 particularly once those concepts stabilize following changes
268 proposed in the CSS WG meeting on the morning of 2014-01-28.
269 </p>
271 <p>
272 Given the following definitions
273 <span class="issue">which belong in [[CSS3-TRANSFORMS]]</span>:
274 </p>
276 <dl>
277 <dt><dfn>3d-preserving child</dfn></dt>
278 <dd>
279 A child box B of a containing block C is a 3d-preserving
280 child if it has ''transform-style: preserve-3d''
281 and the user-agent is not required to flatten it
282 based on the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-transforms/#transform-style-property">requirements</a> in [[!CSS3-TRANSFORMS]].
283 </dt>
284 <dt><dfn>non-3d-preserving child</dfn></dt>
285 <dd>
286 A child C of a box P is a non-3d-preserving-child if
287 it is not a <a>3d-preserving child</a>.
288 </dd>
289 <dt><dfn>3d-preserving descendant</dfn></dt>
290 <dd>
291 Box D is a 3d-preserving descendant of box A if A is
292 an ancestor of D, and D and all of the boxes (if any)
293 in the containing block chain from D to A
294 are <a>3d-preserving child</a> boxes.
295 </dd>
296 </dl>
298 <p>The scrollable overflow of a box is the union of the following things,
299 all adjusted for transforms <span class="issue">undefined concept!</span> into the box's coordinate space:</p>
301 <ul>
302 <li>
303 for the box and all of its <a>3d-preserving descendant</a> boxes:
304 <ul>
305 <li>the box's own padding edge (for the box itself) or border edge (for <a>3d-preserving descendant</a> boxes)</li>
306 <li>the bounds <span class="issue">undefined term!</span> of any text directly in the box</li>
307 <li><span class="issue">MORE HERE!</span>
308 </ul>
309 <li>
310 for all the <a>non-3d-preserving child</a> boxes of the
311 box and its <a>3d-preserving descendant</a> boxes,
312 the scrollable overflow of the box
313 </li>
314 </ul>
316 <p class="issue">
317 I wrote this definition off the top of my head,
318 so it can't possibly be right.
319 It's missing tons of pieces!
320 </p>
322 <p class="issue">
323 The handling of preserve-3d subtrees here is probably wrong;
324 the elements should probably count
325 only towards the overflow of the element that flattens them.
326 </p>
328 <p>
329 The <dfn>scrollable overflow region</dfn> is the non-rectangular region
330 occupied by the <a>scrollable overflow</a>, and the
331 <dfn>scrollable overflow rectangle</dfn> is
332 the minimal rectangle whose axis is aligned to the box's axes
333 and contains the <a>scrollable overflow region</a>.
334 Note that the <a>scrollable overflow rectangle</a> is a rectangle
335 in the box's coordinate system, but might be non-rectangular
336 in other coordinate systems due to transforms [[CSS3-TRANSFORMS]].
337 </p>
339 <h3 id="border-box-overflow">Border box overflow</h3>
341 <p class="issue">
342 This concept has been proposed for some uses, such as for
343 determining what the 'outline' property goes around, and
344 as the basis of a coordinate system for specifying clips and masks,
345 but it's not clear if it's needed.
346 </p>
348 <p>
349 The <dfn>border-box overflow</dfn> of a box is the
350 union of the box's border edge and the border edges of
351 the box's descendants.</p>
352 </p>
354 <p class="issue">
355 If needed, define more formally, as for scrollable overflow above.
356 (Maybe even share the definitions in an appropriate way!)
357 </p>
359 <p>
360 The <dfn>border-box overflow region</dfn> is the non-rectangular region
361 occupied by the <a>border-box overflow</a>, and the
362 <dfn>border-box overflow rectangle</dfn> is
363 the minimal rectangle whose axis is aligned to the box's axes
364 and contains the <a>border-box overflow region</a>.
365 Note that the <a>border-box overflow rectangle</a> is a rectangle
366 in the box's coordinate system, but might be non-rectangular
367 in other coordinate systems due to transforms [[CSS3-TRANSFORMS]].
