[whatwg] ambiguity in <header> definition

Thomas Broyer t.broyer at gmail.com
Mon Jun 29 06:54:48 PDT 2009


On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 3:35 PM, Bruce Lawson<brucel at opera.com> wrote:
> spec says "A header element typically contains the section's heading (an
> h1–h6 element or an hgroup element), but can also contain other content"
>
> I read this as other meaning "different"  - e.g., header doesn't need to
> contain an h1–h6 element or an hgroup element. Others I know read "other"
> here as meaning "additional" , eg that it should have  an h1–h6 element or
> an hgroup element but *may* have nav etc.
>
> I believe that the phrase "Contexts in which this element may be used: Where
> flow content is expected" means I win the beer and the curry,

It describes which context you can place a <header> within (i.e. what
is to be found *around* a <header>), not what you can put *inside* it;
which is described in "Content model" just below, and reads: "Flow
content, but with no header or footer element descendants."

>but perhaps
> the language should be tightened? ie ""A header element typically contains
> the section's heading (an h1–h6 element or an hgroup element), but this is
> not mandatory and may contain content such as navigation, a search form blah
> blah"

The fact that it is phrased as "typically contains ... but can also
contain" makes it clear (for me) that it might contain a section's
heading but this is not enforced (otherwise, it wouldn't say
"typically")

-- 
Thomas Broyer


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