A form is a template for a form data set -- sequence of
name/value pair fields -- with an associated method and
action URI. The names are specified on the NAME attributes
of form input elements, and the values are given by the
user. The resulting form data set is used to access an
information service as a function of the action and method.
Which is fine, except the DTD says:
<!ATTLIST INPUT
TYPE %InputType TEXT
NAME CDATA #IMPLIED
VALUE CDATA #IMPLIED
SRC %URI #IMPLIED
CHECKED (CHECKED) #IMPLIED
SIZE CDATA #IMPLIED
MAXLENGTH NUMBER #IMPLIED
ALIGN (top|middle|bottom) #IMPLIED
%SDAPREF; "Input: "
>
I.e. - the NAME attribute isn't required, but the application should
be able to generate one if it's missing.
The discussion of form submission (7.2) points out that you can leave
out NULL values, and in fact requires that in some cases (7.2.1, point 2).
Is the DTD wrong - should NAME be required? If it's not wrong, then
the RFC should say something about what the implied value should be. I
have no idea what happens in current browsers if you leave out the
name field.
SELECT and TEXTAREA don't have this problem - they require the NAME
attribute.
<mike