Wed, 11 Feb 2015 16:55:25 +1100
[css-overflow] Add Florian Rivoal as coeditor.
Resolved in http://www.w3.org/2015/02/08-css-irc#T06-47-28 .
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'' | ''paged-x'' | ''paged-y'' | ''paged-x-controls'' | ''paged-y-controls'' | ''fragments''
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'' | ''paged-x'' | ''paged-y'' | ''paged-x-controls'' | ''paged-y-controls'' | ''fragments''
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 <p>The values of these properties are:</p>
415 <dl dfn-for="overflow" dfn-type="value">
416 <dt><dfn>visible</dfn>
417 <dd>
418 There is no special handling of overflow, that is, it
419 may be rendered outside the block container.
420 </dd>
421 <dt><dfn>hidden</dfn>
422 <dt><dfn>scroll</dfn>
423 <dt><dfn>auto</dfn>
424 <dd>
425 These values are collectively the <dfn dfn>scrolling values</dfn>;
426 they are defined in the section on
427 <a href="#scrolling-overflow">scrolling and hidden overflow</a>.
428 </dd>
429 <dt><dfn>paged-x</dfn>
430 <dt><dfn>paged-y</dfn>
431 <dt><dfn>paged-x-controls</dfn>
432 <dt><dfn>paged-y-controls</dfn>
433 <dt><dfn>fragments</dfn>
434 <dd>
435 These values are collectively the <dfn dfn>fragmenting values</dfn>;
436 they are defined in the sections on
437 <a href="#paginated-overflow">paginated overflow</a> and
438 <a href="#fragment-overflow">fragment overflow</a>.
439 </dd>
440 </dl>
442 <div id="overflow-computed-values">
443 <p>The computed values of 'overflow-x' and 'overflow-y'
444 are determined from the cascaded values [[!CSS3CASCADE]]
445 based on the following rules:</p>
447 <ol>
448 <li>
449 If one or both of the cascaded values are
450 <a>fragmenting values</a>, then:
451 <ol>
452 <li>
453 If one of the cascaded values is one of the
454 <a>fragmenting values</a>
455 and the other is not,
456 then the computed values are
457 the same as the cascaded values.
458 </li>
459 <li>
460 If both of the cascaded values are <a>fragmenting values</a>, then:
461 <ol>
462 <li>
463 for horizontal writing mode [[!CSS3-WRITING-MODES]],
464 the computed value for 'overflow-y' is the cascaded value
465 and the computed value for 'overflow-x' is ''overflow/hidden'', or
466 </li>
467 <li>
468 for vertical writing mode [[!CSS3-WRITING-MODES]],
469 the computed value for 'overflow-x' is the cascaded value
470 and the computed value for 'overflow-y' is ''overflow/hidden''.
471 </li>
472 </ol>
473 </li>
474 </ol>
475 </li>
476 <li>
477 Otherwise, if one cascaded values is
478 one of the <a>scrolling values</a>
479 and the other is ''overflow/visible'',
480 then computed values are the cascaded values
481 with ''overflow/visible'' changed to ''overflow/auto''.
482 </li>
483 <li>
484 Otherwise, the computed values are as specified.
485 </li>
486 </ol>
487 </div>
489 <p class="issue">
490 Are all 4 of the ''paged-*'' values really needed?
491 </p>
493 <p>
494 When the <a>fragmenting values</a> are used,
495 the overflow from the fragments themselves
496 treats the fragmenting value as ''overflow/hidden''.
497 <span class="issue">Is this the right behavior?</span>
498 <span class="issue">Give example.</span>
499 </p>
501 <p class="issue">
502 [[CSS3-MARQUEE]] describes an 'overflow-style' property,
503 but it has not picked up implementation experience
504 that the working group is aware of.
505 Should this document treat 'overflow-style' as a defunct proposal,
506 or should this document describe the 'overflow-style' property
507 and attempt to revive it,
508 despite that implementations have implemented
509 'overflow-x' and 'overflow-y' instead?
510 </p>
512 <p class="issue">
513 There are <a href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2012May/1197.html">discussions</a>
514 about how overflow, overflow-style, overflow-x and overflow-y
515 should work and interact with each other.
