Word 2007 HTML and CSS Rendering Capabilities in Outlook 2007 (Part 1 of 2)

  • Article

Summary: Learn about support for the HTML and Cascading Style Sheets specification provided by Word 2007 and Outlook 2007. Word 2007 HTML and CSS Rendering Capabilities in Outlook 2007 (Part 2 of 2) provides instructions to install and use the Outlook 2007 Tool: HTML and CSS Validator. (24 printed pages)

Zeyad Rajabi, Microsoft Corporation

Erika Ehrli, Microsoft Corporation

August 2006

Applies to: 2007 Microsoft Office System, Microsoft Expression Web, Microsoft Office Word 2007, Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005

Download Outlook 2007 Tool: HTML and CSS Validator.

Contents

  • Introduction to HTML Parsing and Rendering in Outlook 2007

  • Supported HTML Elements, Attributes, and Cascading Style Sheet Properties

  • Conclusion

  • Additional Resources

Introduction to HTML Parsing and Rendering in Outlook 2007

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 uses the HTML parsing and rendering engine from Microsoft Office Word 2007 to display HTML message bodies. The same HTML and cascading style sheets (CSS) support available in Word 2007 is available in Outlook 2007.

This article provides reference documentation related to supported and unsupported HTML elements, attributes, and cascading style sheets properties.

Word 2007 HTML and CSS Rendering Capabilities in Outlook 2007 (Part 2 of 2) provides detailed instructions about how to install and use the Outlook HTML and CSS Validator tool.

The Outlook HTML and CSS Validator tool helps you to validate HTML and cascading style sheets grammar using some of the most popular Web development tools, such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007, Microsoft Expression Web Designer 2007, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004, and Macromedia Dreamweaver 8.

These articles and accompanying tools are provided for your use and can help you to better understand the new capabilities offered with the switch to the Word 2007 HTML parsing and rendering engine. This information can help you with the generation of e-mail newsletters or other complex HTML documents.

Supported HTML Elements, Attributes, and Cascading Style Sheet Properties

Word 2007 supports a subset of the standard HTML 4.01 specification and of the Internet Explorer 6.0 HTML specification. Word 2007 also supports a subset of the standard Cascading Stylesheet Specification, Level 1. Word 2007 uses HTML elements that support a subset of the Word 2007 cascading style sheets properties. This article categorizes the Word 2007 supported cascading style sheets properties as follows:

FULL. The subset of the standard cascading style sheet 1.0 specification fully supported by Word. Note that Word 2007 also uses HTML elements that support a subset of the Word 2007 cascading style sheets properties.

COREEXTENDED. Two HTML elements that support a subset of the cascading style sheets properties are called out: DIV and P. DIV and P support a subset of Word 2007–supported cascading style sheet and are defined in this article by the term COREEXTENDED.

CORE. SPAN supports a smaller subset of Word 2007–supported cascading style sheets, defined by the term CORE.

NoteNote

For more information about the supported cascading style sheets property values in Word 2007, download and review the Outlook 2007 Tool: HTML and CSS Validator.

Word 2007 HTML Specification

The following table provides a list of the supported HTML elements in Word 2007. Also included in the table is the cascading style sheets support for the specified element. For a complete list of cascading style sheets properties that Word 2007 supports, see the Word 2007 Cascading Style Sheet Specification.

Table 1. Word 2007 HTML elements, attributes, and associated cascading style sheet style support

