Re: Sony misreading epub layout of poetry - how do I solve it?

On Wed, May 18, 2011 5:44 am, joseph harris wrote:

> Lee,
>
> This is helpful beyond what I had expected. Thank you very much for your
> time and trouble.

Trust me, I have ulterior motives ;-).

> It particularly clarifies the viable usage between html group coding and
> css; something I could not find useful focus on previously.

The CSS Working Group recognized the problems that may arise from the overuse
of CSS styles, and explicitly noted:

<blockquote cite="http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-CSS2-20080411/selector.html">
CSS gives so much power to the "class" attribute, that authors could
conceivably design their own "document language" based on elements with almost
no associated presentation (such as DIV and SPAN in HTML) and assigning style
information through the "class" attribute. Authors should avoid this practice
since the structural elements of a document language often have recognized and
accepted meanings and author-defined classes may not.
<blockquote>

I am simply amazed at how many document authors ignore this counsel. Penguin
USA is among the worst, marking paragraphs as <div class="para"> or italicized
text as <span class="italic"> (and then later marking headers as <p
class="chapterTitle">). I can't decide if the people there want to be sure
that their publications break down when used by "unapproved" software or that
they are simply clueless. Applying Hanlon's razor, for the time being I assume
cluelessness.

I derive the following rules for creating XHTML files from the CSS WG's advice:

1. When possible, use only core HTML elements, according to their generally
accepted meaning.

2. Prefer specific elements (e.g. <em>) to generic elements (e.g. <span>). (In
the case of <em>, I view <em> as being emphasized text, and <i> as being a
more generic version -- for text which should be italicized given the context,
but not necessarily emphasized text. I think it's OK for the two to coexist in
a single file).

3. BUT ... Do not use specific elements contrary to their generally accepted
meaning simply because the default presentation matches your desires; the
default presentation for an element may change in a way inconsistent with your
expectations. Instead use a generic element (<div>, <span>) with a class
selector.

4. When class selectors are necessary, choose names which reflect the semantic
meaning of the selected text, not the desired presentation. For example, use

<div class="verse">

in preference to

<div class="spaceBefore">

and

<div class="verseLine">

in preference to

<div class="indented">

And my own rule 5. Minimize the use of styles in HTML. Trust your readers to
know what works best for them. De gustibus non est disputandum.

[snip]

> Others, from this and other lists, have been discussing off-lists,
> trying to get the rust out of my brain.  I think many of them would find
> this helpful as well. May I send this round to them?

Consistent with my general disdain of attempts to propertize thought, I see
any post to a public list such as this as an inherent grant to the public
domain. Have at it.

Cheers,
Lee




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