[whatwg] Suggested changes to Web Forms 2.0, 2004-07-01 working draft

[Jorgen Horstink]

Quoting Christian Schmidt <whatwg.org at chsc.dk>:

> Ian Hickson wrote:
> >> 47. Question: If the disabled attribute can be applied to
> >>      <fieldset> elements, why can't it be applied to <form>
> >>      elements too?
> > 
> > Because nobody suggested it.
> > 
> > Do we really want that? It doesn't seem that useful. What's the use case?
> 
> A use case may a form that is designed for users with write permissions.
> 
> I may want to use the same form to present the data to users with 
> read-only permissions. This could be accomplished by setting the 
> disabled attribute on the form. This would make all data visible but 
> readonly.
> 
> Hmm, this sounds more like a readonly attribute on the form. Or does it? 
> In my use case, submit buttons should be disabled (or hidden). It may 
> make sense to enable regular buttons.
> 
> Does this make sense? Or is there another easy way to make the same form 
> useable for both read-write and read-only users?
> 
> 
> Christian
> 
> 

Disabled attributes are not successful and won't be processed when the user
submits the form. Secondly disabled form elements do not receive focus and are
skipped in tabbing navigation. In this use case those elements should be
processed when the user submits the form (is this true?). Disabled applies to
all elements except a few. Readonly does not nearly apply to all form elements;
radio buttons, checkboxes, file uploads etc. are excluded.
In this use case you don't want the user to change them, but you do want the
elements to be processed.
So two questions arise; 1) is my assumption true? 2) if so, how can we solve
this issue?

-jorgen