Thu, 19 Mar 2015 11:11:56 +0100
[css-overflow] Log issue about proposed model combining pages and fragment 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, overflow-x, overflow-y" 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: ''auto'' | ''overflow'' | ''paginate'' | ''fragments'' | ''discard''
481 Initial: auto
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>
491 Issue: The naming of this property and its values is preliminary.
492 This was initially proposed as
493 "fragmentation: auto | none | break | clone | page"
494 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>,
495 and there is not yet wide agreement as to which naming is better.
497 Issue: This property is meant to generalize and replace 'region-fragment'.
498 Once it is sufficiently stable in this specification,
499 'region-fragment' should be removed from the regions specification in favor of this.
501 Note: ''continue: fragments'' replaces "overflow:fragments"
502 from earlier versions of this specification,
503 while ''continue: paginate'' replaces "overflow: paged-x | paged-y | paged-x-controls | paged-y-controls"
505 <dl dfn-for="continue" dfn-type="value">
506 <dt><dfn>auto</dfn>
507 <dd>''continue/auto'' may only occur as a computed value
508 if the element is a <a spec="css-regions">CSS Region</a>
509 other than the last one in a <a spec="css-regions">region chain</a>.
510 Content that doesn't fit is pushed to the next region of the chain.
512 In all other cases, ''continue/auto'' computes to one of the other values.
514 <dt><dfn>overflow</dfn>
515 <dd>Content that doesn't fit overflows, according to the 'overflow' property
517 <dt><dfn>discard</dfn>
518 <dd>Content that doesn't fit is discarded at a fragmentation break
520 Note: generalized from region-fragment: break; on the last region of a region chain
522 Issue: When the element isn't a <a spec="css-break">fragmentation container</a> already,
523 should this work by turning it directly into one,
524 or by creating a <a>fragment box</a> inside it like ''continue/fragments'' does?
526 <dt><dfn>paginate</dfn>
527 <dd>Content that doesn't fit paginates.
528 This creates a paginated view inside the element
529 similar to the way that 'overflow: scroll' creates a scrollable view.
531 See <a href="#paginated-overflow">paginated overflow</a>
533 Note: Print is effectively "continue: paginate" on the root.
534 <dt><dfn>fragments</dfn>
535 <dd>content that doesn't fit causes the element to copy itself and continue laying out.
537 See <a href="#fragment-overflow">fragment overflow</a>.
538 </dl>
540 The computed value of the 'continue' for a given element or pseudo element is determined as follow:
541 <ol>
542 <li>If the specified value is ''continue/auto''
543 <ol>
544 <li>On a <a spec="css-regions">CSS Region</a> other than the last one in a <a spec="css-regions">region chain</a>,
545 the computed value is ''continue/auto''
546 <li>On a page
547 the computed value is ''continue/paginate''
548 <li>On a <a>fragment box</a>
549 the computed value is ''continue/fragments''
550 <li>Otherwise, the computed value is ''continue/overflow''
551 </ol>
552 <li>If the specified value is ''continue/framgents''
553 <ol>
554 <li>On a page
555 the computed value is ''continue/paginate''
556 <li>Otherwise, the computed value is the specified value
557 </ol>
558 <li>In all other cases, the computed value is the specified value
559 </ol>
561 Issue: If we introduce a pseudo element that can select columns in a multicol,
562 we would need to specify that auto computes to auto on it,
563 or introduce a new value and have auto compute to that
564 (but what would that value compute to on things that aren't columns?).
566 Note: For background discussions leading to this property, see these threads:
567 <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
568 <a href="https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2015Jan/0357.html">proposal for a fragmentation property</a>
570 <h2 id="paginated-overflow">Paginated overflow</h2>
572 This section introduces and defines the meaning of the ''continue/paginate'' value of the 'continue' property.
574 Issue: Write this section
576 Issue: Pages should be possible to style with @page rules. How does that work for nested pages?
578 <div class="issue">
579 Should traditional pagination (e.g. when printing)
580 be expressed through some magic in the computed value of ''continue/auto'',
581 or by inserting this in the UA stylesheet:
582 <pre><code class="lang-css">
583 @media (overflow-block: paged), (overflow-block: optional-paged) {
584 :root {
585 continue: paginate;
586 }
587 }
588 </code></pre>
589 </div>
591 Issue: Traditional pagination (e.g. when printing) assumes that
592 :root is contained in the page box,
593 rather than having the page box be a pseudo element child of :root.
