[whatwg] Test results for xmlns:foo attribute preservation across all browsers

[Charles McCathieNevile]

On Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:37:15 -0400, Bil Corry <bil at corry.biz> wrote:

> Charles McCathieNevile wrote on 8/6/2009 2:24 PM:
>> On Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:12:07 -0400, Manu Sporny
>> <msporny at digitalbazaar.com> wrote:
>>
>>> The test ensures that attributes originating in the markup of an HTML4
>>> document are preserved by the HTML parser and are preserved in the DOM.
>> [...]
>>> http://html5.digitalbazaar.com/tests/xmlns-attribute-test.html
>>>
>>> We have verified that xmlns:-style attributes are preserved in the
>>> following browsers:
>>
>> Also works in the latest Opera 10 Beta 2 plus Unite snapshot.
>> Opera 10 - Opera/9.80 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X; U; en) Presto/2.2.15
>> Version/10.00
>>
>> (yeah, the UA string is like that because important websites with
>> browser sniffing check version numbers, but only the first digit. I.e.
>> they can't count to ten yet).
>
> The issue now is that websites that can't "count to ten" will not  
> realize it because their site continues to function properly.

Well, they won't realise it through seeing their site break in Opera.

> And for sites that can count to ten, well, you've broken them too.
> My own sniffer reports version 9.80 for the above UA string whereas
> if it was still in the "normal" Opera format, it would correctly
> report version 10.00.

I'm glad you are smarter than the average bear, and I am sorry that we  
don't have a reward for that. But in practice, we are forced to decide  
whether it is better to catch the attention of web designers by making  
their site not work (with the incidental cost of catching the attention of  
users who discover that the site doesn't work), or by some other means.

Our experience suggests that the former is simply not effective - and this  
is one of the reasons WHAT-WG began - to deal with the Web in practice,  
and look for ways to improve HTML that didn't require browsers to suddenly  
stop working for reasons that, *to the user* are mystifying and cause them  
to blame the browser.

So yeah, this is clearly a sub-optimal situation and we want to change it.  
That alone won't make the change - which is why Opera pays people  
specifically to go around fixing web sites, code libraries, etc.

cheers

Chaals

-- 
Charles McCathieNevile  Opera Software, Standards Group
     je parle français -- hablo español -- jeg lærer norsk
http://my.opera.com/chaals       Try Opera: http://www.opera.com