HTML Element

Attribute

Cascading Style Sheet Style Support Level

a

class

href

hreflang

id

name

rel

rev

target

shape

style

type

urn

FULL

abbr

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

acronym

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

address

class

dir

disabled

id

lang

style

FULL

area

class

coords

href

id

nohref

shape

style

target

FULL

b

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

base

class

href

id

target

FULL

basefont

class

color

face

id

size

style

FULL

big

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

blockquote

cite

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

body

alink

background

bgcolor

bgproperties

class

id

link

nowrap

text

vlink

CORE

br

class

clear

id

style

FULL

caption

align

class

id

lang

style

valign

FULL

center

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

cite

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

code

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

col

align

class

id

lang

span

style

valign

width

FULL

colgroup

align

bgcolor

class

dir

id

lang

span

style

valign

width

FULL

comment

class

data

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

dd

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

del

cite

class

datetime

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

dfn

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

dir

class

dir

id

lang

style

type

FULL

div

align

class

dir

id

lang

nowrap

style

COREEXTENDED

dl

class

compact

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

dt

class

dir

id

lang

style

nowrap

FULL

em

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

fieldset

align

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

font

class

color

dir

face

id

lang

size

style

FULL

frame

allowtransparency

application

bordercolor

class

frameborder

height

id

longdesc

name

src

width

None

frameset

border

bordercolor

class

cols

frameborder

framespacing

id

None

h1

align

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

h2

align

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

h3

align

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

h4

align

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

h5

align

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

h6

align

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

head

dir

lang

None

hr

align

class

color

dir

id

lang

size

style

width

FULL

html

dir

lang

None

i

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

img

align

alt

border

class

dir

dynsrc

height

hspace

id

ismap

lang

longdesc

lowsrc

name

src

style

usemap

vspace

width

FULL

ins

cite

class

datetime

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

kbd

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

label

class

dir

for

id

lang

style

FULL

legend

align

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

li

class

dir

id

lang

style

type

value

FULL

link

class

dir

href

hreflang

id

lang

name

rel

rev

style

type

FULL

listing

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

map

class

dir

id

lang

name

style

FULL

meta

content

http-equiv

id

name

scheme

None

nobr

class

dir

height

id

lang

style

FULL

ol

class

compact

dir

id

lang

style

type

FULL

p

align

class

dir

id

lang

style

COREEXTENDED

pre

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

s

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

samp

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

small

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

span

class

dir

disabled

id

lang

style

CORE

strike

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

strong

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

style

dir

lang

type

None

sub

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

sup

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

table

align

bgcolor

border

bordercolor

cellpadding

cellspacing

class

cols

dir

frame

height

id

lang

rules

style

summary

width

FULL

tbody

align

bgcolor

ch

choff

class

cols

dir

id

lang

style

valign

FULL

td

abbr

align

axis

bgcolor

bordercolor

ch

choff

class

colspan

datafld

dir

headers

height

id

lang

nowrap

scope

style

width

valign

FULL

textarea

class

cols

dir

id

lang

name

readonly

rows

style

wrap

FULL

tfoot

bgcolor

ch

choff

class

cols

dir

id

lang

style

valign

FULL

th

abbr

axis

bgcolor

bordercolor

ch

choff

class

colspan

datafld

dir

headers

height

id

lang

nowrap

scope

style

width

valign

FULL

thead

bgcolor

ch

choff

class

cols

dir

id

lang

style

valign

FULL

tfoot

bgcolor

ch

choff

class

cols

dir

id

lang

style

valign

FULL

title

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

tr

align

bgcolor

bordercolor

class

dir

height

id

lang

style

width

valign

FULL

tt

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

u

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

ul

class

dir

id

lang

style

type

FULL

var

class

dir

id

lang

style

FULL

xml

class

id

src

None

Word 2007 Cascading Style Sheet Specification

The following section provides a list of the cascading style sheets properties that Word 2007 supports. The section organizes cascading style sheets properties into three groups: CORE, COREEXTENDED, and FULL. In Word 2007, certain HTML elements only support a subset of cascading style sheet properties.

CORE

The following cascading style sheet properties are supported:

  • color

  • font

  • font-family

  • font-style

  • font-variant

  • font-size

  • font-weight

  • text-decoration

  • background (only color)

  • background-color

  • text-align

  • vertical-align

  • letter-spacing

  • line-height

  • white-space

  • display

  • border

  • border-color

  • border-style

  • border-width

  • src

  • size

  • marks

  • page-break-before

  • page-break-after

  • page-break-inside

  • list-style

  • list-style-type

  • unicode-bidi

  • border-collapse

COREEXTENDED

All of CORE, plus the following cascading style sheet properties are supported:

  • text-indent

  • margin

  • margin-left

  • margin-right

  • margin-top

  • margin-bottom

FULL

All of CORE and COREEXTENDED, plus the following cascading style sheet properties are supported:

  • width

  • height

  • padding

  • padding-left

  • padding-right

  • padding-top

  • padding-bottom

  • border-left

  • border-right

  • border-top

  • border-bottom

  • border-left-color

  • border-left-width

  • border-left-style

  • border-right-color

  • border-right-width

  • border-right-style

  • border-top-color

  • border-top-width

  • border-top-style

  • border-bottom-color

  • border-bottom-width

  • border-bottom-style

Unsupported HTML Elements Compared with the HTML 4.01 Specification

The following is a list of top-level HTML elements that the HTML 4.01 specification supports, but that Word 2007 does not support. Note that Word 2007 considers unsupported HTML elements to be unknown elements.

Word 2007 does not support:

  • applet

  • bdo

  • button

  • form

  • iframe

  • input

  • isindex

  • menu

  • noframes

  • noscript

  • object

  • optgroup

  • option

  • param

  • q

  • script

  • select

Unsupported HTML Attributes Compared with the HTML 4.01 Specification

The following is a list of top-level HTML attributes that the HTML 4.01 specification supports, but that Word 2007 does not support. Note that Word 2007 considers unsupported HTML attributes to be unknown attributes.

