[css2] Fixes suggested by Robert Stevahn, plus defined absolutely positioned element to mean position: absolute or fixed; removed note explaining rationale behind term fixed; removed term coordinates; added links

ianbjacobs · ianbjacobs · commit d6488e1ef4c0 · 1998-05-08T16:31:51.000Z
--HG--
extra : convert_revision : svn%3A73dc7c4b-06e6-40f3-b4f7-9ed1dbc14bfc/trunk%401676
diff --git a/css2/visuren.src b/css2/visuren.src
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
 <html lang="en">
-<!-- $Id: visuren.src,v 2.67 1998-05-06 19:33:28 ijacobs Exp $ -->
+<!-- $Id: visuren.src,v 2.68 1998-05-08 16:31:51 ijacobs Exp $ -->
 <HEAD>
 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
 <TITLE>Visual formatting model</TITLE>
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ block height will grow to accommodate the document's content.
 
 <P>The initial containing block cannot be positioned or floated (i.e.,
 user agents <a href="syndata.html#ignore">ignore</a> the <span
-class="propinst-position">'position'</span> <span
+class="propinst-position">'position'</span> and <span
 class="propinst-float">'float'</span> properties for the root
 element).
 
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ specifies a box's type.
 
 <P><span class="index-def" title="block-level
 element"><a name="block-level"><dfn>Block-level elements</dfn></a></span> are those elements of
-the source document language that are formatted visually as
+the source document that are formatted visually as
 blocks (e.g., paragraphs). Several values of the <span
 class="propinst-display">'display'</span> property make an element
 block-level: 'block', 'list-item', 'compact' and 'run-in' (part of the
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ title="block box"><a name="block-box"><dfn>block
 boxes</dfn></a></span>. The principal block box establishes the <a
 href="#containing-block">containing block</a> for descendant boxes and
 generated content and is also the box involved in any positioning
-scheme.  Sibling principal block boxes participate in a <a
+scheme.  Principal block boxes participate in a <a
 href="#block-formatting">block formatting context</a>.
 
 <P>Some block-level elements generate additional boxes outside of the
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ placed with respect to the principal box.
 <pre>
 &lt;DIV>
   Some text
-  &lt;P>Some more text
+  &lt;P>More text
 &lt;/DIV>
 </pre>
 
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ around "Some text".
 <div class="figure">
 <p><img src="images/anon-block.gif" alt="diagram showing the three
 boxes for the example above"> <p class="caption">Diagram showing the
-three boxes, of which one is anonymous, for the example above
+three boxes, of which one is anonymous, for the example above.
 </div>
 
 <p>In other words: if a block box (such as that generated for
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ box</dfn></a></span> behaves as follows:</p>
 
 <ul>
 <li>If a <a href="#block-box">block</a> box (that does not
-float and is not absolutely positioned) 
+float and is not <a href="#absolutely-positioned">absolutely positioned</a>) 
 follows the compact box, the compact box is
 formatted like a one-line inline box.  
 The resulting box width is compared to one of the side margins of
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ box</dfn></span> behaves as follows:</p>
 <ul>
 <li>If a <a href="#block-box">block</a>
 box (that does not float and is not
-absolutely positioned) follows the run-in
+<a href="#absolutely-positioned">absolutely positioned</a>) follows the run-in
 box, the run-in box becomes the first inline box of the block box.  
 <li>Otherwise, the run-in box becomes a block box.
 </ul>
@@ -511,7 +511,7 @@ class="propinst-display">'display'</span> property.
 
 <P>In CSS2, a box may be laid out according to three <span
 class="index-def" title="positioning scheme"><dfn>positioning
-schemes</dfn></span></p>
+schemes:</dfn></span></p>
 
 <ol>
 <li><a href="#normal-flow">Normal flow</a>. In CSS2, normal
@@ -547,7 +547,7 @@ class="propinst-position">'position'</span> property</h3>
 <P>The <span class="propinst-position">'position'</span> and <span
 class="propinst-float">'float'</span> properties determine which 
 of the CSS2 positioning algorithms is used to calculate 
-the coordinates of a box.
+the position of a box.
 