516 Until consensus on this topic is reached,
517 it is not completely clear which of these
518 should be used for
519 paged-x | paged-y | paged-x-controls | paged-y-controls | fragments
520 </p>
522 <h2 id="scrolling-overflow">Scrolling and hidden overflow</h2>
524 <p class="issue">
525 Move material from [[CSS21]] and [[CSS3BOX]] here.
526 </p>
528 <p class="issue">
529 Explain which directions allow scrolling and which don't,
530 as a function of 'direction'
531 (including propagation of 'direction' to the ICB).
532 </p>
534 <h2 id="paginated-overflow">Paginated overflow</h2>
536 <p class="issue">overflow:paginate or overflow:pages (or paged-x, paged-y, paged-x-controls, paged-y-controls as [[CSS3GCPM]] has?)</p>
538 <p class="issue">Ability to display N pages at once
539 rather than just one page at once?</p>
541 <p class="issue">
542 The current implementation of paginated overflow uses
543 the 'overflow'/'overflow-x'/'overflow-y' properties
544 rather than the 'overflow-style' property as proposed
545 in the [[CSS3GCPM]] draft
546 (which also matches the [[CSS3-MARQUEE]] proposal).
547 We should probably switch away from 'overflow-style',
548 but that's not 100% clear.
549 </p>
551 <h2 id="fragment-overflow">Fragment overflow</h2>
553 <p>
554 This section introduces and defines the meaning of
555 the new ''fragments'' value of the 'overflow' property.
556 </p>
558 <p>
559 When the computed value of 'overflow' for an element is ''fragments'',
560 and implementations would otherwise have created a box for the element,
561 then implementations must create a sequence of <dfn>fragment box</dfn>es
562 for that element.
563 (It is possible for an element with ''overflow: fragments''
564 to generate only one <a>fragment box</a>.
565 However, if an element's computed 'overflow' is not ''fragments'',
566 then its box is not a <a>fragment box</a>.)
567 Every <a>fragment box</a> is a fragmentation container,
568 and any overflow
569 that would cause that fragmentation container to fragment
570 causes another <a>fragment box</a> created as a next sibling
571 of the previous one.
572 <span class="issue">Or is it as though it's a next sibling of
573 the element? Need to figure out exactly how this interacts with
574 other box-level fixup.</span>
575 Additionally, if the <a>fragment box</a> is also
576 a multi-column box (as defined in [[!CSS3COL]]
577 <span class="issue">though it defines <i>multi-column element</i></span>)
578 any content that would lead to the creation of <a>overflow columns</a> [[!CSS3COL]]
579 instead is flown into an additional fragment box.
580 However, fragment boxes may themselves be broken
581 (due to fragmentation in a fragmentation context outside of them,
582 such as pages, columns, or other fragment boxes);
583 such breaking leads to fragments of the same fragment box
584 rather than multiple fragment boxes.
585 (This matters because fragment boxes may be styled by their index;
586 such breaking leads to multiple fragments of a fragment box
587 with a single index.
588 This design choice is so that
589 breaking a fragment box across pages does not break
590 the association of indices to particular pieces of content.)
591 <span class="issue">Should a forced break that breaks to
592 an outer fragmentation context cause a new fragment of a single
593 fragment box or a new fragment box?</span>
594 <span class="issue">Should we find a term other than
595 <a>fragment box</a> here to make this a little less confusing?</span>
596 </p>
598 <p class="issue">
599 What if we want to be able to style the pieces of an element
600 split within another type of fragmentation context?
601 These rules prevent ever using ''::nth-fragment()'' for that,
602 despite that the name seems the most logical name for such a feature.
603 </p>
605 <div class="example">
606 <table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td><pre><!DOCTYPE HTML>
607 <title>Breaking content into
608 equal-sized cards</title>
609 <style>
610 .in-cards {
611 overflow: fragments;
613 width: 13em;
614 height: 8em;
616 padding: 4px;
617 border: medium solid blue;
618 margin: 6px;
620 font: medium/1.3 Times New
621 Roman, Times, serif;
622 }
623 </style>
624 <div class="in-cards">
625 In this example, the text in the div
626 is broken into a series of cards.
627 These cards all have the same style.
628 The presence of enough content to
629 overflow one of the cards causes
630 another one to be created. The second
631 card is created just like it's the
632 next sibling of the first.
633 </div></pre></td><td>
634 <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>
635 <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>
636 </td></tr></table>
637 </div>
639 <p class="issue">
640 We should specify that ''overflow: fragments'' does not apply
641 to at least some table parts,
642 and perhaps other elements as well.
643 We need to determine exactly which ones.
644 </p>
646 <p class="issue">
647 This specification needs to say which type of
648 fragmentation context is created
649 so that it's clear which values of the 'break-*' properties
650 cause breaks within this context.
