Need to understand RH7's default.css

Question

Hi all,
A few months ago, I did my first couple of projects using
RH7_for_HTML (with the help of this forum). I came with a thorough
understanding of MS Word styling, so I knew what I was looking for
to get the type of control I am used to having in Word, and also I
already had a fair understanding of HTML/CSS.
However, I had trouble controlling RH7's styling using just
the RH 'Styles' dialog box. I didn't *completely* understand the RH
'Styles' dialog box (although I have used a lot of different style
systems in various authoring apps) and also didn't *completely*
understand why RH was producing the default.css styles sheet that
it did.
So … instead of spending more time grappling with it
(it was time to actually write some content and prove my
worth…), I decided it was time to ignore the 'Styles' dialog
box and instead I enlisted the aid of a pretty sophisticated
external HTML editor ( MS Visual Web Developer 2008) and got where
I wanted to go.
I also included incremental definition (cascading) of styles
within the style sheet so that, e.g., if I want to change the font
or indentation or whatever of all the styles in one go, then I only
need to modify one "base" style in the sheet instead of modifying
all of the styles. I couldn't figure out how RH7 supported this.
Now, after a break for a while, I am returning to RH7 for my
next project, and this time I would like to set up a professional,
correct, clean work environment of template, stylesheet(s) and
styles. To do this, maybe I can carry on ignoring the 'Styles'
dialog box. Or maybe not. I don't know. Anyway, I am curious about
what the Style dialog box does. Specifically, I hope somebody can
help me understand the following:
(1) I see that in default.css, there is a definition for H1
and LI.H1, as below. (Same for H2…H6.)
What does LI.H1 give us?
H1 {
font-weight: bold;
font-size: 24.0pt;
LI.H1 {
font-weight: bold;
font-size: 24.0pt;
(2) Similarly there is a definition for P and LI.P, as below.
What does LI.P give us?
P {
font-size: 12.0pt;
margin-top: 0pt;
margin-bottom: 0pt;
LI.P {
font-size: 12.0pt;
(3) I experimented with the List style. I used the Styles
dialog box to create a numbered list style, which I named
'List_L1'. RH added to its default.css file the following CSS
definitions:
P.List_L1 {
list-style: decimal;
LI.P-List_L1 {
list-style: decimal;
(4) What *exactly* is the meaning of the 'Other' tree in the
'Styles' pane of the 'Styles' dialog box?
I understand the definition P.List_L1, but for what purpose
is LI.P-List_L1?
(I had been wondering if the purpose of the LI (in (2),
above) was to prepare some sort of list version for P, but when I
actually created the list style (here in (3)) the LI.P was
ignored.)
TIA,
- avi

Answer 1

Hi Peter,
Thanks for joining the thread. Now that you have, maybe I can
drag you by the nose a bit and get you to answer a few more
questions further below.
First, about trying to repeat Ben's RH7 test: I am now back
at my office PC with RH7 (the RH8 at home is a just a trial
version).
Using RH7, on a fresh new project with a fresh 'default.css',
I just tried the same little test as Ben, and I got:
<ol style="list-style: decimal;" type=1>
<li class=p><p>List item a</p></li>
<li class=p><p>List item b</p></li>
<li class=p><p>List item c</p></li>
<li class=p><p>List item d</p></li>
</ol>
Similarly, for the H1 test, I got:
<ol style="list-style: decimal;" type=1>
<li class=H1><h1>Heading a</h1></li>
<li class=h1><h1>Heading b</h1></li>
<li class=h1><h1>Heading c</h1></li>
<li class=h1><h1>Heading d</h1></li>
</ol>
So that's a bit more voluminous than Ben got. Or maybe Ben
just wrote an abbreviation of what he got. Ben? You looking in?
(I just realized that I forgot to look at the default.css
that RH8 produced. I will have a look when I get home.)
>> This thread started with RH7. Now you have posted
some RH8 HTML. They will be different.
Thanks for pointing that out, Peter. Well, at least from
that, we now earned your description of RH7 vs. RH8 and their
motivations. Great, sublime. Bet not many people know all that.
You've now made me into a professional…
>> Using LI within the style sheet is not the same
thing as applying an inline style (local formatting) in Word. It is
effectively the same thing as a Class of a style. Because it is
within the CSS, it is perfectly acceptable.
I've had to chew on this a lot…
Isn't this a relative thing? I mean, is it really sufficient
that just because it is within the CSS, it makes it perfectly
acceptable?". I mean, if you did this just as a shortcut, but you
already have a good set of styles defined, but just couldn't be
bothered to use them, then this is a "quick fix" and is not, as a
rule, considered a professional thing to do.
On the other hand I see your point that since something like
"LI.P" is using separate, predefined styles, we are still
separating presentation from content, which is not the case if you
do local formatting in Word (and same for applying fonts and colors
and the like within HTML tags).
So in conclusion, I understand that the following definition,
generated by RH7:
LI.P {
font-size: 12.0pt;
is saying: "for the HTML element, LI, prepare a class of type
P, and this is what will be applied whenever you apply a default
list using one of the toolbar buttons (1-2-3) or bullets on top of
a 'Normal' text." And similarly for LI.Hx.
Btw, a pure CSS question, if I may. When RH7 generated the
following:
P {
font-size: 12.0pt;
margin-top: 0pt;
margin-bottom: 0pt;
LI.P {
font-size: 12.0pt;
isn't there instead an abbreviated CSS way of doing this that
avoids the duplication of attribute definitions and instead uses
some sort of inheritance that allows LI.P to inherit the font size
from P?
Further question: from your description of RH7 vs RH8 when
you press Enter, what would be the issues when upgrading a project
created with RH7 (and utilizing the styles in default.css) to RH8?
One more question. If I could give this topic a new name,
what would be a better name?
Maybe:
'"Can I ignore the RH7 Styles dialog box?"
- or -
"Should I ignore the RH7 Styles dialog box?"
- or -
other?
TIA
- avi