Re: Alignment Inheritance in HTML 4.01 Tables

fantasai wrote on Sun, 16 Jul 2000 21:46:39 -0400:

>  <BLOCKQUOTE =
cite=3D"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/struct/tables.html#h-11.3.2.1
> ">
>   The order of precedence (from highest to lowest) for the attribute
>   valign (as well as the other inherited attributes lang, dir, and =
style)
>   is the following:
>=20
>      1.An attribute set on an element within a cell's data (e.g., P).
>      2.An attribute set on a cell (TH and TD).
>      3.An attribute set on a row or row grouping element (TR, THEAD,
>        TFOOT, and TBODY). When a cell is part of a multi-row span, the
>        attribute value is inherited from the cell definition at the
>        beginning of the span.
>      4.An attribute set on a column grouping element (COL and =
COLGROUP).
>        When a cell is part of a multi-column span, the attribute value =
is
>        inherited from the cell definition at the beginning of the =
span.
>      5.An attribute set on the table (TABLE).
>      6.The default attribute value.
>  </BLOCKQUOTE>
>=20
> 'valign' does not apply to the table, (although lang, dir, and style =
do).
> Shouldn't it be listed as an exception to rule no. 5?
>=20
> Also, the value of the attribute 'style' is never inherited.
> If it did, then this:
>=20
>     <TABLE style=3D"font-size: smaller">
>       <TR>
>         <TD>
>           Cell A
>         </TD>
>       </TR>
>     </TABLE>
>=20
> would have the same result as this:
>=20
>     <TABLE style=3D"font-size: smaller">
>       <TR style=3D"font-size: smaller">
>         <TD style=3D"font-size: smaller">
>           Cell A
>         </TD>
>       </TR>
>     </TABLE>
>=20
> which is not the case.

I just stumbled upon the exact same question(s) while trying to =
implement HTML tables, specifically the issue with what the spec says =
about the inheritance of 'style'.=20

There has never been an answer to this question (at least, I couldn't =
find it in the archives, [1]), and there is also no Errata entry on this =
for HTML 4.01.=20

The question was raised more than 10 years ago. Am I to assume that =
indeed 'style' is meant to be inherited as the spec says (see fantasai's =
example above) and all current (as of Nov. 2011) browsers I tested this =
with get it wrong?

[1] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-html/2000Jul/0066.html

Regards
Christian=