651 We probably want ''break-*: region'' to apply.
652 </p>
654 <p class="issue">
655 This specification needs a processing model
656 that will apply in cases where the layout containing the
657 fragments has characteristics that use the intrinsic size of the fragments
658 to change the amount of space available for them,
659 such as [[CSS3-GRID-LAYOUT]].
660 There has already been some work on such a processing model
661 in [[CSS3-REGIONS]],
662 and the work done on a model there,
663 and the editors of that specification,
664 should inform what happens in this specification.
665 </p>
667 <h3 id="fragment-styling">Fragment styling</h3>
669 <h4 id="fragment-pseudo-element">The ::nth-fragment() pseudo-element</h4>
671 <p>
672 The <dfn selector>::nth-fragment()</dfn> pseudo-element
673 is a pseudo-element
674 that describes some of the <a>fragment box</a>es generated by an element.
675 The argument to the pseudo-element takes the same syntax
676 as the argument to the :nth-child() pseudo-class
677 defined in [[!SELECT]], and has the same meaning
678 except that the number is relative to
679 <a>fragment box</a>es generated by the element
680 instead of siblings of the element.
681 </p>
683 <p class="note">
684 Selectors that allow addressing fragments
685 by counting from the end rather than the start
686 are intentionally not provided.
687 Such selectors would interfere with determining
688 the number of fragments.
689 </p>
691 <p class="issue">
692 Depending on future discussions,
693 this ''::nth-fragment(<var>an+b</var>)'' syntax
694 may be replaced with
695 the new ''::fragment:nth(<var>an+b</var>)'' syntax.
696 </p>
698 <h4 id="style-of-fragments">Styling of fragments</h4>
700 <p class="issue">
701 Should this apply to fragment overflow only,
702 or also to paginated overflow?
703 (If it applies,
704 then stricter property restrictions would be needed
705 for paginated overflow.)
706 </p>
708 <p>
709 In the absence of rules with ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements,
710 the computed style for each <a>fragment box</a>
711 is the computed style for the element
712 for which the <a>fragment box</a> was created.
713 However, the style for a <a>fragment box</a> is also influenced
714 by rules whose selector's <a>subject</a> [[!SELECT]]
715 has an ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element,
716 if the 1-based number of the <a>fragment box</a> matches
717 that ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element
718 and the selector (excluding the ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element)
719 matches the element generating the fragments.
720 </p>
722 <p>
723 When determining the style of the <a>fragment box</a>,
724 these rules that match the fragment pseudo-element
725 cascade together with the rules that match the element,
726 with the fragment pseudo-element adding the specificity
727 of a pseudo-class to the specificity calculation.
728 <span class="issue">Does this need to be specified in
729 the cascading module as well?</span>
730 </p>
732 <div class="example">
733 <table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td><pre><!DOCTYPE HTML>
734 <style>
735 .bouncy-columns {
736 overflow: fragments;
737 width: 6em;
738 height: 10em;
739 float: left;
740 margin: 1em;
741 font: medium/1.25 Times New
742 Roman, Times, serif;
743 }
744 .bouncy-columns::nth-fragment(1) {
745 background: aqua; color: black;
746 transform: rotate(-3deg);
747 }
748 .bouncy-columns::nth-fragment(2) {
749 background: yellow; color: black;
750 transform: rotate(3deg);
751 }
752 </style>
753 <div class="bouncy-columns">
754 <i>...</i>
755 </div></pre></td><td>
756 <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>
757 <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>
758 <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>
759 </td></tr></table>
760 </div>
762 <p>
763 Styling an ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element with the 'overflow'
764 property does take effect;
765 if a <a>fragment box</a> has a
766 computed value of 'overflow' other than ''fragments''
767 then that fragment box is the last fragment.
768 However, overriding 'overflow' on the first fragment
769 does not cause the <a>fragment box</a> not to exist;
770 whether there are fragment boxes at all is determined by
771 the computed value of overflow for the element.
772 <span class="issue">Need to reword this to refer to the
773 appropriate choice of 'overflow-x' or 'overflow-y',
774 and then point to rule about the handling of the other one
775 of 'overflow-x' or 'overflow-y'.</span>
776 </p>
778 <p>
779 Styling an ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element with the 'content'
780 property has no effect;
781 the computed value of 'content' for the fragment box
782 remains the same as the computed value of content for the element.
