Re: Editorial comments on HTML 2.0 Draft 3/31/95
lilley (lilley@afs.mcc.ac.uk)
Wed, 19 Apr 95 09:41:01 EDT
>
> The following are items I found in the 3/31/95 draft of the HTML 2.0 Spec.
> After the IETF decision to keep editorial comments confined to the mail group
> (to save feature/topic discussion time) I meant to send this out last week but
> was sick. I have a lot of mail to dig thru so pardon duplicate comments.
>
> Under 9.1 Anchor:
> It is generically classified as Level 0 but some of the attributes are new to
> level 2 (ie TITLE, URN, METHODS). I think that labeling all of them as Level 0
> is misleading and that those new attributes should be labeled as such.
>
> Under 10.6.1 Definition List:
> There is a paragraph that talks about single occurences of <DT>'s and no
> <DD>'s but the converse is true as well. A similar paragraph should be
> inserted to cover this.
> The text about half way down says "The opening list tag must be <DL> and must
> immediately followed by the first term (<DT>)." This is wrong since you can
> have a Definition List with NO <DT>'s and all <DD>'s. Ammend the last part to
> be "...by the first term (<DT>) or the first definition (<DD>)."
> The COMPACT attribute is only described for DL's. Shouldn't it also be
> applicable to all other lists (UL & OL; DIR/MENU maybe??)
>
> Under 10.6 List Elements:
> There is a explicit description of all tags related to lists except LI. Its
> implicitly described under OL, UL, DIR, and MENU. Should it get its own
> section since it is a separate tag?
>
> Under 11 Form-based Input Elements:
> "Each variable field is defined by an Input, Textarea, or Option element"
> should be "..., Textarea, or SELECT element".
> In the paragraph describing the different conventions for TAB and Shift keys
> on different platforms, the description says "using Enter key to submit the
> form." This isnt true if the cursor is in a TEXTAREA field (on any browser I
> tried). A nit probably but semi-misleading.
> In the same paragraph, "The SUBMIT button is used to e-mail or send its
> contents to the server as specified by the ACTION attribute," should be changed
> to include the METHOD attribute too. Something like, "The SUBMIT button is
> used to e-mail or send its contents to the server as specified by the ACTION
> and METHOD attributes,"
>
> Under 11.1 Form:
> Describe the allowable attributes explicitly, not by example. This is done
> for _every_ other tag except FORM.
> In the next to last paragraph there is "The names are _usually_equal_ to the
> NAME attributes of the various _interactive_ elements in the form". What other
> way is there to name inputs?? Also, what about non-interactive elements (ie:
> HIDDEN fields)? Remove "interactive" and that should ok.
>
> Under 11.2 Input:
> For NAME, "The NAME attribute is required for _most_ input types...". When
> can an input field not have a name and still be an input?? Just how would a
> non-named input be returned, by value only? With > 1 non-named input, that
> could be very very bad!
> For SRC, "A URL or URN specifying..." is not uniform. I think it should be
> split out into SRC and URN (ala Anchors!) to be consistant.
> For CHECKBOX, how does the default value of "on" map up with any explicit
> values that are provided? For example, if a checkbox's value is "on" by
> default and the author specifies explicit values for the it (ie "yes"), just
> what should a browser send back if the user does not touch the checkbox on the
> form, "on" or "yes"?
> For PASSWORD, what about rephrasing "except that the text is not displayed as
> it is entered" to something like "except that the text is obfuscated or changed
> as it is entered so that it is not plainly visible to the user". The original
> text semi-implies that PASSWORD fields can be either obfuscated or not
> displayed at all. A nit really...
>
> Under 11.4 Select:
> How is it possible to select nothing from a list when "If no option is
> initially marked as selected, then the first item list is selected."?? This
> means an author is required to create a "No choice" option and make it the
> first option. I think this last part should be removed from the draft or
> inverted.
> As brought out at IEFT, SIZE has a different meaning for Select than any
> other FORM input. If it were renamed to something like LINES or ITEMS then it
> would be less ambiguous.
>
> Under 11.5 Text Area:
> The title should be one word, Textarea.
> A for FORM, list the allowable attributes explicitly, not be example!
>
> My proxy server is down this AM so I cant see if these changes need to be in
> any more recent draft than 3/31 so disregard any that have already been covered.
>
> Bruce
> ===============================================================================
> Bruce Kahn INet: Bruce_Kahn@iris.com
> Iris Associates Phone: 508.392.5335
> Standard disclaimers apply, even where prohibited by law..
>
--
Chris Lilley
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