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 <h1>CSS Overflow Module Level 4</h1>

 <pre class="metadata">

 Status: ED

 Work Status: Exploring

 ED: https://drafts.csswg.org/css-overflow-4/

 Shortname: css-overflow

 Group: csswg

 Level: 4

 TR: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-overflow-4/

 Previous version: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-overflow-3/

 Editor: L. David Baron, Mozilla https://www.mozilla.org/, https://dbaron.org/

 Editor: Florian Rivoal, On behalf of Bloomberg, http://florian.rivoal.net/

 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.

 Ignored Terms: scroll

 </pre>

 <pre class="link-defaults">

 type: dfn; spec:css-multicol-1; text:overflow column

 spec:css-pseudo-4; type:selector; text:::first-letter

 spec:css-pseudo-4; type:selector; text:::first-line

 </pre>

 <pre class="anchors">

 url: https://drafts.csswg.org/selectors-3/#subject; type: dfn; text: subject;

 </pre>

 	<style>

 		table.source-demo-pair {

 			width: 100%;

 		}

 		.in-cards-demo {

 			width: 13em;

 			height: 8em;

 			padding: 4px;

 			border: medium solid blue;

 			margin: 6px;

 			font: medium/1.3 Times New Roman, Times, serif;

 			white-space: nowrap;

 		}

 		.bouncy-columns-demo {

 			width: 6em;

 			height: 10em;

 			float: left;

 			margin: 1em;

 			font: medium/1.25 Times New Roman, Times, serif;

 			white-space: nowrap;

 		}

 		.bouncy-columns-demo.one {

 			background: aqua; color: black;

 			transform: rotate(-3deg);

 		}

 		.bouncy-columns-demo.two {

 			background: yellow; color: black;

 			transform: rotate(3deg);

 		}

 		.article-font-inherit-demo {

 			font: 1em/1.25 Times New Roman, Times, serif;

 			white-space: nowrap;

 		}

 		.article-font-inherit-demo.one {

 			width: 12em;

 			font-size: 1.5em;

 			margin-bottom: 1em;

 			height: 4em;

 		}

 		.article-font-inherit-demo.two {

 			width: 11em;

 			margin-left: 5em;

 			margin-right: 2em;

 		}

 		.dark-columns-demo {

 			width: 6em;

 			height: 10em;

 			float: left;

 			margin-right: 1em;

 			font: medium/1.25 Times New Roman, Times, serif;

 			white-space: nowrap;

 		}

 		.dark-columns-demo.one {

 			background: aqua; color: black;

 		}

 		.dark-columns-demo.one :link {

 			color: blue;

 		}

 		.dark-columns-demo.one :visited {

 			color: purple;

 		}

 		.dark-columns-demo.two {

 			background: navy; color: white;

 		}

 		.dark-columns-demo.two :link {

 			color: aqua;

 		}

 		.dark-columns-demo.two :visited {

 			color: fuchsia;

 		}

 		.article-max-lines-demo {

 			font: 1em/1.25 Times New Roman, Times, serif;

 			white-space: nowrap;

 		}

 		.article-max-lines-demo.one::first-letter {

 			font-size: 2em;

 			line-height: 0.9;

 		}

 		.article-max-lines-demo.one {

 			font-size: 1.5em;

 			width: 16em;

 		}

 		.article-max-lines-demo.two {

 			width: 11.5em;

 			float: left; margin-right: 1em;

 		}

 		.article-max-lines-demo.three {

 			width: 11.5em;

 			float: left;

 		}

 	</style>

 <h2 id="intro">

 Introduction</h2>

 Note: At the time of writing, [[CSS-OVERFLOW-3]] is not completely finalized yet.

 To avoid accidental divergences and maintenance overhead,

 This specification is written as a delta specification over css-overflow Level 3.

 Once the level 3 specification is final,

 its content will be integrated into this specification,

 which will then replace it.

 Until then, this specification only contains additions and extensions to level 3.

 	<p>

 		In CSS Level 1 [[CSS1]], placing more content than would fit

 		inside an element with a specified size

 		was generally an authoring error.

 		Doing so caused the content to extend

 		outside the bounds of the element,

 		which would likely cause

 		that content to overlap with other elements.

 	</p>

 	<p>

 		CSS Level 2 [[CSS21]] introduced the 'overflow' property,

 		which allows authors to have overflow be handled by scrolling,

 		which means it is no longer an authoring error.

 		It also allows authors to specify

 		that overflow is handled by clipping,

 		which makes sense when the author's intent

 		is that the content not be shown.

 		This was further refined in the CSS Overflow Module Level 3 [[CSS-OVERFLOW-3]].

