Discovering Incognito Content Blocks

Question

Discovering Incognito Content Blocks

I am currently diving into the complexities of the CSS concept known as the Visual Formatting Model, with a keen focus on the section titled Controlling box generation.

Within the realm of Anonymous Block Boxes, there exists an example that illustrates this scenario:

<DIV>
  Some text
  <P>More text
</DIV>

The explanation provided is quite enlightening:

When both the DIV and P elements have 'display: block' properties, it appears that the DIV contains both inline and block content. To simplify formatting, an assumption is made that there exists an anonymous block box surrounding "Some text".

In simpler terms: if a block container box (like the DIV in this case) encloses a block-level box (such as the P element), it is coerced to contain only block-level boxes within.

Initially, my understanding from the specification led me to believe that an anonymous block box would only apply to text elements. However, delving into a more intricate example reveals a different perspective, demonstrated by the following markup:

<div>
    some <em>text</em>
    <p>More text</p>
    and more <em>text</em>
</div>

This highlights the fact that not just individual words like "some", but entire phrases like "some text" are considered as anonymous block boxes. Treating each word as a separate block box could disrupt the layout consistency by placing them on separate lines.

Hence, we end up with a total of 3 block boxes (2 of which are anonymous):

An anonymous block box: some text.
A block box: More text.
An anonymous block box:
```
and more text
```
.

Resulting in a visual representation such as: identifying anonymous block level boxes

Ultimately, can I draw the conclusion that when dealing with anonymous block box generation, if a block container consists of a block-level box inside it, then any contained boxes will be treated as block-level boxes for formatting purposes? Any non-block-level boxes would be internally categorized as anonymous block boxes, essentially functioning as block-level containers.

Does my comprehension align with these concepts, or have I veered off track?

css specifications

Answer 1

Answer №1

When it comes to Box Generation, all boxes inside this block container are considered as block-level boxes. Any box that doesn't qualify as a block-level box is treated as an anonymous block box, which essentially functions as a block-level box.

Contrary to popular belief, creating these anonymous block boxes with inline formatting contexts does not alter the inlines or any other non-block-level boxes. They continue to operate within their original formatting context, with the algorithm ensuring that these contexts are established by anonymous block boxes that participate in the same block formatting context as the parent element.

The illustration depicting this concept is generally accurate, although it's worth noting that the principal block-level box doesn't always establish a block formatting context. It's important to distinguish between terms like "block formatting context," "block-level box," "block container box," and "block box". For further clarity on these distinctions, refer to the following answers:

CSS Spec: block-level box, block container box and block box
Block Level Element vs Block Formatting Context

Answer 2

When it comes to Box Generation, all boxes inside this block container are considered as block-level boxes. Any box that doesn't qualify as a block-level box is treated as an anonymous block box, which essentially functions as a block-level box.

Contrary to popular belief, creating these anonymous block boxes with inline formatting contexts does not alter the inlines or any other non-block-level boxes. They continue to operate within their original formatting context, with the algorithm ensuring that these contexts are established by anonymous block boxes that participate in the same block formatting context as the parent element.

The illustration depicting this concept is generally accurate, although it's worth noting that the principal block-level box doesn't always establish a block formatting context. It's important to distinguish between terms like "block formatting context," "block-level box," "block container box," and "block box". For further clarity on these distinctions, refer to the following answers:

CSS Spec: block-level box, block container box and block box
Block Level Element vs Block Formatting Context

Discovering Incognito Content Blocks

Answer №1

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