 <!-- #include src=properties/position.srb -->
 
@@ -560,25 +560,18 @@ the coordinates of a box.
 href="#normal-flow">normal flow</a>. The <span
 class="propinst-left">'left'</span> and <span
 class="propinst-top">'top'</span> properties do not apply. 
-<strong>Note.</strong> The word
-"static" may seem confusing&#8212;'fixed' is arguably more static than
-'static'&#8212;but 'static' was chosen because the expectation is that it
-will most often be used in scripts that "animate" elements by
-modifying <span class="propinst-top">'top'</span>, <span
-class="propinst-left">'left'</span>, <span
-class="propinst-bottom">'bottom'</span>, and/or <span
-class="propinst-right">'right'</span>.
 
 <dt><strong>relative</strong>
 
-<dd>The box coordinates are calculated according to the <a
-href="#normal-flow">normal flow</a>, then the box is offset <a
+<dd>The box's position is calculated according to the <a
+href="#normal-flow">normal flow</a> (this is called the position in
+normal flow). Then the box is offset <a
 href="#relative-positioning">relative</a> to its normal position. When
 a box B is relatively positioned, the position of the following box is
 calculated as though B were not offset.
 
 <dt><strong>absolute</strong>
-<dd> The box coordinates (and possibly size) are specified
+<dd> The box's position (and possibly size) is specified
 with the <span class="propinst-left">'left'</span>,
 <span class="propinst-right">'right'</span>, 
 <span class="propinst-top">'top'</span>,
@@ -587,12 +580,13 @@ These properties specify offsets with respect to the box's
 <a href="#containing-block">containing block</A>. Absolutely
 positioned boxes are taken out of the normal flow. This means
 they have no impact on the layout of later siblings. Also,
-though absolutely positioned boxes have margins, they
+though <a href="#absolutely-positioned">absolutely positioned</a> 
+boxes have margins, they
 do not <a href="box.html#collapsing-margins">collapse</a>
 with any other margins.
 
 <dt><strong>fixed</strong>
-<dd> The box coordinates are calculated according to the 'absolute'
+<dd> The box's position is calculated according to the 'absolute'
 model, but in addition, the box is <a
 href="#fixed-positioning">fixed</a> with respect to some reference. In
 the case of <a href="media.html#continuous-media-group">continuous
@@ -677,15 +671,16 @@ depends on which of related properties have the value 'auto' as
 well. See the sections on the 
 <a href="visudet.html#abs-non-replaced-width">width</a>
 and <a href="visudet.html#abs-non-replaced-height">height</a>
-of absolutely positioned, non-replaced elements for details.
+of <a href="#absolutely-positioned">absolutely positioned</a>, 
+non-replaced elements for details.
 </dl>
 
-<P>For absolutely positioned boxes, the offsets are with respect to
-the box's <a href="#containing-block">containing block</a>. For
-relatively positioned boxes, the offsets are with respect to the outer
-edges of the box itself (i.e., the box is given a position in the
-normal flow, then offset from that position according to these
-properties).
+<P>For <a href="#absolutely-positioned">absolutely positioned</a>
+boxes, the offsets are with respect to the box's <a
+href="#containing-block">containing block</a>. For relatively
+positioned boxes, the offsets are with respect to the outer edges of
+the box itself (i.e., the box is given a position in the normal flow,
+then offset from that position according to these properties).
 
 <H2><a name="normal-flow">Normal flow</a></H2> 
 
@@ -742,7 +737,7 @@ line box, they are distributed among two or more vertically-stacked
 line boxes. Thus, a paragraph is a vertical stack of line boxes. Line
 boxes are stacked with no vertical separation and they never overlap.
 
-<P>In general, the left edge of a line box touches the left left edge
+<P>In general, the left edge of a line box touches the left edge
 of its containing block and the right edge touches the right edge of
 its containing block. However, floating boxes may come between the
 containing block edge and the line box edge.  Thus, although line
@@ -920,17 +915,17 @@ the description of the <span class="propinst-float">'float'</span>
 property.
 
