auto width is not computed correctly in explorer strict mode

[bordsby]

according to the w3c :
http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/visudet.h...replaced-width

The rules for calculating width for absolutely positioned non-replaced
elements say that when 'left' and 'right' are not 'auto' and 'width' is
'auto'.... then..... solve for width

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'width' is 'auto', 'left' and 'right' are not 'auto', then solve for
'width'
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

using....

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'left' + 'margin-left' + 'border-left-width' + 'padding-left' + 'width'
+ 'padding-right' + 'border-right-width' + 'margin-right' + 'right' +
scrollbar width (if any) = width of containing block
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

so if i set 'left' and 'right' both to '0px' (and have no
border,padding,margin,or scrollbar) then the absolutely positioned
element width should be equal to the width of the containing block

this works in firefox of course. it does not work in explorer, even
with strict mode

am i missing something here? i thought strict mode was supposed to
make explorer follow the w3c visual formatting details... this seems to
be a pretty major mistake

[Ben C]

On 2006-11-17, bordsby <bo*****@gmail.comwrote:

according to the w3c :
http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/visudet.h...replaced-width

The rules for calculating width for absolutely positioned non-replaced
elements say that when 'left' and 'right' are not 'auto' and 'width' is
'auto'.... then..... solve for width

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'width' is 'auto', 'left' and 'right' are not 'auto', then solve for
'width'
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

using....

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'left' + 'margin-left' + 'border-left-width' + 'padding-left' + 'width'
+ 'padding-right' + 'border-right-width' + 'margin-right' + 'right' +
scrollbar width (if any) = width of containing block
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

so if i set 'left' and 'right' both to '0px' (and have no
border,padding,margin,or scrollbar) then the absolutely positioned
element width should be equal to the width of the containing block

Correct.

this works in firefox of course. it does not work in explorer, even
with strict mode

am i missing something here? i thought strict mode was supposed to
make explorer follow the w3c visual formatting details... this seems to
be a pretty major mistake

No, you're not missing anything (so long as you're sure you're getting
it into strict mode) and yes it is a major mistake, and not one it would
have been difficult for them to fix either.

One wonders if they're doing it on purpose sometimes.

[bordsby]

darn, i really wish i would have been missing something. i use this
concept over and over in my pages (setting the left/right so the width
is auto) because it is just like anchoring blocks a fixed distance from
the container edge... makes lots of stuff easier... they have to be
doing that on purpose... or they are just bad programmers for not
understanding the spec...

[Arne]

Once upon a time *bordsby* wrote:

darn, i really wish i would have been missing something. i use this
concept over and over in my pages (setting the left/right so the width
is auto) because it is just like anchoring blocks a fixed distance from
the container edge... makes lots of stuff easier... they have to be
doing that on purpose... or they are just bad programmers for not
understanding the spec...

*How to quote:* http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html#toc2
*From Google:* http://www.safalra.com/special/googlegroupsreply/

--
/Arne

Proud User of SeaMonkey. Get your free copy:
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/

[Gérard Talbot]

bordsby wrote :

[snipped]

it does not work in explorer, even
with strict mode

am i missing something here? i thought strict mode was supposed to
make explorer follow the w3c visual formatting details... this seems to
be a pretty major mistake

Are you referring to IE 6? Or are you referring to IE 7?
Can you post a url where this problem occurs? Because over here, it
works in IE 7.

Gérard
--
remove blah to email me

[Gérard Talbot]

bordsby wrote :

it does not work in explorer, even
with strict mode

am i missing something here?

"some of the other bugs that we [Microsoft] fixed [in IE 7]:
(...)
Auto-sizing of absolute positioned element with width:auto and right &
left (great for 3 column layouts)"
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/08/22/712830.aspx

Gérard
--
remove blah to email me