368 </p>
370 <h2 id="overflow-properties">Overflow properties</h2>
372 <p>
373 The 'overflow-x' property specifies
374 the handling of overflow in the horizontal direction
375 (i.e., overflow from the left and right sides of the box),
376 and the 'overflow-y' property specifies the handling
377 of overflow in the vertical direction
378 (i.e., overflow from the top and bottom sides of the box)
379 </p>
381 <pre class=propdef>
382 Name: overflow-x, overflow-y
383 Value: ''visible'' | ''hidden'' | ''scroll'' | ''auto''
384 Initial: ''visible''
385 Applies to: block containers [[!CSS21]], flex containers [[!CSS3-FLEXBOX]], and grid containers [[!CSS3-GRID-LAYOUT]]
386 Inherited: no
387 Percentages: N/A
388 Media: visual
389 Computed value: see below
390 Animatable: no
391 Canonical order: <abbr title="follows order of property value definition">per grammar</abbr>
392 </pre>
394 <p>
395 The 'overflow' property is a shorthand property
396 that sets the specified values of both 'overflow-x' and 'overflow-y'
397 to the value specified for 'overflow'.
398 </p>
400 <pre class=propdef>
401 Name: overflow
402 Value: ''visible'' | ''hidden'' | ''scroll'' | ''auto''
403 Initial: see individual properties
404 Applies to: block containers [[!CSS21]], flex containers [[!CSS3-FLEXBOX]], and grid containers [[!CSS3-GRID-LAYOUT]]
405 Inherited: no
406 Percentages: N/A
407 Media: visual
408 Computed value: see individual properties
409 Animatable: no
410 Canonical order: <abbr title="follows order of property value definition">per grammar</abbr>
411 </pre>
413 <div id="overflow-computed-values">
414 <p>The computed values of 'overflow-x' and 'overflow-y'
415 are determined from the cascaded values [[!CSS3CASCADE]]
416 based on the following rules:</p>
418 <ol>
419 <li>
420 If one cascaded values is ''overflow/visible''
421 and the other is not,
422 then computed values are the cascaded values
423 with ''overflow/visible'' changed to ''overflow/auto''.
424 </li>
425 <li>
426 Otherwise, the computed values are as specified.
427 </li>
428 </ol>
429 </div>
431 <p>The values of these properties are:</p>
433 <dl dfn-for="overflow" dfn-type="value">
434 <dt><dfn>visible</dfn>
435 <dd>
436 There is no special handling of overflow, that is, it
437 may be rendered outside the block container.
438 </dd>
439 <dt><dfn>hidden</dfn>
440 <dt><dfn>scroll</dfn>
441 <dt><dfn>auto</dfn>
442 <dd>
443 <p class="issue">
444 Move material from [[CSS21]] and [[CSS3BOX]] here.
445 </p>
446 </dd>
447 </dl>
449 <p class="issue">
450 Explain which directions allow scrolling and which don't,
451 as a function of 'direction'
452 (including propagation of 'direction' to the ICB).
453 </p>
456 <p class="issue">
457 [[CSS3-MARQUEE]] describes an 'overflow-style' property,
458 but it has not picked up implementation experience
459 that the working group is aware of.
460 Should this document treat 'overflow-style' as a defunct proposal,
461 or should this document describe the 'overflow-style' property
462 and attempt to revive it,
463 despite that implementations have implemented
464 'overflow-x' and 'overflow-y' instead?
465 </p>
467 <h2 id="fragmentation">Fragmentation of overflow</h2>
469 The 'continue' property gives authors the ability
470 to request that content that does not fit inside an element
471 be fragmented (in the sense of [[!CSS3-BREAK]]),
472 and provides alternatives
473 for where the remaining content should continue.
475 Notably, this property explains traditional pagination,
476 and extends it further.