594 Can we work around that using something similar to fragment boxes?
595 Or maybe by having a fragment box (reproducing :root) inside a page box inside :root?
597 Issue: How does the page box model work when it is a child of a regular css box?
599 Issue: The initial proposal in [[CSS3GCPM]] and implemantation from Opera
600 used 4 values instead of ''continue/paginate'':
601 "paged-x | paged-y | paged-x-controls | paged-y-controls".
602 Should this property also include these values,
603 or are they better handled as separate properties?
604 (e.g.: "pagination-layout: auto | horizontal | vertical", "pagination-controls: auto | none")
606 Issue: Ability to display N pages at once
607 rather than just one page at once?
608 Could this be a value of "pagination-layout", such as:
609 "pagination-layout: horizontal 2;"
611 Issue: Brad Kemper has proposed a model for combining pagination and
612 fragment overflow, which also deals with displaying multiple pages.
613 <a href="http://www.w3.org/mid/[email protected]">http://www.w3.org/mid/[email protected]</a>
615 <p class="issue">
616 The current implementation of paginated overflow uses
617 the 'overflow'/'overflow-x'/'overflow-y' properties
618 rather than the 'overflow-style' property as proposed
619 in the [[CSS3GCPM]] draft
620 (which also matches the [[CSS3-MARQUEE]] proposal).
621 or the 'continue' property as described here.
622 </p>
624 <h2 id="fragment-overflow">Fragment overflow</h2>
626 This section introduces and defines the meaning of
627 the ''continue/fragments'' value of the 'continue' property.
629 <p>
630 When the computed value of 'continue' for an element is ''continue/fragments'',
631 and implementations would otherwise have created a box for the element,
632 then implementations must create a sequence of <dfn>fragment box</dfn>es
633 for that element.
634 (It is possible for an element with ''continue: fragments''
635 to generate only one <a>fragment box</a>.
636 However, if an element's computed 'continue' is not ''continue/fragments'',
637 then its box is not a <a>fragment box</a>.)
638 Every <a>fragment box</a> is a fragmentation container,
639 and any overflow
640 that would cause that fragmentation container to fragment
641 causes another <a>fragment box</a> created as a next sibling
642 of the previous one.
643 <span class="issue">Or is it as though it's a next sibling of
644 the element? Need to figure out exactly how this interacts with
645 other box-level fixup.</span>
646 Additionally, if the <a>fragment box</a> is also
647 a multi-column box (as defined in [[!CSS3COL]]
648 <span class="issue">though it defines <i>multi-column element</i></span>)
649 any content that would lead to the creation of <a>overflow columns</a> [[!CSS3COL]]
650 instead is flown into an additional fragment box.
651 However, fragment boxes may themselves be broken
652 (due to fragmentation in a fragmentation context outside of them,
653 such as pages, columns, or other fragment boxes);
654 such breaking leads to fragments of the same fragment box
655 rather than multiple fragment boxes.
656 (This matters because fragment boxes may be styled by their index;
657 such breaking leads to multiple fragments of a fragment box
658 with a single index.
659 This design choice is so that
660 breaking a fragment box across pages does not break
661 the association of indices to particular pieces of content.)
662 <span class="issue">Should a forced break that breaks to
663 an outer fragmentation context cause a new fragment of a single
664 fragment box or a new fragment box?</span>
665 <span class="issue">Should we find a term other than
666 <a>fragment box</a> here to make this a little less confusing?</span>
667 </p>
669 <p class="issue">
670 What if we want to be able to style the pieces of an element
671 split within another type of fragmentation context?
672 These rules prevent ever using ''::nth-fragment()'' for that,
673 despite that the name seems the most logical name for such a feature.
674 </p>
676 <div class="example">
677 <table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td><pre><!DOCTYPE HTML>
678 <title>Breaking content into
679 equal-sized cards</title>
680 <style>
681 .in-cards {
682 continue: fragments;
684 width: 13em;
685 height: 8em;
687 padding: 4px;
688 border: medium solid blue;
689 margin: 6px;
691 font: medium/1.3 Times New
692 Roman, Times, serif;
693 }
694 </style>
695 <div class="in-cards">
696 In this example, the text in the div
697 is broken into a series of cards.
698 These cards all have the same style.
699 The presence of enough content to
700 overflow one of the cards causes
701 another one to be created. The second
702 card is created just like it's the
703 next sibling of the first.
704 </div></pre></td><td>
705 <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>
706 <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>
707 </td></tr></table>
708 </div>
710 <p class="issue">
711 We should specify that ''continue: fragments'' does not apply
712 to at least some table parts,
713 and perhaps other elements as well.
