Re: Future browsers...

Dave_Raggett (dsr@hplb.hpl.hp.com)
Tue, 23 Nov 93 14:01:31 GMT


Charles Henrich writes:

> What do you all feel is the most important next HTML+ features for Browser's
> to implement? I currently would *really* like to see text flow around
> <img>'s and tables!

At the WWW/TEI meeting in Ireland last week, we felt that the FIG element
should be extended so that it behaves like IMG when you specify ALIGN =
top, middle or bottom and as currently specified when ALIGN = left, center
or right. Text flow is only appropriate when ALIGN = left or right. The
IMAGE element has now been dropped. I will describe this in detail in the
next issue of the HTML+ internet draft, which I expect to have completed by
Christmas. [too many demands on my time :(]

In this meeting we attempted to rank new features in order of priority.
The revised DTD will be structured as a core DTD plus a number of
"toppings" for tables etc. This will make it practical to define browser
compliance rigorously.

Sebastian Francis Heath writes:

> In other hypermedia applications I have worked on, it has been useful to
> allow users to select any text and initiate a link from it. This allows,
> for example, a user to select a word s/he doesn't understand and ask that
> it be looked up in a dictionary/glossary or a site name can be looked up
> in an atlas.

This is the idea behind <LINK REL="UseIndex" HREF="..."> as described in
the current draft of the HTML+ spec, see:

ftp://15.254.100.100/pub/draft-raggett-www-html-00.ps

This LINK element would cause browsers to show an "Index" button on a toolbar
or as a menu item. Users would select a word with the mouse and press the
button to initiate the search on the specified server (you could also just
type words into a search box, as now).

Regards,

Dave Raggett