[rfc-i] Should figures float?

[masinter at adobe.com (Larry Masinter)]

> While reviewing the PDF draft, it occurred to me that most "modern"
> solutions (at least back to LaTeX) allow figures to float, whereas
> the assumption with XML2RFC has always been that the occur exactly
> where <figure> is placed in the text, except for maybe inserting a page
> feed to avoid splitting the artwork.
> 
> For v3, are we going to allow for processors that are capable of
> floating a figure? That would be a new attribute for <figure>
> along the lines of float="true" or "false".

Where and how figures float is an editorial decision best left to an editor.

So I would suggest the RFC Editor be given authority to float or unfloat
figures (subject to AUTH48 or longer review), and make the decision
separately or independently for each output format.


For Internet Drafts, I think floating figures are counter-productive...

Note that floating figures will likely interfere (yield false positives)
for PDF comparison.

I would possibly use PIs (processing instructions) rather than
Markup to mark figures as floating in specified renditions.

Larry
--
http://larry.masinter.net