714 We need to determine exactly which ones.
715 </p>
717 <p class="issue">
718 This specification needs to say which type of
719 fragmentation context is created
720 so that it's clear which values of the 'break-*' properties
721 cause breaks within this context.
722 We probably want ''break-*: region'' to apply.
723 </p>
725 <p class="issue">
726 This specification needs a processing model
727 that will apply in cases where the layout containing the
728 fragments has characteristics that use the intrinsic size of the fragments
729 to change the amount of space available for them,
730 such as [[CSS3-GRID-LAYOUT]].
731 There has already been some work on such a processing model
732 in [[CSS3-REGIONS]],
733 and the work done on a model there,
734 and the editors of that specification,
735 should inform what happens in this specification.
736 </p>
738 <h3 id="fragment-styling">Fragment styling</h3>
740 <h4 id="fragment-pseudo-element">The ::nth-fragment() pseudo-element</h4>
742 <p>
743 The <dfn selector>::nth-fragment()</dfn> pseudo-element
744 is a pseudo-element
745 that describes some of the <a>fragment box</a>es generated by an element.
746 The argument to the pseudo-element takes the same syntax
747 as the argument to the :nth-child() pseudo-class
748 defined in [[!SELECT]], and has the same meaning
749 except that the number is relative to
750 <a>fragment box</a>es generated by the element
751 instead of siblings of the element.
752 </p>
754 <p class="note">
755 Selectors that allow addressing fragments
756 by counting from the end rather than the start
757 are intentionally not provided.
758 Such selectors would interfere with determining
759 the number of fragments.
760 </p>
762 <p class="issue">
763 Depending on future discussions,
764 this ''::nth-fragment(<var>an+b</var>)'' syntax
765 may be replaced with
766 the new ''::fragment:nth(<var>an+b</var>)'' syntax.
767 </p>
769 <h4 id="style-of-fragments">Styling of fragments</h4>
771 <p class="issue">
772 Should this apply to continue:fragments only,
773 or also to continue:paginate?
774 (If it applies,
775 then stricter property restrictions would be needed
776 for continue:paginate.)
777 </p>
779 <p>
780 In the absence of rules with ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements,
781 the computed style for each <a>fragment box</a>
782 is the computed style for the element
783 for which the <a>fragment box</a> was created.
784 However, the style for a <a>fragment box</a> is also influenced
785 by rules whose selector's <a>subject</a> [[!SELECT]]
786 has an ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element,
787 if the 1-based number of the <a>fragment box</a> matches
788 that ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element
789 and the selector (excluding the ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element)
790 matches the element generating the fragments.
791 </p>
793 <p>
794 When determining the style of the <a>fragment box</a>,
795 these rules that match the fragment pseudo-element
796 cascade together with the rules that match the element,
797 with the fragment pseudo-element adding the specificity
798 of a pseudo-class to the specificity calculation.
799 <span class="issue">Does this need to be specified in
800 the cascading module as well?</span>
801 </p>
803 <div class="example">
804 <table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td><pre><!DOCTYPE HTML>
805 <style>
806 .bouncy-columns {
807 continue: fragments;
808 width: 6em;
809 height: 10em;
810 float: left;
811 margin: 1em;
812 font: medium/1.25 Times New
813 Roman, Times, serif;
814 }
815 .bouncy-columns::nth-fragment(1) {
816 background: aqua; color: black;
817 transform: rotate(-3deg);
818 }
819 .bouncy-columns::nth-fragment(2) {
820 background: yellow; color: black;
821 transform: rotate(3deg);
822 }
823 </style>
824 <div class="bouncy-columns">
825 <i>...</i>
826 </div></pre></td><td>
827 <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>
828 <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>
829 <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>
830 </td></tr></table>
831 </div>
833 <p>
834 Styling an ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element with the 'continue'
835 property does take effect;
836 if a <a>fragment box</a> has a
837 computed value of 'continue' other than ''fragments''
838 then that fragment box is the last fragment.
839 However, overriding 'continue' on the first fragment
840 does not cause the <a>fragment box</a> not to exist;
841 whether there are fragment boxes at all is determined by
842 the computed value of overflow for the element.
843 </p>
845 <p>
846 Styling an ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element with the 'content'
847 property has no effect;
848 the computed value of 'content' for the fragment box
849 remains the same as the computed value of content for the element.
850 </p>
852 <p>
853 Specifying ''display: none'' for a <a>fragment box</a> causes
854 the fragment box with that index not to be generated.
