Re: FOLDED

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Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 16:30:38 --100
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From: Bert Bos <bert@let.rug.nl>
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Subject: Re: FOLDED
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I second Pei's idea of FOLDED elements in HTML. (If only because it
show the added value of electronic documents over paper ones...) Maybe
it can even be generalized, not only to other elements than lists, but
also to other types of `folding'.

Paolo's suggestion that there is overlap with the EFFECT attribute of
A elements is valid, but I don't think they are the same.

First, there is no longer an EFFECT attribute, but the same semantics
could be achieved with the other attributes, if we wanted to. But do
we?

Second, I think the hyperlinks are for larger units of information
than the folded elements. Although you can switch back and forth
between two linked nodes, this is usually a result of a bad design of
the hypertext. Normally you go from node to node, not expecting two
nodes to be merely different views onto the same information.

Folding of elements is much more a layout issue. Most layout is
2 dimensional, but why restrict it to that? I would compare
(un)folding with choosing a different font or resizing the
window: some elements will resize with it while others won't. (There
is an echo of Ted Nelson's `stretch text' here, I think.)

Maybe folding isn't even the only thing we can do to elements.  A few
suggestions (some rather pointless, I admit): assume an attribute
EFFECT=

- "FOLDED": as described by Pei
- "SCROLLING": a text that draws attention by scolling from right to left
- "FLASHING"
- "SECRET": for the solution to a puzzle (press `?' to reveal...)
- "UPSIDEDOWN"
- "WINDOWED": for looking at a very wide text through a scolled viewport
- "STACKED": the subelements are cards in a 3 dimensional pile


Bert
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