 <P>A floated box must have an explicit width (assigned via the <span
-class="propinst-width">'width'</span> property, or its 
-<a href="conform.html#intrinsic">intrinsic</a> width
-in the case of replaced elements). Any floated box becomes a <a
-href="#block-box">block box</a> that is shifted to the left or right
-until its outer edge touches the containing block edge or the outer
-edge of another float. The top of the floated box is aligned with the
-top of the current line box (or bottom of the preceding block box if
-no line box exists). If there isn't enough horizontal room on the
-current line for the float, it is shifted downward, line by line,
-until a line has room for it or it touches the containing block
-edge.
+class="propinst-width">'width'</span> property, or its <a
+href="conform.html#intrinsic">intrinsic</a> width in the case of <a
+href="conform.html#replaced-element">replaced elements</a>). Any
+floated box becomes a <a href="#block-box">block box</a> that is
+shifted to the left or right until its outer edge touches the
+containing block edge or the outer edge of another float. The top of
+the floated box is aligned with the top of the current line box (or
+bottom of the preceding block box if no line box exists). If there
+isn't enough horizontal room on the current line for the float, it is
+shifted downward, line by line, until a line has room for it or it
+touches the containing block edge.
 
 <P>Since a float is not in the flow, non-positioned block boxes
 created before and after the float box flow vertically as if the float
@@ -1065,7 +1060,9 @@ class="propinst-clear">'clear'</span> property).
 
 <P>This property specifies whether a box should float to the left,
 right, or not at all. It may be set for elements that generate boxes
-that are not absolutely positioned.  The values of this property have
+that are not 
+<a href="#absolutely-positioned">absolutely positioned</a>.  
+The values of this property have
 the following meanings:</p>
 
 <dl>
@@ -1195,15 +1192,21 @@ right'), or both ('clear: both').
 
 <H2><a name="absolute-positioning">Absolute positioning</a></H2>
 
-<P>In the absolute positioning model, a box is assigned explicit
-coordinates with respect to its containing block.  It is removed from
-the normal flow entirely (it has no impact on later siblings).  An
-absolutely positioned box establishes a new containing block for
-normal flow children and positioned descendants.
-However, the contents of an absolutely positioned element do not flow
-around any other boxes. They may or may not obscure the contents of
-another box, depending on the <a href="#stack-level">stack levels</a>
-of the overlapping boxes.
+<P>In the absolute positioning model, a box is explicitly offset with
+respect to its containing block.  It is removed from the normal flow
+entirely (it has no impact on later siblings).  An absolutely
+positioned box establishes a new containing block for normal flow
+children and positioned descendants.  However, the contents of an
+absolutely positioned element do not flow around any other boxes. They
+may or may not obscure the contents of another box, depending on the
+<a href="#stack-level">stack levels</a> of the overlapping boxes.
+
+<P>References in this specification to an <span class="index-def"
+title="absolutely positioned element">
+<a name="absolutely-positioned"><dfn>absolutely positioned
+element</dfn></a></span> (or its box) imply that the element's <span
+class="propinst-position">'position'</span> property has the value
+'absolute' or 'fixed'.
 
 <H3><a name="fixed-positioning">Fixed positioning</a></H3>
 
@@ -1299,7 +1302,7 @@ user agents must <a href="syndata.html#ignore">ignore</a>
 <span class="propinst-float">'float'</span>. In this
 case, the element generates no box.
 
-<li>Otherwise, if <span class="propinst-position">'position'</span>
+<li>Otherwise, <span class="propinst-position">'position'</span>
 has the value 'absolute' or 'fixed', <span
 class="propinst-display">'display'</span> is set to 'block' and <span
 class="propinst-float">'float'</span> is set to 'none'.  The position
@@ -1570,7 +1573,7 @@ serve as references for <span class="propinst-top">'top'</span> and
 box with respect to a containing block."></p>
 </div>
 
-<P>If we do not positioned the <em>outer</em> box:</P>
+<P>If we do not position the <em>outer</em> box:</P>
 
 <PRE class="example">
 #outer { color: red }
@@ -1590,7 +1593,7 @@ box would end up in this case.</P>
 
 <div class="figure">
 <P><img src="./images/flow-static.gif"
-     alt="Image illustrating the effects of absolutely positioning a box with respect to a coordinate system established by a normally positioned parent."></p>
+     alt="Image illustrating the effects of absolutely positioning a box with respect to a containing block established by a normally positioned parent."></p>
 </div>
 
 <div class="html-example"><P>