855 However, in terms of the indices
856 used for matching ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements
857 of later fragment boxes,
858 it still counts as though it was generated.
859 However, since it is not generated, it does not contain any content.
860 </p>
862 <p>
863 Specifying other values of 'display', 'position',
864 or 'float' is permitted, but is not allowed to change
865 the computed value of 'display-inside'.
866 (Since 'continue' only
867 applies to block containers, flex containers, and grid containers
868 the computed value of 'display-inside' is always
869 ''display-inside/block'', ''display-inside/flex'', or
870 ''display-inside/grid''.
871 <span class="issue">Need to specify exactly how this works,
872 but it depends on
873 having 'display-inside' and 'display-outside' specified.</span>
874 </p>
876 <p>
877 To match the model for other pseudo-elements
878 where the pseudo-elements live inside their corresponding element,
879 declarations in ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements override
880 declarations in rules without the pseudo-element.
881 The relative priority within such declarations is determined
882 by normal cascading order (see [[!CSS21]]).
883 </p>
885 <p>
886 Styles specified on ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements
887 do affect inheritance to content within the <a>fragment box</a>.
888 In other words, the content within the <a>fragment box</a> must
889 inherit from the fragment box's style (i.e., the pseudo-element style)
890 rather than directly from the element.
891 This means that elements split between fragment boxes may
892 have different styles for different parts of the element.
893 </p>
895 <p class="issue">
896 This inheritance rule allows specifying styles indirectly
897 (by using explicit ''inherit'' or using default inheritance
898 on properties that don't apply to ''::first-letter'')
899 that can't be specified directly
900 (based on the rules in the next section).
901 This is a problem.
902 The restrictions that apply to styling inside fragments
903 should also apply to inheritance from fragments.
904 </p>
906 <div class="example">
907 <table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td><pre><!DOCTYPE HTML>
908 <style>
909 .article {
910 continue: fragments;
911 }
912 .article::nth-fragment(1) {
913 font-size: 1.5em;
914 margin-bottom: 1em;
915 height: 4em;
916 }
917 .article::nth-fragment(2) {
918 margin-left: 5em;
919 margin-right: 2em;
920 }
921 </style>
922 <div class="article">
923 The <code>font-size</code> property<i>...</i>
924 </div></pre></td><td>
925 <div class="article-font-inherit-demo one">The <code>font-size</code> property<br>specified on the fragment<br>is inherited into the</div>
926 <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>
927 </td></tr></table>
928 </div>
930 <h4 id="style-in-fragments">Styling inside fragments</h4>
932 <p class="issue">
933 Should this apply to continue:fragments only,
934 or also to continue:paginate?
935 </p>
937 <p>
938 The ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element
939 can also be used to style
940 content inside of a <a>fragment box</a>.
941 Unlike the ''::first-line'' and ''::first-letter'' pseudo-elements,
942 the ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element can be applied
943 to parts of the selector other than the subject:
944 in particular, it can match ancestors of the subject.
945 However, the only CSS properties applied
946 by rules with such selectors
947 are those that apply
948 to the ''::first-letter'' pseudo-element.
949 </p>
951 <p>
952 To be more precise,
953 when a rule's selector has ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements
954 attached to parts of the selector other than the subject,
955 the declarations in that rule apply to
956 a fragment (or pseudo-element thereof) when:
957 </p>
958 <ol>
959 <li>
960 the declarations are for properties that apply to the
961 ''::first-letter'' pseudo-element,
962 </li>
963 <li>
964 the declarations would apply to
965 that fragment (or pseudo-element thereof)
966 had those ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements been removed,
967 with a particular association between
968 each sequence of simple selectors and the element it matched,
969 and
970 </li>
971 <li>
972 for each removed ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element,
973 the fragment lives within a <a>fragment box</a>
974 of the element associated in that association
975 with the selector that the pseudo-element was attached to,
976 and whose index matches the pseudo-element.
977 </li>
978 </ol>
980 <div class="example">
981 <table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td><pre><!DOCTYPE HTML>
982 <style>
983 .dark-columns {
984 continue: fragments;
985 width: 6em;
986 height: 10em;
987 float: left;
988 margin-right: 1em;
989 font: medium/1.25 Times New
990 Roman, Times, serif;
991 }
992 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(1) {
993 background: aqua; color: black;
994 }
995 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(1) :link {
996 color: blue;
997 }
998 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(1) :visited {
999 color: purple;
1000 }
1001 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(2) {
1002 background: navy; color: white;
1003 }
1004 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(2) :link {
1005 color: aqua;
1006 }
1007 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(2) :visited {
1008 color: fuchsia;
1009 }
1010 </style>
1011 <div class="dark-columns">
1012 <i>...</i>
1013 </div></pre></td><td>
1014 <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>
1015 <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>
1016 </td></tr></table>
1017 </div>
1020 <h3 id="max-lines">The 'max-lines' property</h3>
1022 <p>
1023 Authors may wish to style the opening lines of an element
1024 with different styles
1025 by putting those opening lines in a separate fragment.
