[whatwg] [wf2] Default submit button determination and autofocus

[Ian Hickson]

On Thu, 7 Apr 2005, Anne van Kesteren wrote:
>
> Current WF2 defines a way to determinate the default submit button[1].
> While it is quite useful it would be even more useful if you could
> decide which is the default submit button in WF2 compliant UAs:
> 
> # woo_	who really programs like that though.. "well, the first button
> # 	is ALWAYS going to be the button I want to have executed"
> # woo_	they apparently never had "customers"
> 
> ASP.NET2 provides quite a useful way[2] to point to the default submit button

I agree, but I think we should wait for WF3 before adding more features. 
WF2 is a quite big enough spec as it is, we don't want to require too big 
a jump for implementors to go from WF1 (HTML4+DOM2 HTML) to WF2. Consider 
CSS2: it introduced too much compared to CSS1, and so implementors never 
fully implemented it. There is a real danger in overreaching here. Before 
we add more, we have to work out what parts of WF2 are not actually used 
enough to warrant their inclusion, IMHO.


> Personally I think declaring them on the FORM element might make more sense.

There is not always a <form> element. For example, in simple cases that 
are just use an input field for interaction with some scripted code.


> I know this would require quite some changes to the specification but I 
> think it is worth it and since the specification would get another call 
> for comments...

The idea is to have a call for comments with _no_ comments, not to keep 
changing the spec. :-) Every time we change the spec, people have to 
re-check the changes to make sure they agree with them, and if they don't, 
they comment. So every change increases the likelihood that someone will 
send a comment. And if they do, and that results in changes, we have to 
have another call for comments, etc. So just because we're going to have a 
call for comments doesn't mean it's open season for changes. :-)

-- 
Ian Hickson               U+1047E                )\._.,--....,'``.    fL
http://ln.hixie.ch/       U+263A                /,   _.. \   _\  ;`._ ,.
Things that are impossible just take longer.   `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'