On Fri, Jul 2, 2010 at 12:28 PM, <Kirk.Johnson@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > "Bob McConnell" <rvm@xxxxxxxxx> wrote on 07/02/2010 08:53:30 AM: > > > > Arguments against using/dismissing the "name" attribute in tags is > > > simply nonsense. > > > > This discussion began when I pointed out that the name attribute is > > deprecated in XHTML. This was later confirmed when someone pointed to > > the actual specification at <http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/>, however > > there may be some confusion about the scope of the change. The > > applicable section is shown below. Apparently HTML 5 is planning to take > > a different path. Of course, nobody knows that for sure since the spec > > is far from complete and will likely be undergoing major changes for > > several more years. > > > > Bob McConnell > > > > -----8<------------------------------------------------ > > 4.10. The elements with 'id' and 'name' attributes > > > > HTML 4 defined the name attribute for the elements a, applet, form, > > frame, iframe, img, and map. HTML 4 also introduced the id attribute. > > Both of these attributes are designed to be used as fragment > > identifiers. > > > > In XML, fragment identifiers are of type ID, and there can only be a > > single attribute of type ID per element. Therefore, in XHTML 1.0 the id > > attribute is defined to be of type ID. In order to ensure that XHTML 1.0 > > documents are well-structured XML documents, XHTML 1.0 documents MUST > > use the id attribute when defining fragment identifiers on the elements > > listed above. See the HTML Compatibility Guidelines for information on > > ensuring such anchors are backward compatible when serving XHTML > > documents as media type text/html. > > > > Note that in XHTML 1.0, the name attribute of these elements is formally > > deprecated, and will be removed in a subsequent version of XHTML. > > At the risk of injecting a little light into this discussion ;) note the > list of elements in the excerpt Bob provided: a, applet, form, frame, > iframe, img, and map. Almost all replies to date have referred to the name > attribute of the *form elements*: input, select, and textarea. Two > different sets of elements. > > As far as I am concerned, the "authorities" are free to remove the name > attribute from the first set. I think it is safe to say that the name > attribute will not be removed from the *form elements* anytime soon. > > For all with a holiday coming up this weekend, have a good one! > > Kirk Hi Kirk, You beat me to it, that's exactly the issue at hand in this debate. Name IS deprecated (both in newer versions of HTML and XHTML) for those particular elements: http://derickrethans.nl/html-name-attribute-deprecated.html As Derrick points out on that page, "always read the specs carefully" ;) Adam -- Nephtali: PHP web framework that functions beautifully http://nephtaliproject.com
