Re: Return of the Template Revisions, part MDMXCII

["John R. Sheets" <dusk ravendusk org>]

On Friday, July 14, 2000, Alexander Kirillov <kirillov@math.sunysb.edu> wrote:
> 
> Telsa wrote:
> 
> >Why on earth are we still using <itemisedlist>s with a word, an em
> >dash and an explanation when we can use <variable> lists and the
> ><term> and <listitem> tags?

...

> >I really do think that this is what <variablelist> was designed for.
> >Saying "the first one uses less screen space in the finished product"
> >is cheating: we won't always be using the same stylesheet, and it's
> >the stylesheets fault :)

I think you're right on the money, Telsa.  The markup is for content, not
to force presentation.  Granted, sometimes this breaks down when the DTD
falls short, but I don't think this is such a case.

> Here are my reasons: I like to have 2 kinds of list 
> 
>   a. A list in which each entry is a paragraph or two long and has a
>   title (preferably on a separate line)
> 
>   b. A list in which each entry is couple of lines long and has a
>   run-in (i.e., not on the separate line) title.

Wouldn't it be possible to differentiate between the two with the "role"
attribute on the <variablelist> element?  Something like 

 <variablelist role="inline">

I dunno.  Maybe I'm way off base here.

John

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