478 <pre class=propdef>
479 Name: continue
480 Value: ''next'' | ''overflow'' | ''paginate'' | ''fragments'' | ''discard''
481 Initial: next
482 Applies to: block containers [[!CSS21]], flex containers [[!CSS3-FLEXBOX]], and grid containers [[!CSS3-GRID-LAYOUT]]
483 Inherited: no
484 Percentages: N/A
485 Media: visual
486 Computed value: see below
487 Animatable: no
488 Canonical order: <abbr title="follows order of property value definition">per grammar</abbr>
489 </pre>
492 Note: ''continue: fragments'' replaces "overflow:fragments"
493 from earlier versions of this specification,
494 while ''continue: paginate'' replaces "overflow: paged-x | paged-y | paged-x-controls | paged-y-controls"
496 <dl dfn-for="continue" dfn-type="value">
497 <dt><dfn>next</dfn>
498 <dd>Content that doesn't fit is pushed to the next region
499 if the element is a <a spec="css-regions">CSS Region</a>
500 other than the last one in a <a spec="css-regions">region chain</a>,
501 or to the next page if the element is part of a page chain,
502 or to the next <a>fragment box</a> if the element is a <a>fragment box</a>
503 Otherwise, it overflows.
505 <dt><dfn>overflow</dfn>
506 <dd>Content that doesn't fit overflows, according to the 'overflow' property
508 <dt><dfn>discard</dfn>
509 <dd>Content that doesn't fit is discarded at a fragmentation break
511 Note: generalized from region-fragment: break; on the last region of a region chain
513 Issue: When the element isn't a <a spec="css-break">fragmentation container</a> already,
514 should this work by turning it directly into one,
515 or by creating a <a>fragment box</a> inside it like ''continue/fragments'' does?
517 <dt><dfn>paginate</dfn>
518 <dd>Content that doesn't fit paginates.
519 This creates a paginated view inside the element
520 similar to the way that 'overflow: scroll' creates a scrollable view.
522 See <a href="#paginated-overflow">paginated overflow</a>
524 Note: Print is effectively "continue: paginate" on the root.
525 <dt><dfn>fragments</dfn>
526 <dd>content that doesn't fit causes the element to copy itself and continue laying out.
528 See <a href="#fragment-overflow">fragment overflow</a>.
529 </dl>
531 The computed value of the 'continue' for a given element or pseudo element is determined as follow:
532 <ol>
533 <li>If the specified value is ''continue/next''
534 <ol>
535 <li>On a <a spec="css-regions">CSS Region</a> other than the last one in a <a spec="css-regions">region chain</a>,
536 the computed value is ''continue/next''
537 <li>On a page
538 the computed value is ''continue/paginate''
539 <li>On a <a>fragment box</a>
540 the computed value is ''continue/fragments''
541 <li>Otherwise, the computed value is 'continue/overflow''
542 </ol>
543 <li>If the specified value is ''continue/framgents''
544 <ol>
545 <li>On a page
546 the computed value is ''continue/paginate''
547 <li>Otherwise, the computed value is the specified value
548 </ol>
549 <li>In all other cases, the computed value is the specified value
550 </ol>
552 Issue: The naming of this property and its values is preliminary.
553 This was initially proposed as
554 "fragmentation: auto | none | break | clone | page"
555 in <a href="https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2015Jan/0357.html">https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2015Jan/0357.html</a>.
557 Issue: If we introduce a pseudo element that can select columns in a multicol,
558 we would need to specify that next computes to next on it,
559 or introduce a new value and have next compute to that
560 (but what would that value compute to on things that aren't columns?).
