> I would say [...] _encapsulates_ an attribute
> specification. The end of the attribute value might otherwise need to be
> terminated by a ) or a , (context sensitivity or grouping, respectively).
Context sensitivity _requires_ (using current syntax) ( and ) anyway.
(LI) (LI) ) { stuff}
(@snap=crackle) (foo.hello there) bar @id=three blind mice { stuff }
Grouping _requires_ ,
H1, H2 { stuff }
foo.hello there, bar @id=three blind mice { stuff }
So it is not a case of "might otherwise require". There is absolutely no
ambiguity and no need to terminate anything with a superfluous extra token.
I suspect the only reason you think it is needed is the choice of [ as a
token to announce that an attribute value is coming. We are used to seeing [
matched up with ]
> >> Ah, but the class attribute specification is obviously not meant to
> scale.
> >
> >Why not?
>
> I didn't mean it *shouldn't* be intended to scale, just that the
> specification was obviously a one-shot deal, meant for specifying class and
> nothing else.
Yes. A syntactic wrinkle. By examining the parsing requirements in terms
of a sequence of tokens needed to avoid ambiguity and provide a well
defined syntax, I was able to show exactly what tokens were replaced by
the short form for class
Tell me, if I have foo.bar, should that be followed by a trailing ] or not. Why?
> >To make them more consistent? Fine. Although, as I say, the trailing
> >square bracket is not doing anything.
>
> I'd still vote for it, the same way I wish <LI> were forced to be a
> container.
LI *is a container. What is your point here?
--
Chris Lilley, Technical Author and JISC representative to W3C
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