[whatwg] Contingency plans

[Tab Atkins Jr.]

On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 4:52 PM, Elizabeth Castro <lcastro at cookwood.com> wrote:
> I've noticed a couple of instances in which the spec gives the content model
> for a given element, like for example, the hgroup element contains one or
> more of h1, h2, etc., and then specifies what should happen even if the
> element doesn't contain what it's supposed to, as here where we learn what
> an hgroup's rank should be if it is empty:
>
> The rank of an hgroup element is the rank of the highest-ranked h1–h6
> element descendant of the hgroup element, if there are any such elements, or
> otherwise the same as for an h1 element (the highest rank).
>
> It seems like it's implying that it's OK for the hgroup to not follow its
> own content model.
> Or is it just saying what should happen if it is erroneously empty?
> thanks,
> Liz

The latter.  That's describing the implementation detail - it says
elsewhere what is actually required for the content model.

~TJ