562 Note: For background discussions leading to this property, see these threads:
563 <a href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2012May/1197.html">discussion of overflow, overflow-x, overflow-y and overflow-style</a> and
564 <a href="https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2015Jan/0357.html">proposal for a fragmentation property</a>
566 <h2 id="paginated-overflow">Paginated overflow</h2>
568 This section introduces and defines the meaning of the ''continue/paginate'' value of the 'continue' property.
570 Issue: Write this section
572 Issue: Pages should be possible to style with @page rules. How does that work for nested pages?
574 <div class="issue">
575 Should traditional pagination (e.g. when printing)
576 be expressed through some magic in the computed value of ''continue: next'',
577 or by inserting this in the UA stylesheet:
578 <pre><code class="lang-css">
579 @media (overflow-block: paged), (overflow-block: optional-paged) {
580 :root {
581 continue: paginate;
582 }
583 }
584 </code></pre>
585 </div>
587 Issue: Traditional pagination (e.g. when printing) assumes that
588 :root is contained in the page box,
589 rather than having the page box be a pseudo element child of :root.
590 Can we work around that using something similar to fragment boxes?
591 Or maybe by having a fragment box (reproducing :root) inside a page box inside :root?
593 Issue: How does the page box model work when it is a child of a regular css box?
595 Issue: The initial proposal in [[CSS3GCPM]] and implemantation from Opera
596 used 4 values instead of ''continue/paginate'':
597 "paged-x | paged-y | paged-x-controls | paged-y-controls".
598 Should this property also include these values,
599 or are they better handled as separate properties?
600 (e.g.: "pagination-layout: auto | horizontal | vertical", "pagination-controls: auto | none")
602 Issue: Ability to display N pages at once
603 rather than just one page at once?
604 Could this be a value of "pagination-layout", such as:
605 "pagination-layout: horizontal 2;"
607 <p class="issue">
608 The current implementation of paginated overflow uses
609 the 'overflow'/'overflow-x'/'overflow-y' properties
610 rather than the 'overflow-style' property as proposed
611 in the [[CSS3GCPM]] draft
612 (which also matches the [[CSS3-MARQUEE]] proposal).
613 or the 'continue' property as described here.
614 </p>
616 <h2 id="fragment-overflow">Fragment overflow</h2>
618 This section introduces and defines the meaning of
619 the ''continue/fragments'' value of the 'continue' property.
621 <p>
622 When the computed value of 'continue' for an element is ''continue/fragments'',
623 and implementations would otherwise have created a box for the element,
624 then implementations must create a sequence of <dfn>fragment box</dfn>es
625 for that element.
626 (It is possible for an element with ''continue: fragments''
627 to generate only one <a>fragment box</a>.
628 However, if an element's computed 'continue' is not ''continue/fragments'',
629 then its box is not a <a>fragment box</a>.)
630 Every <a>fragment box</a> is a fragmentation container,
631 and any overflow
632 that would cause that fragmentation container to fragment
633 causes another <a>fragment box</a> created as a next sibling
634 of the previous one.
635 <span class="issue">Or is it as though it's a next sibling of
636 the element? Need to figure out exactly how this interacts with
637 other box-level fixup.</span>
638 Additionally, if the <a>fragment box</a> is also
639 a multi-column box (as defined in [[!CSS3COL]]
640 <span class="issue">though it defines <i>multi-column element</i></span>)
641 any content that would lead to the creation of <a>overflow columns</a> [[!CSS3COL]]
642 instead is flown into an additional fragment box.
643 However, fragment boxes may themselves be broken
644 (due to fragmentation in a fragmentation context outside of them,
645 such as pages, columns, or other fragment boxes);
646 such breaking leads to fragments of the same fragment box
647 rather than multiple fragment boxes.
648 (This matters because fragment boxes may be styled by their index;
649 such breaking leads to multiple fragments of a fragment box
650 with a single index.
651 This design choice is so that
652 breaking a fragment box across pages does not break
653 the association of indices to particular pieces of content.)
654 <span class="issue">Should a forced break that breaks to
655 an outer fragmentation context cause a new fragment of a single
656 fragment box or a new fragment box?</span>
657 <span class="issue">Should we find a term other than
658 <a>fragment box</a> here to make this a little less confusing?</span>
659 </p>
661 <p class="issue">
662 What if we want to be able to style the pieces of an element
663 split within another type of fragmentation context?
664 These rules prevent ever using ''::nth-fragment()'' for that,
665 despite that the name seems the most logical name for such a feature.
