Re: Questions about TAB in 3.0

lilley (lilley@afs.mcc.ac.uk)
Sun, 26 Mar 95 07:54:18 EST

Evan Kirshenbaum> writes:

> A few questions about the TAB element in the recent (3/21) 3.0 DTD:

> - What exactly is the intended use model for decimal tabs? I can
> think of several possibilities:

> 2. 123<tab id=try2 align=decimal dp=".">.45
> <tab to=try2>2.50

> 4. 123<tab id=try4>.45
> <tab to=try4 align=decimal dp=".">2.50

> My own preference would be for (4).

Why - do you envisage saying <tab to=try4 align=right> at another point
in your text? In other words, do you see overloading a tab stop to be a
requirement?

Your option 2 seems more natural to me: it declares that the position of the
character coming up should be taken as a named tab stop. Then for all tabs
that use it, all you do is give the name rather than completing the
declaration.

Your option 2 would also map most cleanly to the model employed by many WP
and DTP packages, so automatic conversion would perhaps be simpler.

I agree that some more examples in the spec would be handy.

--
Chris Lilley
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