Authors: Chuck Musciano Bill Kennedy

HTML The Definitive Guide (87 page)

Leaf mites

The leaf mite will ravage the Kumquat tree, stripping it of any and all vegetation.

Trunk dropsy

This microscopic larvae of the common opossum chigger will consume the structural elements of the tree trunk, causing it to collapse inward.

Figure 8.10: A definition list as presented by Netscape
As with other list types, you can add more space between the list items by inserting paragraph

tags between them or by defining a spacious style for the

tag.

8.7.1.1 More compact definition lists

The

tag supports has the compact attribute, advising the browser to make the list presentation as small as possible. Few browsers, if any, honor this attribute, and it has been deprecated in HTML

4.0.

8.7.1.2 The class, dir, id, lang, style, title, and event attributes
The many other attributes for the

Tag
This
tag defines the term component of a definition list. It is valid only when used within a definition
list preceding the term or item, before the
tag and the term's definition or explanation.

Function:
Define a definition list term
Attributes:
CLASS ONKEYUP
DIR ONMOUSEDOWN
ID ONMOUSEMOVE
LANG ONMOUSEOUT
ONCLICK ONMOUSEOVER
ONDBLCLICK ONMOUSEUP
ONKEYDOWN STYLE
ONKEYPRESS TITLE
End tag:
; always omitted
Contains:
text
Used in:
dl_content
Traditionally, the definition term that follows the
tag is short and sweet - a word or few.
Technically, it can be any length. If long, the browser may exercise the option of extending the item beyond the display window, or wrap it onto the next line where the definition begins.
Since the end of the
tag immediately precedes the start of the matching
tag, it is unambiguous and so not required.
8.7.2.1 Formatting text with

In practice, browsers are either too lenient or too dumb to enforce the HTML rules, so some tricky HTML authors misuse the
tag to shift the left margin right and left, respectively, for fancy text displays. (Remember, tab characters and leading spaces don't usually work with regular text.) We don't condone violating the HTML standard and caution you once again about tricked-up documents.
Use style sheets instead.
8.7.2.2 The class, dir, id, lang, style, title, and event attributes
The
tag supports the standard HTML 4.0 tag attributes. The style and class attributes, of course, let you control the display style; the id and title tag attributes let you uniquely label its contents; the dir and lang attributes let you specify its native language; and the many on-event attributes let you react to user-initiated mouse and keyboard actions on the contents. Not all are
implemented by the currently popular browsers for this tag or for many others. [The dir attribute,
3.5.1.1] [The lang attribute, 3.5.1.2]
[The id attribute, 4.1.1.4]
[The title attribute, 4.1.1.5]
[Inline
Styles: The style Attribute, 9.1.1]
[Style Classes, 9.2.4]
[JavaScript Event Handlers, 13.3.3]
8.7.3 The
Tag
The
tag marks the start of the definition portion of an item in a definition list. According to the HTML standard,
belongs only inside a definition
list, immediately following the
tag and term and preceding the definition or explanation.

Function:
Define a definition list term
Attributes:
CLASS ONKEYUP
DIR ONMOUSEDOWN
ID ONMOUSEMOVE
LANG ONMOUSEOUT
ONCLICK ONMOUSEOVER
ONDBLCLICK ONMOUSEUP
ONKEYDOWN STYLE
ONKEYPRESS TITLE
End tag:
; always omitted
Contains:
flow
Used in:
dl_content
The content that follows the
tag may be any HTML construct, including other lists, block text, and multimedia elements. Although treating it otherwise identically as conventional content, browsers typically indent definition list
definitions. And since the start of another term and definition (
) or the required end tag of the definition (
) unambiguously terminates the preceding definition, the
tag is not needed and its absence makes your source text more readable.
8.7.3.1 The class, dir, id, lang, style, title, and event attributes
The
tag supports the standard HTML 4.0 tag attributes. The style and class attributes, of course, let you control the display style; the id and title tag attributes let you uniquely label its contents; the dir and lang attributes let you specify its native language; and the many on-event attributes let you react to user-initiated mouse and keyboard actions on the contents. Not all are
implemented by the currently popular browsers for this tag or for many others. [The dir attribute,
3.5.1.1] [The lang attribute, 3.5.1.2]
[The id attribute, 4.1.1.4]
[The title attribute, 4.1.1.5]
[Inline
Styles: The style Attribute, 9.1.1]
[Style Classes, 9.2.4]
[JavaScript Event Handlers, 13.3.3]
8.6 Menu Lists
8.8 Appropriate List Usage