666 </p>
668 <div class="example">
669 <table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td><pre><!DOCTYPE HTML>
670 <title>Breaking content into
671 equal-sized cards</title>
672 <style>
673 .in-cards {
674 continue: fragments;
676 width: 13em;
677 height: 8em;
679 padding: 4px;
680 border: medium solid blue;
681 margin: 6px;
683 font: medium/1.3 Times New
684 Roman, Times, serif;
685 }
686 </style>
687 <div class="in-cards">
688 In this example, the text in the div
689 is broken into a series of cards.
690 These cards all have the same style.
691 The presence of enough content to
692 overflow one of the cards causes
693 another one to be created. The second
694 card is created just like it's the
695 next sibling of the first.
696 </div></pre></td><td>
697 <div class="in-cards-demo">In this example, the text in the<br>div is broken into a series of<br>cards. These cards all have the<br>same style. The presence of<br>enough content to overflow<br>one of the cards causes another</div>
698 <div class="in-cards-demo">one to be created. The second<br>card is created just like it's the<br>next sibling of the first.</div>
699 </td></tr></table>
700 </div>
702 <p class="issue">
703 We should specify that ''continue: fragments'' does not apply
704 to at least some table parts,
705 and perhaps other elements as well.
706 We need to determine exactly which ones.
707 </p>
709 <p class="issue">
710 This specification needs to say which type of
711 fragmentation context is created
712 so that it's clear which values of the 'break-*' properties
713 cause breaks within this context.
714 We probably want ''break-*: region'' to apply.
715 </p>
717 <p class="issue">
718 This specification needs a processing model
719 that will apply in cases where the layout containing the
720 fragments has characteristics that use the intrinsic size of the fragments
721 to change the amount of space available for them,
722 such as [[CSS3-GRID-LAYOUT]].
723 There has already been some work on such a processing model
724 in [[CSS3-REGIONS]],
725 and the work done on a model there,
726 and the editors of that specification,
727 should inform what happens in this specification.
728 </p>
730 <h3 id="fragment-styling">Fragment styling</h3>
732 <h4 id="fragment-pseudo-element">The ::nth-fragment() pseudo-element</h4>
734 <p>
735 The <dfn selector>::nth-fragment()</dfn> pseudo-element
736 is a pseudo-element
737 that describes some of the <a>fragment box</a>es generated by an element.
738 The argument to the pseudo-element takes the same syntax
739 as the argument to the :nth-child() pseudo-class
740 defined in [[!SELECT]], and has the same meaning
741 except that the number is relative to
742 <a>fragment box</a>es generated by the element
743 instead of siblings of the element.
744 </p>
746 <p class="note">
747 Selectors that allow addressing fragments
748 by counting from the end rather than the start
749 are intentionally not provided.
750 Such selectors would interfere with determining
751 the number of fragments.
752 </p>
754 <p class="issue">
755 Depending on future discussions,
756 this ''::nth-fragment(<var>an+b</var>)'' syntax
757 may be replaced with
758 the new ''::fragment:nth(<var>an+b</var>)'' syntax.
759 </p>
761 <h4 id="style-of-fragments">Styling of fragments</h4>
763 <p class="issue">
764 Should this apply to continue:fragments only,
765 or also to continue:paginate?
766 (If it applies,
767 then stricter property restrictions would be needed
768 for continue:paginate.)
769 </p>
771 <p>
772 In the absence of rules with ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements,
773 the computed style for each <a>fragment box</a>
774 is the computed style for the element
775 for which the <a>fragment box</a> was created.
776 However, the style for a <a>fragment box</a> is also influenced
777 by rules whose selector's <a>subject</a> [[!SELECT]]
778 has an ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element,
779 if the 1-based number of the <a>fragment box</a> matches
780 that ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element
781 and the selector (excluding the ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element)
782 matches the element generating the fragments.
783 </p>
785 <p>
786 When determining the style of the <a>fragment box</a>,
787 these rules that match the fragment pseudo-element
788 cascade together with the rules that match the element,
789 with the fragment pseudo-element adding the specificity
790 of a pseudo-class to the specificity calculation.
