CSS buttons - why is width limited?

[daymobrew]

I have ZenCart 1.3.8a and Cherry Zen 1.7 template.

I choose to use CSS Buttons (Admin/Configuration/Layout Settings) so that I could give them a 'flat' look.

In the New Products page the 'Add Selected Products to Cart' button width was being set to 188px via an inline style. I found that the zenCssButton function (includes/functions/html_output.php) sets the width to length of string * 6.5. The code comment does not explain how the number 6.5 relates to the font size.

My question: Why does the code set the width?
Without this setting the button appears at the required size.

[tlyczko]

I would like to know too, please. Thank you, Tom

[AlanQ]

Maybe it's because, on Firefox (3.0.8), without the width style the buttons become noticeably larger than is needed to accommodate the text.

Thanks to daymobrew for the heads-up on includes/functions/html_output.php.