 	</p>

 	<p>

 		However, scrolling is not the only way

 		to present large amounts of content,

 		and may even not be the optimal way.

 		After all, the codex replaced the scroll

 		as the common format for large written works

 		because of its advantages.

 	</p>

 	<p>

 		This specification introduces

 		a mechanism for Web pages to specify

 		that an element of a page should handle overflow

 		through pagination rather than through scrolling.

 	</p>

 	<p>

 		This specification also extends the concept of overflow

 		in another direction.

 		Instead of requiring that authors specify a single area

 		into which the content of an element must flow,

 		this specification allows authors to specify multiple fragments,

 		each with their own dimensions and styles,

 		so that the content of the element can flow from one to the next,

 		using as many as needed to place the content without overflowing.

 	</p>

 	<p>

 		In both of these cases, implementations must

 		break the content in the block-progression dimension.

 		Implementations must do this is described

 		in the CSS Fragmentation Module [[!CSS3-BREAK]].

 	</p>

 <h2 id="overflow-concepts">Types of overflow</h2>

 	Issue: copy level 3 content when final

 <h2 id="overflow-properties">Overflow properties</h2>

 	Issue: copy level 3 content when final

 <h2 id="scollbar-gutter-property">

 Reserving space for the scrollbar: the 'scrollbar-gutter' property</h2>

 The space between the inner border edge and the outer padding edge

 which user agents may reserve to display the scrollbar

 is called the <dfn>scrollbar gutter</dfn>.

 The 'scrollbar-gutter' property gives control to the author

 over the presence of <a>scrollbar gutters</a>

 separately from the ability to control the presence of scrollbars

 provided by the 'overflow' property.

 <pre class="propdef">

 Name: scrollbar-gutter

 Value: ''auto'' | [ ''stable'' | ''always'' ] && ''both''? && ''force''?

 Initial: auto

 Inherited: yes

 Computed value: specified value

 </pre>

 This property affects the presence of <a>scrollbar gutters</a>

 placed at the <a>inline start</a> edge or <a>inline end</a> edge of the box.

 The presence of a <a>scrollbar gutter</a>

 at the <a>block start</a> edge and <a>block end</a> edge of the box

 cannot be controlled in this level,

 and is determined the same way as the presence of <a>scrollbar gutters</a>

 placed at the <a>inline start</a> edge or <a>inline end</a> edge of the box

 when 'scrollbar-gutter' is ''scrollbar-gutter/auto''.

 Scrollbars which by default are placed over the content box

 and do not cause <a>scrollbar gutters</a> to be created

 are called <dfn>overlay scrollbars</dfn>.

 Such scrollbars are usually partially transparent, revealing the content behind them if any.

 Their appearance and size may vary

 based on whether and how the user is interacting with them.

 Scrollbars which are always placed in a <a>scrollbar gutter</a>,

 consuming space when present,

 are called <dfn>classic scrollbars</dfn>.

 Such scrollbars are usually opaque.

 Whether <a>classic scrollbars</a> or <a>overlay scrollbars</a> are used is UA defined.

 The appearance and size of the scrollbar is UA defined.

 Whether scrollbars appear on the start or end edge of the box is UA defined.

 For <a>classic scrollbars</a>,

 the width of the <a>scrollbar gutter</a> is the same as the width of the scrollbar.

 For <a>overlay scrollbars</a>,

 the width of the <a>scrollbar gutter</a> is UA defined.

 However, it must not be 0,

 and it must not change based on user interactions with the page or the scrollbar

 even if the scrollbar itself changes.

 Also, it must be the same for all elements in the page.

 The values of this property have the following meaning:

 <dl dfn-for="scrollbar-gutter">

 	<dt><dfn>''scrollbar-gutter/auto''</dfn>

 	<dd><a>Classic scrollbars</a> consume space by creating a <a>scrollbar gutter</a>

 	when 'overflow' is ''overflow/scroll',

 	or when 'overflow' is ''overflow/auto'' and the box is overflowing.

 	<a>Overlay scrollbars</a> do not consume space.

 	<dt><dfn>''stable''</dfn>

 	<dd>The <a>scrollbar gutter</a> is present when

 	'overflow' is ''overflow/scroll'' or ''overflow/auto''

 	and the scrollbar is a <a>classic scrollbar</a>

 	even if the box is not overflowing,

 	but not when the scrollbar is an <a>overlay scrollbar</a>.

 	<dt><dfn>''always''</dfn>

 	<dd>The <a>scrollbar gutter</a> is always present when

 	'overflow' is ''overflow/scroll'' or ''overflow/auto'',

 	regardless of the type of scrollbar or

 	of whether the box is overflowing.