1026 However, since it may be difficult to predict the exact height
1027 occupied by those lines
1028 in order to restrict the first fragment to that height,
1029 this specification introduces a 'max-lines' property
1030 that forces a fragment to break
1031 after a specified number of lines.
1032 This forces a break after the given number of lines
1033 contained within the element or its descendants,
1034 as long as those lines are in the same block formatting context.
1035 </p>
1037 <pre class=propdef>
1038 Name: max-lines
1039 Value: ''none'' | ''<integer>''
1040 Initial: ''none''
1041 Applies to: fragment boxes
1042 Inherited: no
1043 Animatable: as <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-transitions/#animatable-types">integer</a>
1044 Percentages: N/A
1045 Media: visual
1046 Computed value: specified value
1047 Canonical order: <abbr title="follows order of property value definition">per grammar</abbr>
1048 </pre>
1050 <dl dfn-for="max-lines" dfn-type="value">
1051 <dt><dfn>none</dfn>
1052 <dd>
1053 <p>
1054 Breaks occur only as specified elsewhere.
1055 </p>
1056 </dd>
1058 <dt><dfn><<integer>></dfn>
1059 <dd>
1060 <p>
1061 In addition to any breaks specified elsewhere,
1062 a break is forced before any line that would exceed
1063 the given number of lines
1064 being placed inside the element
1065 (excluding lines that are in
1066 a different block formatting context from
1067 the block formatting context to which
1068 an unstyled child of the element would belong).
1069 </p>
1071 <p class="issue">
1072 If there are multiple boundaries between this line
1073 and the previous, where exactly (in terms of element
1074 boundaries) is the break forced?
1075 </p>
1077 <p>
1078 Only positive integers are accepted.
1079 Zero or negative integers are a parse error.
1080 </p>
1081 </dd>
1082 </dl>
1084 <p class="issue">Should this apply to fragment overflow only, or also
1085 to pagination?
1086 Given what we're doing with the continue property,
1087 it should actually apply to any fragmentainer.</p>
1089 Issue: having max-lines do nothing on regular elements is not ideal.
1090 When applied to non fragmentainers,
1091 it should probably cause 'continue' to compute to ''continue/discard''
1092 so that you only need to reach for one property rather than 2 to get
1093 that effect.
1095 <div class="example">
1096 <table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td><pre><!DOCTYPE HTML>
1097 <style>
1098 .article {
1099 continue: fragments;
1100 }
1101 .article::first-letter {
1102 font-size: 2em;
1103 line-height: 0.9;
1104 }
1105 .article::nth-fragment(1) {
1106 font-size: 1.5em;
1107 max-lines: 3;
1108 }
1109 .article::nth-fragment(2) {
1110 column-count: 2;
1111 }
1112 </style>
1113 <div class="article">
1114 <i>...</i>
1115 </div></pre></td><td>
1116 <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>
1117 <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>
1118 <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>
1119 </td></tr></table>
1120 </div>
1122 <h2 id="static-media">Overflow in static media</h2>
1124 <p class="issue">
1125 This specification should define useful behavior
1126 for all values of 'overflow' and 'continue'
1127 in static media (such as print).
1128 Current implementation behavior is quite poor and
1129 produces unexpected results when authors have not considered
1130 what will happen when
1131 the content they produce for interactive media
1132 is printed.
1133 </p>
1135 <h2 class=no-num id="acknowledgments">
1136 Acknowledgments</h2>
1138 <p>
1139 Thanks especially to the feedback from
1140 Rossen Atanassov,
1141 Bert Bos,
1142 Tantek Ãelik,
1143 John Daggett,
1144 fantasai,
1145 Daniel Glazman,
1146 Vincent Hardy,
1147 Håkon Wium Lie,
1148 Peter Linss,
1149 Robert O'Callahan,
1150 Florian Rivoal,
1151 Alan Stearns,
1152 Steve Zilles,
1153 and all the rest of the
1154 <a href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/">www-style</a> community.
1155 </p>