791 <span class="issue">Does this need to be specified in
792 the cascading module as well?</span>
793 </p>
795 <div class="example">
796 <table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td><pre><!DOCTYPE HTML>
797 <style>
798 .bouncy-columns {
799 continue: fragments;
800 width: 6em;
801 height: 10em;
802 float: left;
803 margin: 1em;
804 font: medium/1.25 Times New
805 Roman, Times, serif;
806 }
807 .bouncy-columns::nth-fragment(1) {
808 background: aqua; color: black;
809 transform: rotate(-3deg);
810 }
811 .bouncy-columns::nth-fragment(2) {
812 background: yellow; color: black;
813 transform: rotate(3deg);
814 }
815 </style>
816 <div class="bouncy-columns">
817 <i>...</i>
818 </div></pre></td><td>
819 <div class="bouncy-columns-demo one">In this<br>example, the<br>text in the div<br>is broken into<br>a series of<br>columns. The<br>author<br>probably</div>
820 <div class="bouncy-columns-demo two">intended the<br>text to fill two<br>columns. But<br>if it happens to<br>fill three<br>columns, the<br>third column is<br>still created. It</div>
821 <div class="bouncy-columns-demo">just doesn't<br>have any<br>fragment-specific<br>styling because<br>the author<br>didn't give it<br>any.</div>
822 </td></tr></table>
823 </div>
825 <p>
826 Styling an ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element with the 'continue'
827 property does take effect;
828 if a <a>fragment box</a> has a
829 computed value of 'continue' other than ''fragments''
830 then that fragment box is the last fragment.
831 However, overriding 'continue' on the first fragment
832 does not cause the <a>fragment box</a> not to exist;
833 whether there are fragment boxes at all is determined by
834 the computed value of overflow for the element.
835 </p>
837 <p>
838 Styling an ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element with the 'content'
839 property has no effect;
840 the computed value of 'content' for the fragment box
841 remains the same as the computed value of content for the element.
842 </p>
844 <p>
845 Specifying ''display: none'' for a <a>fragment box</a> causes
846 the fragment box with that index not to be generated.
847 However, in terms of the indices
848 used for matching ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements
849 of later fragment boxes,
850 it still counts as though it was generated.
851 However, since it is not generated, it does not contain any content.
852 </p>
854 <p>
855 Specifying other values of 'display', 'position',
856 or 'float' is permitted, but is not allowed to change
857 the computed value of 'display-inside'.
858 (Since 'continue' only
859 applies to block containers, flex containers, and grid containers
860 the computed value of 'display-inside' is always
861 ''display-inside/block'', ''display-inside/flex'', or
862 ''display-inside/grid''.
863 <span class="issue">Need to specify exactly how this works,
864 but it depends on
865 having 'display-inside' and 'display-outside' specified.</span>
866 </p>
868 <p>
869 To match the model for other pseudo-elements
870 where the pseudo-elements live inside their corresponding element,
871 declarations in ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements override
872 declarations in rules without the pseudo-element.
873 The relative priority within such declarations is determined
874 by normal cascading order (see [[!CSS21]]).
875 </p>
877 <p>
878 Styles specified on ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements
879 do affect inheritance to content within the <a>fragment box</a>.
880 In other words, the content within the <a>fragment box</a> must
881 inherit from the fragment box's style (i.e., the pseudo-element style)
882 rather than directly from the element.
883 This means that elements split between fragment boxes may
884 have different styles for different parts of the element.
885 </p>
887 <p class="issue">
888 This inheritance rule allows specifying styles indirectly
889 (by using explicit ''inherit'' or using default inheritance
890 on properties that don't apply to ''::first-letter'')
891 that can't be specified directly
892 (based on the rules in the next section).
893 This is a problem.
894 The restrictions that apply to styling inside fragments
895 should also apply to inheritance from fragments.
