[whatwg] Web Forms attributes: minlength / autocomplete

[Sander]

Anne van Kesteren schreef:
> On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:56:23 +0200, Sander <html5 at zoid.nl> wrote:
>> --- minlength ---
>> I'd like to see a minlength attribute that can be used on the same
>> elements as the maxlength attribute.  <...>
>
> Why can't you use pattern= for this?
Maybe I could use that, but as a front-end developer I'm not aware of 
all the possibilities and grammar of regular expressions (as goes for a 
lot of front-end developers I guess, even proffessionals).
I guess pattern can be used instead of the maxlength and required 
attributes as well and it even makes the input types email and url 
obsolete (in a technical manner). But I thought HTML5 was to make things 
better and easier. For most people minlength will be a whole lot easier 
to use than pattern as regular expressions are not really intuitive to 
write. And as there is already a maxlength attribute (which will 
probably not be deprecated) I think it's more logical to have a 
minlength as well.
Perhaps the attribute 'required' could be replaced bij minlength for 
element that can have a maxlength attribute as wel as it has more 
possibilities.


>> --- autocomplete ---
>> The autocomplete attribute acts as a boolean, but its values are not
>> consistent to other booleans, being either attributes or variables. 
>> <...>
>
> This attribute is defined in a way that is compatible with existing 
> implementations. It was introduced long ago but never formally 
> specified. So we can't really change it.

I see. But we can add true/false as possible (and prefered) values and 
keep on/off for backward compatibility.

Then again, the autocomplete values are not a real big deal as its 
functionality doesn't change. But if we want to stay in tune with all 
existing implementations, then maybe we should at least ask the browser 
vendors to wait with implementing HTML5 features untill the specs are 
final. An element like <canvas> is new to HTML5 but also already 
implemented in a couple of browsers (well, I don't have to tell you that 
of course). Following your argument a of of its specs may not be changed 
anymore, even though the HTML5 specs are still in working draft.

cheers,
Sander