Re: Correct syntax of <LI> tags

Murray Maloney ([email protected])
Wed, 21 Jun 1995 12:16:59 -0400 (EDT)


ccaamwd writes:
>
> Dear All,
>
> I hope someone out there can give me a definitive answer on this one:
>
> I use the emacs html-major-mode to edit html-2-compliant files.
> The emacs mode inserts a whitespace after every automatically generated
> <LI> tag within a <UL> which, on most browsers, seems to be ignored.
> Only Netscape seem to attach significance to this,
> which makes the list display with an untidy ragged left edge,
> approximately thus:
>
[...]
>
> Is the emacs mode right, and Netscape should be ignoring something which it
> isn't, or is the whitespace being correctly interpreted by Netscape, in which
> case it simply shouldn't be there?

For what it's worth, my reading of the spec and
experience with browsers is that a space following
an <LI> should be presented by the browser. The version
of Mosaic which I am using, and the Mosaic-based browser
deployed by SCO as an online doc and context-sensitive
help browser behaves just as you have described for Netscape.

Having said that, I will also say that the HTML spec does
not serve as a specification for browsers, but for the
language. While it does provide numerous suggestions
to browser developers, there is no spec for HTML user agents.
At least not yet.

Getting back to the language though, HTML as an SGML application
should respect white space between the <LI> tag and subsequent
text. Multiple white spaces should be collapsed to a single
space, but it should still be presented.

If you were to follow the <LI> with a newline, then you would
get the browser behaviour that you are seeking.

Murray
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Murray C. Maloney Internet: %20tags"[email protected]
Technical Publications Writer/Architect Uucp: ...uunet!sco!murray
SCO Canada, Inc. My Phone: (416) 960-4031
130 Bloor Street West, 10th Floor Fax: (416) 922-2704
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1N5 SCO Phone: (416) 922-1937
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Disclaimer: I'm speaking for myself. 'T ain't nobody else to blame but me.
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