Re Various HTML q's

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Date: Sat, 30 Apr 1994 01:37:15 +0200
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From: Terry Allen <terry@ora.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <www-talk@www0.cern.ch>
Subject: Re Various HTML q's
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I wouldn't want to demote HR and BR from elements to PI's;
you can't fix the contents of the PI in the DTD, so you
can't guarantee consistency in instances.  One person
will have <?hrule> where the next has <? h-rule>, etc.

I agree that style sheets are the way to go; and one might
consider HTML+ as a working plan for what browser functionality
must be described in a useful style sheet.  

Entities are slightly more attractive than PIs, as their
names may be constrained, but in either case you can't
restrict where they may be used in an instance, and this is
something it may be desirable to do with HR and BR.  Though
I'm not sure why.  Maybe that's a good test for candidacy
for entityship, whether something may be rendered if it
appears anywhere.

A more economical solution to the wants of this user, in terms
of simple elements, would be to request browser developers
to put less white space above their HRs and let the user put it 
in with a <P> if desired.  

The Prime Ministers example is perhaps not well marked up.  If
the intention is to get:

PRIME MINISTER
  John Smith

MINISTERS
  Douglas Hurd
  Kenneth Baker

then this is a DL, or a set of headings, each followed by a UL.
If you don't want it displayed that way (that's the browser's
style for this structure, remember), why not just say it in
prose instead of typography?  "The Prime Minister, John Smith,
and the Ministers, Douglas Hurd . . ." or something of the sort.
If this is an exercise in display typography, then you're on
your own with any DTD.  Or find a browser that accepts B 
and I, etc, within PRE.


Regards,

-- 
Terry Allen  (terry@ora.com)
Editor, Digital Media Group
O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
Sebastopol, Calif., 95472