783 </p>
785 <p>
786 Specifying ''display: none'' for a <a>fragment box</a> causes
787 the fragment box with that index not to be generated.
788 However, in terms of the indices
789 used for matching ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements
790 of later fragment boxes,
791 it still counts as though it was generated.
792 However, since it is not generated, it does not contain any content.
793 </p>
795 <p>
796 Specifying other values of 'display', 'position',
797 or 'float' is permitted, but is not allowed to change
798 the computed value of 'display-inside'.
799 (Since 'overflow', 'overflow-x', and 'overflow-y' only
800 apply to block containers, flex containers, and grid containers
801 the computed value of 'display-inside' is always
802 ''display-inside/block'', ''display-inside/flex'', or
803 ''display-inside/grid''.
804 <span class="issue">Need to specify exactly how this works,
805 but it depends on
806 having 'display-inside' and 'display-outside' specified.</span>
807 </p>
809 <p>
810 To match the model for other pseudo-elements
811 where the pseudo-elements live inside their corresponding element,
812 declarations in ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements override
813 declarations in rules without the pseudo-element.
814 The relative priority within such declarations is determined
815 by normal cascading order (see [[!CSS21]]).
816 </p>
818 <p>
819 Styles specified on ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements
820 do affect inheritance to content within the <a>fragment box</a>.
821 In other words, the content within the <a>fragment box</a> must
822 inherit from the fragment box's style (i.e., the pseudo-element style)
823 rather than directly from the element.
824 This means that elements split between fragment boxes may
825 have different styles for different parts of the element.
826 </p>
828 <p class="issue">
829 This inheritance rule allows specifying styles indirectly
830 (by using explicit ''inherit'' or using default inheritance
831 on properties that don't apply to ''::first-letter'')
832 that can't be specified directly
833 (based on the rules in the next section).
834 This is a problem.
835 The restrictions that apply to styling inside fragments
836 should also apply to inheritance from fragments.
837 </p>
839 <div class="example">
840 <table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td><pre><!DOCTYPE HTML>
841 <style>
842 .article {
843 overflow: fragments;
844 }
845 .article::nth-fragment(1) {
846 font-size: 1.5em;
847 margin-bottom: 1em;
848 height: 4em;
849 }
850 .article::nth-fragment(2) {
851 margin-left: 5em;
852 margin-right: 2em;
853 }
854 </style>
855 <div class="article">
856 The <code>font-size</code> property<i>...</i>
857 </div></pre></td><td>
858 <div class="article-font-inherit-demo one">The <code>font-size</code> property<br>specified on the fragment<br>is inherited into the</div>
859 <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>
860 </td></tr></table>
861 </div>
863 <h4 id="style-in-fragments">Styling inside fragments</h4>
865 <p class="issue">
866 Should this apply to fragment overflow only,
867 or also to paginated overflow,
868 or even to pagination across pages?
869 </p>
871 <p>
872 The ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element
873 can also be used to style
874 content inside of a <a>fragment box</a>.
875 Unlike the ''::first-line'' and ''::first-letter'' pseudo-elements,
876 the ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element can be applied
877 to parts of the selector other than the subject:
878 in particular, it can match ancestors of the subject.
879 However, the only CSS properties applied
880 by rules with such selectors
881 are those that apply
882 to the ''::first-letter'' pseudo-element.
883 </p>
885 <p>
886 To be more precise,
887 when a rule's selector has ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements
888 attached to parts of the selector other than the subject,
889 the declarations in that rule apply to
890 a fragment (or pseudo-element thereof) when:
891 </p>
892 <ol>
893 <li>
894 the declarations are for properties that apply to the
895 ''::first-letter'' pseudo-element,
896 </li>
897 <li>
898 the declarations would apply to
899 that fragment (or pseudo-element thereof)
900 had those ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-elements been removed,
901 with a particular association between
902 each sequence of simple selectors and the element it matched,
903 and
904 </li>
905 <li>
906 for each removed ''::nth-fragment()'' pseudo-element,
907 the fragment lives within a <a>fragment box</a>
908 of the element associated in that association
909 with the selector that the pseudo-element was attached to,
910 and whose index matches the pseudo-element.