 	<dt><dfn>''both''</dfn>

 	<dd>If a <a>scrollbar gutter</a> would be present

 	on one of the inline start edge or the inline end edge of the box,

 	another <a>scrollbar gutter</a> must be present on the opposite edge as well.

 	<dt><dfn>''force''</dfn>

 	<dd>When the ''scrollbar-gutter/force'' keyword is present

 	''scrollbar-gutter/stable'' and ''scrollbar-gutter/always'' take effect

 	when 'overflow' is ''overflow/visible'', ''overflow/hidden'' or ''overflow/clip''

 	in addition ''overflow/auto'' or ''overflow/scroll''.

 	This does not cause a scrollbar to be displayed, only a <a>scrollbar gutter</a>.

 </dl>

 When the <a>scrollbar gutter</a> is present but the scrollbar is not,

 or the scrollbar is transparent or otherwise does not fully obscure the <a>scrollbar gutter</a>,

 the background of the <a>scrollbar gutter</a> must be painted as an extension of the padding.

 <div class=note>

 Note: The following table summarises the interaction of 'overflow' and 'scrollbar-gutter',

 showing in which case space is reserved for the <a>scrollbar gutter</a>.

 In this table, “G” represents cases where space is reserved for the <a>scrollbar gutter</a>,

 “f?” cases where space is reserved for the <a>scrollbar gutter</a>

 if ''scrollbar-gutter/force'' was specified,

 and empty cells cases where the no space is reserved.

 <table class=data>

 	<thead>

 	<tr>

 		<td>

 		<td>

 		<th colspan=2>Classic scrollbars

 		<th colspan=2>Overlay scrollbars

 	<tr>

 		<th>'overflow'

 		<th>'scrollbar-gutter'

 		<th>Overflowing

 		<th>Not overflowing

 		<th>Overflowing

 		<th>Not overflowing

 	</thead>

 	<tr>

 		<th rowspan=3>'overflow/scroll'

 		<th>''scrollbar-gutter/auto''

 		<td>G

 		<td>G

 		<td>

 		<td>

 	<tr>

 		<th>''scrollbar-gutter/stable''

 		<td>G

 		<td>G

 		<td>

 		<td>

 	<tr>

 		<th>''scrollbar-gutter/always''

 		<td>G

 		<td>G

 		<td>G

 		<td>G

 	<tr>

 		<th rowspan=3>''overflow/auto''

 		<th>''scrollbar-gutter/auto''

 		<td>G

 		<td>

 		<td>

 		<td>

 	<tr>

 		<th>''scrollbar-gutter/stable''

 		<td>G

 		<td>G

 		<td>

 		<td>

 	<tr>

 		<th>''scrollbar-gutter/always''

 		<td>G

 		<td>G

 		<td>G

 		<td>G

 	<tr>

 		<th rowspan=3>''overflow/visible'', ''overflow/hidden'', ''overflow/clip''

 		<th>''scrollbar-gutter/auto''

 		<td>

 		<td>

 		<td>

 		<td>

 	<tr>

 		<th>''scrollbar-gutter/stable''

 		<td>f?

 		<td>f?

 		<td>

 		<td>

 	<tr>

 		<th>''scrollbar-gutter/always''

 		<td>f?

 		<td>f?

 		<td>f?

 		<td>f?

 </table>

 </div>

 <h2 id="fragmentation">Fragmentation of overflow</h2>

 The 'continue' property gives authors the ability

 to request that content that does not fit inside an element

 be fragmented (in the sense of [[!CSS3-BREAK]]),

 and provides alternatives

 for where the remaining content should continue.

 Notably, this property explains traditional pagination,

 and extends it further.

 	<pre class=propdef>

 		Name: continue

 		Value: ''auto'' | ''overflow'' | ''paginate'' | ''fragments'' | ''discard''

 		Initial: auto

 		Applies to: block containers [[!CSS21]], flex containers [[!CSS3-FLEXBOX]], and grid containers [[!CSS3-GRID-LAYOUT]]

 		Inherited: no

 		Percentages: N/A

 		Media: visual

 		Computed value: see below

 		Animatable: no

 		Canonical order: <abbr title="follows order of property value definition">per grammar</abbr>

 	</pre>

 Issue: The naming of this property and its values is preliminary.

 This was initially proposed as

 "fragmentation: auto | none | break | clone | page"

 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>,

 and there is not yet wide agreement as to which naming is better.

 Issue: This property is meant to generalize and replace 'region-fragment'.

 Once it is sufficiently stable in this specification,

 'region-fragment' should be removed from the regions specification in favor of this.