896 </p>
898 <div class="example">
899 <table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td><pre><!DOCTYPE HTML>
900 <style>
901 .article {
902 continue: fragments;
903 }
904 .article::nth-fragment(1) {
905 font-size: 1.5em;
906 margin-bottom: 1em;
907 height: 4em;
908 }
909 .article::nth-fragment(2) {
910 margin-left: 5em;
911 margin-right: 2em;
912 }
913 </style>
914 <div class="article">
915 The <code>font-size</code> property<i>...</i>
916 </div></pre></td><td>
917 <div class="article-font-inherit-demo one">The <code>font-size</code> property<br>specified on the fragment<br>is inherited into the</div>
918 <div class="article-font-inherit-demo two">descendants of the fragment.<br>This means that inherited<br>properties can be used<br>reliably on a fragment, as in<br>this example.</div>
919 </td></tr></table>
920 </div>
922 <h4 id="style-in-fragments">Styling inside fragments</h4>
924 <p class="issue">
925 Should this apply to continue:fragments only,
926 or also to continue:paginate?
927 </p>
929 <p>
930 The ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element
931 can also be used to style
932 content inside of a <a>fragment box</a>.
933 Unlike the ''::first-line'' and ''::first-letter'' pseudo-elements,
934 the ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element can be applied
935 to parts of the selector other than the subject:
936 in particular, it can match ancestors of the subject.
937 However, the only CSS properties applied
938 by rules with such selectors
939 are those that apply
940 to the ''::first-letter'' pseudo-element.
941 </p>
943 <p>
944 To be more precise,
945 when a rule's selector has ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements
946 attached to parts of the selector other than the subject,
947 the declarations in that rule apply to
948 a fragment (or pseudo-element thereof) when:
949 </p>
950 <ol>
951 <li>
952 the declarations are for properties that apply to the
953 ''::first-letter'' pseudo-element,
954 </li>
955 <li>
956 the declarations would apply to
957 that fragment (or pseudo-element thereof)
958 had those ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements been removed,
959 with a particular association between
960 each sequence of simple selectors and the element it matched,
961 and
962 </li>
963 <li>
964 for each removed ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element,
965 the fragment lives within a <a>fragment box</a>
966 of the element associated in that association
967 with the selector that the pseudo-element was attached to,
968 and whose index matches the pseudo-element.
969 </li>
970 </ol>
972 <div class="example">
973 <table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td><pre><!DOCTYPE HTML>
974 <style>
975 .dark-columns {
976 continue: fragments;
977 width: 6em;
978 height: 10em;
979 float: left;
980 margin-right: 1em;
981 font: medium/1.25 Times New
982 Roman, Times, serif;
983 }
984 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(1) {
985 background: aqua; color: black;
986 }
987 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(1) :link {
988 color: blue;
989 }
990 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(1) :visited {
991 color: purple;
992 }
993 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(2) {
994 background: navy; color: white;
995 }
996 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(2) :link {
997 color: aqua;
998 }
999 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(2) :visited {
1000 color: fuchsia;
1001 }
1002 </style>
1003 <div class="dark-columns">
1004 <i>...</i>
1005 </div></pre></td><td>
1006 <div class="dark-columns-demo one">In this<br><a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/example">example</a>, the<br>text flows<br>from one<br>light-colored<br>fragment into<br>another<br>dark-colored</div>
1007 <div class="dark-columns-demo two">fragment. We<br>therefore want<br>different styles<br>for <a href="http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/IntoContext.html">hyperlinks</a><br>in the different<br>fragments.</div>
1008 </td></tr></table>
1009 </div>
1012 <h3 id="max-lines">The 'max-lines' property</h3>
1014 <p>
1015 Authors may wish to style the opening lines of an element
1016 with different styles
1017 by putting those opening lines in a separate fragment.
1018 However, since it may be difficult to predict the exact height
1019 occupied by those lines
1020 in order to restrict the first fragment to that height,
1021 this specification introduces a 'max-lines' property
1022 that forces a fragment to break
1023 after a specified number of lines.
