Re: Where are Fonts and Phrases allowed? [Was: HTML 2.0 Call for Review ]

"Daniel W. Connolly" <connolly@hal.com>
Message-id: <9406102025.AA08126@ulua.hal.com>
To: html-ig@oclc.org
Subject: Re: Where are Fonts and Phrases allowed? [Was: HTML 2.0 Call for Review ] 
In-reply-to: Your message of "Fri, 10 Jun 1994 16:04:37 EDT."
             <199406102002.NAA02913@rock> 
Date: Fri, 10 Jun 1994 15:25:18 -0500
From: "Daniel W. Connolly" <connolly@hal.com>
Content-Length: 1347
In message <199406102002.NAA02913@rock>, Terry Allen writes:
>++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>I agree it's simpler to say that nesting of font changes has 
>no effect, and that this is appropriate to the desired simplicity
>of HTML.  But if nesting has no effect, it shouldn't be allowed
>(at the level at which we become proscriptive:  2.0? 2.5? 3.1?),
>or, if the context is current practice, should be deprecated,
>because the writer may make the mistake of believing that if
>he can nest, then nesting must have some effect.

Yes, there is the potential for confusion here.

To clarify: we have several choices:

	"Implementations _must_ distinguish nested emphasis"
		(my opinion: bad idea. How many levels must they
			distinguish?)

	"Implementations _may_ distinguish nested levels"
		(my option: this is the way to go.

		We end up with the unfortunate situation where Joe
		uses nested emphasis and it works on browser X but not
		on browser Y, but given all the various style
		configuration mechanisms that are popping up, I don't
		see the value in prohibiting this.)

	"Implementations _must not_ distinguish nested emphasis"
		(this is my 2nd choice.)

I think it's also worth saying something like "while nested emphasis
syntax is allowed, it is deprecated and may not be legal in future
versions of the spec."

Dan