 Note: ''continue: fragments'' replaces "overflow:fragments"

 from earlier versions of this specification,

 while ''continue: paginate'' replaces "overflow: paged-x | paged-y | paged-x-controls | paged-y-controls"

 	<dl dfn-for="continue" dfn-type="value">

 		<dt><dfn>auto</dfn>

 		<dd>''continue/auto'' may only occur as a computed value

 		if the element is a <a spec="css-regions">CSS Region</a>

 		other than the last one in a <a spec="css-regions">region chain</a>.

 		Content that doesn't fit is pushed to the next region of the chain.

 		In all other cases, ''continue/auto'' computes to one of the other values.

 		<dt><dfn>overflow</dfn>

 		<dd>Content that doesn't fit overflows, according to the 'overflow' property

 		<dt><dfn>discard</dfn>

 		<dd>Content that doesn't fit is discarded at a fragmentation break

 		Note: generalized from region-fragment: break; on the last region of a region chain

 		Issue: When the element isn't a <a spec="css-break">fragmentation container</a> already,

 		should this work by turning it directly into one,

 		or by creating a <a>fragment box</a> inside it like ''continue/fragments'' does?

 		<dt><dfn>paginate</dfn>

 		<dd>Content that doesn't fit paginates.

 		This creates a paginated view inside the element

 		similar to the way that 'overflow: scroll' creates a scrollable view.

 		See <a href="#paginated-overflow">paginated overflow</a>

 		Note: Print is effectively "continue: paginate" on the root.

 		<dt><dfn>fragments</dfn>

 		<dd>content that doesn't fit causes the element to copy itself and continue laying out.

 		See <a href="#fragment-overflow">fragment overflow</a>.

 	</dl>

 The computed value of the 'continue' for a given element or pseudo element is determined as follow:

 <ol>

 	<li>On elements or pseudo elements with <a>layout containment</a> (see [[!CSS-CONTAIN-1]]),

 	if the specificied value is ''continue/auto'' or ''continue/fragments''

 	then the computed value is ''continue/overflow''.

 	<li>Otherwise, if the specified value is ''continue/auto''

 	<ol>

 		<li>On a <a spec="css-regions">CSS Region</a> other than the last one in a <a spec="css-regions">region chain</a>,

 		the computed value is ''continue/auto''

 		<li>On a page

 		the computed value is ''continue/paginate''

 		<li>On a <a>fragment box</a>

 		the computed value is ''continue/fragments''

 		<li>Otherwise, the computed value is ''continue/overflow''

 	</ol>

 	<li>Otherwise, if the specified value is ''continue/framgents''

 	<ol>

 		<li>On a page

 		the computed value is ''continue/paginate''

 		<li>Otherwise, the computed value is the specified value

 	</ol>

 	<li>In all other cases, the computed value is the specified value

 </ol>

 Issue: If we introduce a pseudo element that can select columns in a multicol,

 we would need to specify that auto computes to auto on it,

 or introduce a new value and have auto compute to that

 (but what would that value compute to on things that aren't columns?).

 Note: For background discussions leading to this property, see these threads:

 <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

 <a href="https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2015Jan/0357.html">proposal for a fragmentation property</a>

 <h2 id="paginated-overflow">Paginated overflow</h2>

 This section introduces and defines the meaning of the ''continue/paginate'' value of the 'continue' property.

 Issue: Write this section

 Issue: Pages should be possible to style with @page rules. How does that work for nested pages?

 <div class="issue">

 Should traditional pagination (e.g. when printing)

 be expressed through some magic in the computed value of ''continue/auto'',

 or by inserting this in the UA stylesheet:

 <pre><code class="lang-css">

 @media (overflow-block: paged), (overflow-block: optional-paged) {

 	:root {

 		continue: paginate;

 	}

 }

 </code></pre>

 </div>

 Issue: Traditional pagination (e.g. when printing) assumes that

 :root is contained in the page box,

 rather than having the page box be a pseudo element child of :root.

 Can we work around that using something similar to fragment boxes?

 Or maybe by having a fragment box (reproducing :root) inside a page box inside :root?

 Issue: How does the page box model work when it is a child of a regular css box?

 Issue: The initial proposal in [[CSS3GCPM]] and implemantation from Opera

 used 4 values instead of ''continue/paginate'':

 "paged-x | paged-y | paged-x-controls | paged-y-controls".

 Should this property also include these values,

 or are they better handled as separate properties?

 (e.g.: "pagination-layout: auto | horizontal | vertical", "pagination-controls: auto | none")

 Issue: Ability to display N pages at once

 rather than just one page at once?

 Could this be a value of "pagination-layout", such as:

 "pagination-layout: horizontal 2;"

 Issue: Brad Kemper has proposed a model for combining pagination and

 fragment overflow, which also deals with displaying multiple pages.