1024 This forces a break after the given number of lines
1025 contained within the element or its descendants,
1026 as long as those lines are in the same block formatting context.
1027 </p>
1029 <pre class=propdef>
1030 Name: max-lines
1031 Value: ''none'' | <<integer>>
1032 Initial: ''none''
1033 Applies to: fragment boxes
1034 Inherited: no
1035 Animatable: as <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-transitions/#animatable-types">integer</a>
1036 Percentages: N/A
1037 Media: visual
1038 Computed value: specified value
1039 Canonical order: <abbr title="follows order of property value definition">per grammar</abbr>
1040 </pre>
1042 <dl dfn-for="max-lines" dfn-type="value">
1043 <dt><dfn>none</dfn>
1044 <dd>
1045 <p>
1046 Breaks occur only as specified elsewhere.
1047 </p>
1048 </dd>
1050 <dt><dfn><<integer>></dfn>
1051 <dd>
1052 <p>
1053 In addition to any breaks specified elsewhere,
1054 a break is forced before any line that would exceed
1055 the given number of lines
1056 being placed inside the element
1057 (excluding lines that are in
1058 a different block formatting context from
1059 the block formatting context to which
1060 an unstyled child of the element would belong).
1061 </p>
1063 <p class="issue">
1064 If there are multiple boundaries between this line
1065 and the previous, where exactly (in terms of element
1066 boundaries) is the break forced?
1067 </p>
1069 <p>
1070 Only positive integers are accepted.
1071 Zero or negative integers are a parse error.
1072 </p>
1073 </dd>
1074 </dl>
1076 <p class="issue">Should this apply to fragment overflow only, or also
1077 to pagination?</p>
1079 <div class="example">
1080 <table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td><pre><!DOCTYPE HTML>
1081 <style>
1082 .article {
1083 continue: fragments;
1084 }
1085 .article::first-letter {
1086 font-size: 2em;
1087 line-height: 0.9;
1088 }
1089 .article::nth-fragment(1) {
1090 font-size: 1.5em;
1091 max-lines: 3;
1092 }
1093 .article::nth-fragment(2) {
1094 column-count: 2;
1095 }
1096 </style>
1097 <div class="article">
1098 <i>...</i>
1099 </div></pre></td><td>
1100 <div class="article-max-lines-demo one">The max-lines property allows<br>authors to use a larger font for the first<br>few lines of an article. Without the</div>
1101 <div class="article-max-lines-demo two">max-lines property, authors<br>might have to use the<br>'height' property instead, but<br>that would leave a slight gap<br>if the author miscalculated<br>how much height a given<br>number of lines would<br>occupy (which might be</div>
1102 <div class="article-max-lines-demo three">particularly hard if the author<br>didn't know what text would<br>be filling the space, exactly<br>what font would be used, or<br>exactly which platform's font<br>rendering would be used to<br>display the font).</div>
1103 </td></tr></table>
1104 </div>
1106 <h2 id="static-media">Overflow in static media</h2>
1108 <p class="issue">
1109 This specification should define useful behavior
1110 for all values of 'overflow' and 'continue'
1111 in static media (such as print).
1112 Current implementation behavior is quite poor and
1113 produces unexpected results when authors have not considered
1114 what will happen when
1115 the content they produce for interactive media
1116 is printed.
1117 </p>
1119 <h2 class=no-num id="acknowledgments">
1120 Acknowledgments</h2>
1122 <p>
1123 Thanks especially to the feedback from
1124 Rossen Atanassov,
1125 Bert Bos,
1126 Tantek Ãelik,
1127 John Daggett,
1128 fantasai,
1129 Daniel Glazman,
1130 Vincent Hardy,
1131 Håkon Wium Lie,
1132 Peter Linss,
1133 Robert O'Callahan,
1134 Florian Rivoal,
1135 Alan Stearns,
1136 Steve Zilles,
1137 and all the rest of the
1138 <a href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/">www-style</a> community.
1139 </p>