Retaining margins after pages and column breaks

What is the logic behind retaining margins after forced breaks being the default behavior in the CSS3 multi-column spec?  I would expect the opposite behavior to be the default.

CSS2.1 says:

http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/page.html#page-break-props

"Note: It is expected that CSS3 will specify that the relevant 'margin-top' applies (i.e., is not set to '0') after a forced page break."

CSS3 Multi-Column says:

http://www.w3.org/TR/2009/CR-css3-multicol-20091217/#column-breaks

"However, the margin immediately after a forced page/column break will be preserved."

It even goes on to include an example that explicitly reinforces this default.

Can someone explain the logic behind this default, because I don't get it.  We collapse away margins at the top of a document, i.e., on the first page... why would a header at the top of a later page be treated any differently?  I have no objection to having control over the behavior, but shouldn't the default be that the margin-top is set to 0 after a forced break?

dave
(hyatt@apple.com)

Received on Wednesday, 9 June 2010 22:07:42 UTC