 <a href="http://www.w3.org/mid/[email protected]">http://www.w3.org/mid/[email protected]</a>

 	<p class="issue">

 		The current implementation of paginated overflow uses

 		the overflow/overflow-x/overflow-y properties

 		rather than the overflow-style property as proposed

 		in the [[CSS3GCPM]] draft

 		(which also matches the [[CSS3-MARQUEE]] proposal).

 		or the 'continue' property as described here.

 	</p>

 <h2 id="fragment-overflow">Fragment overflow</h2>

 This section introduces and defines the meaning of

 the ''continue/fragments'' value of the 'continue' property.

 	<p>

 		When the computed value of 'continue' for an element is ''continue/fragments'',

 		and implementations would otherwise have created a box for the element,

 		then implementations must create a sequence of <dfn>fragment box</dfn>es

 		for that element.

 		(It is possible for an element with ''continue: fragments''

 		to generate only one <a>fragment box</a>.

 		However, if an element's computed 'continue' is not ''continue/fragments'',

 		then its box is not a <a>fragment box</a>.)

 		Every <a>fragment box</a> is a fragmentation container,

 		and any overflow

 		that would cause that fragmentation container to fragment

 		causes another <a>fragment box</a> created as a next sibling

 		of the previous one.

 		<span class="issue">Or is it as though it's a next sibling of

 		the element?  Need to figure out exactly how this interacts with

 		other box-level fixup.</span>

 		Additionally, if the <a>fragment box</a> is also

 		a multi-column box (as defined in [[!CSS3COL]]

 		<span class="issue">though it defines <i>multi-column element</i></span>)

 		any content that would lead to the creation of <a>overflow columns</a> [[!CSS3COL]]

 		instead is flown into an additional fragment box.

 		However, fragment boxes may themselves be broken

 		(due to fragmentation in a fragmentation context outside of them,

 		such as pages, columns, or other fragment boxes);

 		such breaking leads to fragments of the same fragment box

 		rather than multiple fragment boxes.

 		(This matters because fragment boxes may be styled by their index;

 		such breaking leads to multiple fragments of a fragment box

 		with a single index.

 		This design choice is so that

 		breaking a fragment box across pages does not break

 		the association of indices to particular pieces of content.)

 		<span class="issue">Should a forced break that breaks to

 		an outer fragmentation context cause a new fragment of a single

 		fragment box or a new fragment box?</span>

 		<span class="issue">Should we find a term other than

 		<a>fragment box</a> here to make this a little less confusing?</span>

 	</p>

 	<p class="issue">

 		What if we want to be able to style the pieces of an element

 		split within another type of fragmentation context?

 		These rules prevent ever using ''::nth-fragment()'' for that,

 		despite that the name seems the most logical name for such a feature.

 	</p>

 	<div class="example">

 		<table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td>

 <pre><code highlight="html">&lt;!DOCTYPE HTML&gt;

 <title>Breaking content into

   equal-sized cards</title>

 <style>

   .in-cards {

     continue: fragments;

     width: 13em;

     height: 8em;

     padding: 4px;

     border: medium solid blue;

     margin: 6px;

     font: medium/1.3 Times New

       Roman, Times, serif;

   }

 </style>

 <div class="in-cards">

   In this example, the text in the div

   is broken into a series of cards.

   These cards all have the same style.

   The presence of enough content to

   overflow one of the cards causes

   another one to be created.  The second

   card is created just like it's the

   next sibling of the first.

 &lt;/div&gt;</code></pre></td><td>

 			<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>

 			<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>

 		</td></tr></table>

 	</div>

 	<p class="issue">

 		We should specify that ''continue: fragments'' does not apply

 		to at least some table parts,

 		and perhaps other elements as well.

 		We need to determine exactly which ones.

 	</p>

 	<p class="issue">

 		This specification needs to say which type of

 		fragmentation context is created

 		so that it's clear which values of the 'break-*' properties

 		cause breaks within this context.

 		We probably want ''break-*: region'' to apply.

 	</p>

 	<p class="issue">

 		This specification needs a processing model

 		that will apply in cases where the layout containing the

 		fragments has characteristics that use the intrinsic size of the fragments

 		to change the amount of space available for them,

 		such as [[CSS3-GRID-LAYOUT]].

 		There has already been some work on such a processing model

 		in [[CSS3-REGIONS]],

 		and the work done on a model there,

 		and the editors of that specification,

 		should inform what happens in this specification.

 	</p>

 <h3 id="fragment-styling">Fragment styling</h3>

 <h4 id="fragment-pseudo-element">The ::nth-fragment() pseudo-element</h4>

 	<p>

 		The <dfn selector>::nth-fragment()</dfn> pseudo-element

 		is a pseudo-element

 		that describes some of the <a>fragment box</a>es generated by an element.

