Posted by GreyWyvern on 01/13/06 23:09

And lo, Paul Ding didst speak in
alt.html,alt.www.webmaster,comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html:

> On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 10:37:37 -0500, GreyWyvern <spam@greywyvern.com>
> posted something that included:
>
>> According to the spec, empty <p></p> tags should be ignored completely.
>
> What specification are you talking about? It does NOT say that in the
> current HTML/4.01 specification, nor in any prior specification for
> HTML.

Au contraire:

"We discourage authors from using empty P elements. User agents should
ignore empty P elements."
- http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/text.html#h-9.3.1

Unfortunately, the specifications are only useful if they get read.

> Some browsers will collapse a series of multiple <br> and <p> tags
> into a single <p> tag, and a series of multiple <br> tags into a
> single <br> tag. Others will not. The HTML specification does not
> specify which is the correct behavior.

<br> tags are outside the scope of this discussion. The spec, however, is
quite clear about empty <p> elements. See above.

> If you interpret the <br> tag as meaning "no more on this line" and
> the <p> tag as meaning "no more on this line or a certain amount of
> vertical space below this line", then collapsing the tags makes sense.
> If you interpret the <br> tag as meaning "move to the next line", and
> the <p> tag as meaning "move down a bit and then move to the next
> line", then producing greater vertical space due to the repetition
> doesn't.

These tags are, and should always be, interpreted as defined within the
specifications. The <p></p> element defines the beginning and end of a
paragraph, without implying visual styling of any kind. If someone
depends upon this tag to "move down a bit and then move to the next line"
they are setting themselves up for a fall if and when a UA decides to
implement their default paragraph styling in another way.

> And since the HTML specification doesn't say which is the proper
> interpretation, browser writers are free to use either interpretation.
> The </p> tag is ignored in HTML.

This is simply untrue. Why are you perpetuating this misconception?

> The effect of attributes to a <p> tag last until the tag of that level.

I don't know what you mean by this, perhaps you could clarify.

Grey

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