Word 2007 does not support:

  • accept-charset

  • accept

  • accesskey

  • archive

  • background (only when there is a URL)

  • checked

  • classid

  • code

  • codecore

  • codetype

  • compact

  • data

  • declare

  • defer

  • disabled

  • enctype

  • longdesc

  • marginheight

  • marginwidth

  • media ( screen | print | projection | braille | speech | all )

  • method

  • multiple

  • noresize

  • object

  • onblur

  • onchange

  • onclick

  • ondblclick

  • onfocus

  • onkeydown

  • onkeypress

  • onkeyup

  • onload

  • onmousedown

  • onmousemove

  • onmouseout

  • onmouseover

  • onmouseup

  • onreset

  • onselect

  • onsubmit

  • onunload

  • readonly

  • scrolling

  • selected

  • standby

  • tabindex

  • title

  • valuetype

Unsupported HTML Elements and Attributes Compared with the HTML 4.01 Specification

Table 2 provides a list of all the HTML elements, along with the HTML attributes and attribute values, that Word 2007 does not support.

Table 2. Unsupported HTML elements and attributes

Element

Attribute

textarea

cols

td

colspan=0

th

colspan=0

frame

frameborder=0

td

rowspan=0

th

rowspan=0

Unsupported Cascading Style Sheet Properties Compared with Cascading Style Sheets, Level 1

The following is a list of all the top-level cascading style sheet properties that the Cascading Stylesheet Specification, Level 1 supports, but that Word 2007 does not support. Note that Word 2007 considers unsupported cascading style sheet properties to be unknown properties.

  • background-attachment

  • background-image

  • background-position

  • background-repeat

  • clear

  • display

  • float

  • list-style-image

  • list-style-position

  • text-transform

  • word-spacing

Unsupported Cascading Style Sheet Properties Compared with Cascading Style Sheets, Level 2.1

The following is a list of all the top-level cascading style sheet properties that the Cascading Style Sheet Specification, Level 2.1 supports, but that Word 2007 does not support. Word 2007 considers unsupported cascading style sheet properties to be unknown properties.

  • azimuth

  • background-attachment

  • background-image

  • background-position

  • background-repeat

  • border-spacing

  • bottom

  • caption-side

  • clear

  • clip

  • content

  • counter-increment

  • counter-reset

  • cue-before, cue-after, cue

  • cursor

  • display

  • elevation

  • empty-cells

  • float

  • font-size-adjust

  • font-stretch

  • left

  • line-break

  • list-style-image

  • list-style-position

  • marker-offset

  • max-height

  • max-width

  • min-height

  • min-width

  • orphans

  • outline

  • outline-color

  • outline-style

  • outline-width

  • overflow

  • overflow-x

  • overflow-y

  • pause-before, pause-after, pause

  • pitch

  • pitch-range

  • play-during

  • position

  • quotes

  • richness

  • right

  • speak

  • speak-header

  • speak-numeral

  • speak-punctuation

  • speech-rate

  • stress

  • table-layout

  • text-shadow

  • text-transform

  • top

  • unicode-bidi

  • visibility

  • voice-family

  • volume

  • widows

  • word-spacing

  • z-index

The following is a list of all other Web-related features that Word 2007 does not support:

  • Animated GIF images. Only a static representation of the GIF image shows.

  • Flash. Only a red "X" shows in the area where the flash would display.

Outlook 2007 Security Concerns

The following tags are reported as valid by the Outlook 2007 HTML and CSS Validator tool but are not actually permitted in Outlook 2007 e-mail because of security concerns:

  • Frameset

  • Frame

These tags are valid for Word 2007 content, but are intentionally blocked when it is used by Outlook 2007 because of security implications. Microsoft reserves the right to block certain tags that might compromise the privacy of users or the security of the e-mail content in which the content is displayed.

Conclusion

Use this article as a guide and reference when you create e-mail newsletters and other complex HTML documents so that they display in Outlook 2007. The Outlook 2007 Tool: HTML and CSS Validator provides a way to validate HTML and cascading style sheets grammar using some of the most popular Web development tools: Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007, Microsoft Web Expressions 2007, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004, and Macromedia Dreamweaver 8. For more information about the Outlook 2007 Tool: HTML and CSS Validator, see Word 2007 HTML and CSS Rendering Capabilities in Outlook 2007 (Part 2 of 2).

We have tried to provide you with the most up-to-date and accurate information, but this document should not be considered a comprehensive reference guide. Please report technical inaccuracies you find to the Discussions in Word Mail newsgroup.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Rob Little, Matt Scott, Terry Crowley, and Dan Costenaro for their contributions to this article.

Additional Resources