 		The argument to the pseudo-element takes the same syntax

 		as the argument to the :nth-child() pseudo-class

 		defined in [[!SELECT]], and has the same meaning

 		except that the number is relative to

 		<a>fragment box</a>es generated by the element

 		instead of siblings of the element.

 	</p>

 	<p class="note">

 		Selectors that allow addressing fragments

 		by counting from the end rather than the start

 		are intentionally not provided.

 		Such selectors would interfere with determining

 		the number of fragments.

 	</p>

 	<p class="issue">

 		Depending on future discussions,

 		this ''::nth-fragment(<var>an+b</var>)'' syntax

 		may be replaced with

 		the new ''::fragment:nth(<var>an+b</var>)'' syntax.

 	</p>

 <h4 id="style-of-fragments">Styling of fragments</h4>

 	<p class="issue">

 		Should this apply to continue:fragments only,

 		or also to continue:paginate?

 		(If it applies,

 		then stricter property restrictions would be needed

 		for continue:paginate.)

 	</p>

 	<p>

 		In the absence of rules with ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements,

 		the computed style for each <a>fragment box</a>

 		is the computed style for the element

 		for which the <a>fragment box</a> was created.

 		However, the style for a <a>fragment box</a> is also influenced

 		by rules whose selector's <a>subject</a> [[!SELECT]]

 		has an ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element,

 		if the 1-based number of the <a>fragment box</a> matches

 		that ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element

 		and the selector (excluding the ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element)

 		matches the element generating the fragments.

 	</p>

 	<p>

 		When determining the style of the <a>fragment box</a>,

 		these rules that match the fragment pseudo-element

 		cascade together with the rules that match the element,

 		with the fragment pseudo-element adding the specificity

 		of a pseudo-class to the specificity calculation.

 		<span class="issue">Does this need to be specified in

 		the cascading module as well?</span>

 	</p>

 	<div class="example">

 		<table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td>

 <pre><code highlight="html">&lt;!DOCTYPE HTML&gt;

 <style>

   .bouncy-columns {

     continue: fragments;

     width: 6em;

     height: 10em;

     float: left;

     margin: 1em;

     font: medium/1.25 Times New

       Roman, Times, serif;

   }

   .bouncy-columns::nth-fragment(1) {

     background: aqua; color: black;

     transform: rotate(-3deg);

   }

   .bouncy-columns::nth-fragment(2) {

     background: yellow; color: black;

     transform: rotate(3deg);

   }

 </style>

 <div class="bouncy-columns">

   <i>...</i>

 &lt;/div&gt;</code></pre></td><td>

 			<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>

 			<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>

 			<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>

 		</td></tr></table>

 	</div>

 	<p>

 		Styling an ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element with the 'continue'

 		property does take effect;

 		if a <a>fragment box</a> has a

 		computed value of 'continue' other than ''fragments''

 		then that fragment box is the last fragment.

 		However, overriding 'continue' on the first fragment

 		does not cause the <a>fragment box</a> not to exist;

 		whether there are fragment boxes at all is determined by

 		the computed value of overflow for the element.

 	</p>

 	<p>

 		Styling an ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element with the 'content'

 		property has no effect;

 		the computed value of 'content' for the fragment box

 		remains the same as the computed value of content for the element.

 	</p>

 	<p>

 		Specifying ''display: none'' for a <a>fragment box</a> causes

 		the fragment box with that index not to be generated.

 		However, in terms of the indices

 		used for matching ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements

 		of later fragment boxes,

 		it still counts as though it was generated.

 		However, since it is not generated, it does not contain any content.

 	</p>

 	<p>

 		Specifying other values of 'display', 'position',

 		or 'float' is permitted, but is not allowed to change

 		the <a>inner display type</a>.

 		(Since 'continue' only

 		applies to block containers, flex containers, and grid containers).

 		<span class="issue">Need to specify exactly how this works</span>

 	</p>

 	<p>

 		To match the model for other pseudo-elements

 		where the pseudo-elements live inside their corresponding element,

 		declarations in ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements override

 		declarations in rules without the pseudo-element.

 		The relative priority within such declarations is determined

 		by normal cascading order (see [[!CSS21]]).

 	</p>

 	<p>

 		Styles specified on ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements

 		do affect inheritance to content within the <a>fragment box</a>.

 		In other words, the content within the <a>fragment box</a> must

 		inherit from the fragment box's style (i.e., the pseudo-element style)

 		rather than directly from the element.

 		This means that elements split between fragment boxes may

 		have different styles for different parts of the element.

 	</p>

 	<p class="issue">

 		This inheritance rule allows specifying styles indirectly

 		(by using explicit ''inherit'' or using default inheritance

 		on properties that don't apply to ''::first-letter'')

 		that can't be specified directly

 		(based on the rules in the next section).

