[whatwg] Comments on Web Forms 2.0

[Peter-Paul Koch]

>I would start using it immediately.  Not just in new projects, or as a new 
>strategy and direction for development, I'd just start using it.
>No other upcoming developments offer this possibility.

I feel exactly the same. In fact, I've decided to implement Web Forms in my 
standard JavaScript form validation module. It won't be ready for quite some 
time yet, but this specification is exactly what I need.

>But coding each of these things in Javascript is challenging -- it
>requires extensive testing, and it's common that the result won't be
>extensible, robust, or sufficiently general.

Sure, but it's not *that* difficult.

A year ago I wrote a prototype form that implements several Web Forms 
functionalities, though without the correct syntax, of course. I wrote a 
repeat script in November 2002 (which, as far as I know, is the first 
example of the concept, so I might even have invented it).

See http://www.quirksmode.org/dom/webforms2.html for my notes and comments 
on the current draft, and links to the prototypes mentioned above.

Please note that my comments are *exclusively* focused at a JavaScript 
implementation which enhances usability and works in today's browsers. I'm 
not interested in any other implementation.

>Management of this Javascript is itself difficult on the server side -- if 
>you rely on
>generating Javascript on the server side,

As long as the form correctly implements the Web Forms specification the 
script should run fine anywhere. No server side management is necessary.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
ppk, freelance web developer
Interaction, copywriting, JavaScript, integration
http://www.quirksmode.org/
Column "Keep it Simple": http://www.digital-web.com/types/keep_it_simple/
------------------------------------------------------------------

_________________________________________________________________
Play online games with your friends with MSN Messenger 
http://messenger.msn.nl/