911 </li>
912 </ol>
914 <div class="example">
915 <table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td><pre><!DOCTYPE HTML>
916 <style>
917 .dark-columns {
918 overflow: fragments;
919 width: 6em;
920 height: 10em;
921 float: left;
922 margin-right: 1em;
923 font: medium/1.25 Times New
924 Roman, Times, serif;
925 }
926 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(1) {
927 background: aqua; color: black;
928 }
929 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(1) :link {
930 color: blue;
931 }
932 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(1) :visited {
933 color: purple;
934 }
935 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(2) {
936 background: navy; color: white;
937 }
938 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(2) :link {
939 color: aqua;
940 }
941 .dark-columns::nth-fragment(2) :visited {
942 color: fuchsia;
943 }
944 </style>
945 <div class="dark-columns">
946 <i>...</i>
947 </div></pre></td><td>
948 <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>
949 <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>
950 </td></tr></table>
951 </div>
954 <h3 id="max-lines">The 'max-lines' property</h3>
956 <p>
957 Authors may wish to style the opening lines of an element
958 with different styles
959 by putting those opening lines in a separate fragment.
960 However, since it may be difficult to predict the exact height
961 occupied by those lines
962 in order to restrict the first fragment to that height,
963 this specification introduces a 'max-lines' property
964 that forces a fragment to break
965 after a specified number of lines.
966 This forces a break after the given number of lines
967 contained within the element or its descendants,
968 as long as those lines are in the same block formatting context.
969 </p>
971 <pre class=propdef>
972 Name: max-lines
973 Value: ''none'' | <<integer>>
974 Initial: ''none''
975 Applies to: fragment boxes
976 Inherited: no
977 Animatable: as <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-transitions/#animatable-types">integer</a>
978 Percentages: N/A
979 Media: visual
980 Computed value: specified value
981 Canonical order: <abbr title="follows order of property value definition">per grammar</abbr>
982 </pre>
984 <dl dfn-for="max-lines" dfn-type="value">
985 <dt><dfn>none</dfn>
986 <dd>
987 <p>
988 Breaks occur only as specified elsewhere.
989 </p>
990 </dd>
992 <dt><dfn><<integer>></dfn>
993 <dd>
994 <p>
995 In addition to any breaks specified elsewhere,
996 a break is forced before any line that would exceed
997 the given number of lines
998 being placed inside the element
999 (excluding lines that are in
1000 a different block formatting context from
1001 the block formatting context to which
1002 an unstyled child of the element would belong).
1003 </p>
1005 <p class="issue">
1006 If there are multiple boundaries between this line
1007 and the previous, where exactly (in terms of element
1008 boundaries) is the break forced?
1009 </p>
1011 <p>
1012 Only positive integers are accepted.
1013 Zero or negative integers are a parse error.
1014 </p>
1015 </dd>
1016 </dl>
1018 <p class="issue">Should this apply to fragment overflow only, or also
1019 to pagination?</p>
1021 <div class="example">
1022 <table class="source-demo-pair"><tr><td><pre><!DOCTYPE HTML>
1023 <style>
1024 .article {
1025 overflow: fragments;
1026 }
1027 .article::first-letter {
1028 font-size: 2em;
1029 line-height: 0.9;
1030 }
1031 .article::nth-fragment(1) {
1032 font-size: 1.5em;
1033 max-lines: 3;
1034 }
1035 .article::nth-fragment(2) {
1036 column-count: 2;
1037 }
1038 </style>
1039 <div class="article">
1040 <i>...</i>
1041 </div></pre></td><td>
1042 <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>
1043 <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>
1044 <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>
1045 </td></tr></table>
1046 </div>
1048 <h2 id="static-media">Overflow in static media</h2>
1050 <p class="issue">
1051 This specification should define useful behavior
1052 for all values of 'overflow'
1053 in static media (such as print).
1054 Current implementation behavior is quite poor and
1055 produces unexpected results when authors have not considered
1056 what will happen when
1057 the content they produce for interactive media
1058 is printed.
1059 </p>
1061 <h2 class=no-num id="acknowledgments">
1062 Acknowledgments</h2>
1064 <p>
1065 Thanks especially to the feedback from
1066 Rossen Atanassov,
1067 Bert Bos,
1068 Tantek Ãelik,
1069 John Daggett,
1070 fantasai,
1071 Daniel Glazman,
1072 Vincent Hardy,
1073 Håkon Wium Lie,
1074 Peter Linss,
1075 Robert O'Callahan,
1076 Florian Rivoal,
1077 Alan Stearns,
1078 Steve Zilles,
1079 and all the rest of the
1080 <a href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/">www-style</a> community.
1081 </p>