 		This is a problem.

 		The restrictions that apply to styling inside fragments

 		should also apply to inheritance from fragments.

 	</p>

 	<div class="example">

 		<table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td>

 <pre><code highlight="html">&lt;!DOCTYPE HTML&gt;

 <style>

   .article {

     continue: fragments;

   }

   .article::nth-fragment(1) {

     font-size: 1.5em;

     margin-bottom: 1em;

     height: 4em;

   }

   .article::nth-fragment(2) {

     margin-left: 5em;

     margin-right: 2em;

   }

 </style>

 <div class="article">

   The &lt;code&gt;font-size&lt;/code&gt; property<i>...</i>

 &lt;/div&gt;</code></pre></td><td>

 			<div class="article-font-inherit-demo one">The <code>font-size</code> property<br>specified on the fragment<br>is inherited into the</div>

 			<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>

 		</td></tr></table>

 	</div>

 <h4 id="style-in-fragments">Styling inside fragments</h4>

 	<p class="issue">

 		Should this apply to continue:fragments only,

 		or also to continue:paginate?

 	</p>

 	<p>

 		The ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element

 		can also be used to style

 		content inside of a <a>fragment box</a>.

 		Unlike the ''::first-line'' and ''::first-letter'' pseudo-elements,

 		the ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element can be applied

 		to parts of the selector other than the subject:

 		in particular, it can match ancestors of the subject.

 		However, the only CSS properties applied

 		by rules with such selectors

 		are those that apply

 		to the ''::first-letter'' pseudo-element.

 	</p>

 	<p>

 		To be more precise,

 		when a rule's selector has ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements

 		attached to parts of the selector other than the subject,

 		the declarations in that rule apply to

 		a fragment (or pseudo-element thereof) when:

 	</p>

 	<ol>

 		<li>

 			the declarations are for properties that apply to the

 			''::first-letter'' pseudo-element,

 		</li>

 		<li>

 			the declarations would apply to

 			that fragment (or pseudo-element thereof)

 			had those ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements been removed,

 			with a particular association between

 			each sequence of simple selectors and the element it matched,

 			and

 		</li>

 		<li>

 			for each removed ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element,

 			the fragment lives within a <a>fragment box</a>

 			of the element associated in that association

 			with the selector that the pseudo-element was attached to,

 			and whose index matches the pseudo-element.

 		</li>

 	</ol>

 	<div class="example">

 		<table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td>

 <pre><code highlight="html">&lt;!DOCTYPE HTML&gt;

 <style>

   .dark-columns {

     continue: fragments;

     width: 6em;

     height: 10em;

     float: left;

     margin-right: 1em;

     font: medium/1.25 Times New

       Roman, Times, serif;

   }

   .dark-columns::nth-fragment(1) {

     background: aqua; color: black;

   }

   .dark-columns::nth-fragment(1) :link {

     color: blue;

   }

   .dark-columns::nth-fragment(1) :visited {

     color: purple;

   }

   .dark-columns::nth-fragment(2) {

     background: navy; color: white;

   }

   .dark-columns::nth-fragment(2) :link {

     color: aqua;

   }

   .dark-columns::nth-fragment(2) :visited {

     color: fuchsia;

   }

 </style>

 <div class="dark-columns">

   <i>...</i>

 &lt;/div&gt;</code></pre></td><td>

 			<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>

 			<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>

 		</td></tr></table>

 	</div>

 <h3 id="max-lines">The 'max-lines' property</h3>

 	<p>

 		Authors may wish to style the opening lines of an element

 		with different styles

 		by putting those opening lines in a separate fragment.

 		However, since it may be difficult to predict the exact height

 		occupied by those lines

 		in order to restrict the first fragment to that height,

 		this specification introduces a 'max-lines' property

 		that forces a fragment to break

 		after a specified number of lines.

 		This forces a break after the given number of lines

 		contained within the element or its descendants,

 		as long as those lines are in the same block formatting context.

 	</p>

 	<pre class=propdef>

 		Name: max-lines

 		Value: none | <<integer>>

 		Initial: none

 		Applies to: fragment boxes

 		Inherited: no

 		Animatable: as <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/css3-transitions/#animatable-types">integer</a>

 		Percentages: N/A

 		Media: visual

 		Computed value: specified value

 		Canonical order: <abbr title="follows order of property value definition">per grammar</abbr>

 	</pre>

 	<dl dfn-for="max-lines" dfn-type="value">

 		<dt><dfn>none</dfn>

 		<dd>

 			<p>

 				Breaks occur only as specified elsewhere.

 			</p>

 		</dd>

 		<dt><dfn><<integer>></dfn>

 		<dd>

 			<p>

 				In addition to any breaks specified elsewhere,

 				a break is forced before any line that would exceed

 				the given number of lines

 				being placed inside the element

 				(excluding lines that are in

 				a different block formatting context from

 				the block formatting context to which

 				an unstyled child of the element would belong).

 			</p>

 			<p class="issue">

 				If there are multiple boundaries between this line

 				and the previous, where exactly (in terms of element

 				boundaries) is the break forced?

 			</p>

 			<p>

 				Only positive integers are accepted.

 				Zero or negative integers are a parse error.

 			</p>

 		</dd>

 	</dl>

 <p class="issue">Should this apply to fragment overflow only, or also

 to pagination?

 Given what we're doing with the continue property,

 it should actually apply to any fragmentainer.</p>

 Issue: having max-lines do nothing on regular elements is not ideal.

 When applied to non fragmentainers,

 it should probably cause 'continue' to compute to ''continue/discard''

 so that you only need to reach for one property rather than 2 to get

 that effect.

 	<div class="example">

 		<table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td>

 <pre><code highlight="html">&lt;!DOCTYPE HTML&gt;

 <style>

   .article {

     continue: fragments;

   }

   .article::first-letter {

     font-size: 2em;

     line-height: 0.9;

   }

   .article::nth-fragment(1) {

     font-size: 1.5em;

     max-lines: 3;

   }

   .article::nth-fragment(2) {

     column-count: 2;

   }

 </style>

 <div class="article">

   <i>...</i>

 &lt;/div&gt;</code></pre></td><td>

 			<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>

 			<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>

 			<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>

 		</td></tr></table>

 	</div>

 Privacy and Security Considerations {#priv-sec}

 ===============================================

 This specification introduces no new security considerations.

 The <a href="http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/">TAG</a> has developed a <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/security-privacy-questionnaire/">self-review questionaire</a>

 to help editors and Working Groups evaluate the risks introduced by their specifications.

 Answers are provided below.

 <dl>

 <dt>Does this specification deal with personally-identifiable information?

 <dd>No.

 <dt>Does this specification deal with high-value data?

 <dd>No.

 <dt>Does this specification introduce new state for an origin that persists across browsing sessions?

 <dd>No.

 <dt>Does this specification expose persistent, cross-origin state to the web?

 <dd>No.

 <dt>Does this specification expose any other data to an origin that it doesn’t currently have access to?

 <dd>No.

 <dt>Does this specification enable new script execution/loading mechanisms?

 <dd>No.

 <dt>Does this specification allow an origin access to a user’s location?

 <dd>No.

 <dt>Does this specification allow an origin access to sensors on a user’s device?

 <dd>No.

 <dt>Does this specification allow an origin access to aspects of a user’s local computing environment?

 <dd>No.

 <dt>Does this specification allow an origin access to other devices?

 <dd>No.

 <dt>Does this specification allow an origin some measure of control over a user agent’s native UI?

 <dd>No

 <dt>Does this specification expose temporary identifiers to the web?

 <dd>No.

 <dt>Does this specification distinguish between behavior in first-party and third-party contexts?

 <dd>No.

 <dt>How should this specification work in the context of a user agent’s "incognito" mode?

 <dd>No difference in behavior is needed.

 <dt>Does this specification persist data to a user’s local device?

 <dd>No.

 <dt>Does this specification have a "Security Considerations" and "Privacy Considerations" section?

 <dd>Yes, this is the section you are currently reading.

 <dt>Does this specification allow downgrading default security characteristics?

 <dd>No.

 </dl>

 <h2 id="changes" class="no-num">

 Changes</h2>

 <h3 id="changes-l3">

 Changes Since Level 3</h3>

 The following changes were made to this specification since the

 <a href="https://drafts.csswg.org/css-overflow-3/">CSS Overflow Module Level 3</a>:

 <ul>

 	<li>The Fragmentation of overflow, Paginated overflow, and Fragment overflow sections and subsections have been removed form Level 3 and moved to Level 4.

 	<li>The 'scrollbar-gutter' property has been added.

 </ul>

 <h2 class=no-num id="acknowledgments">

 Acknowledgments</h2>

 	<p>

 		Thanks especially to the feedback from

 		Rossen Atanassov,

 		Bert Bos,

 		Tantek Çelik,

 		John Daggett,

 		fantasai,

 		Daniel Glazman,

 		Vincent Hardy,

 		Håkon Wium Lie,

 		Peter Linss,

 		Robert O'Callahan,

 		Florian Rivoal,

 		Alan Stearns,

 		Steve Zilles,

 		and all the rest of the

 		<a href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/">www-style</a> community.