[whatwg] [WA1] The a element could be empty

• From: Simon Pieters <zcorpan@hotmail.com>
• Date: Thu, 01 Sep 2005 22:31:52 +0000
• Message-ID: <BAY109-F338CD731DC7FF7DC70431DB4A00@phx.gbl>

Hi,

The spec currently says[1]:

|The a element must not be empty.

I think it would be more useful if it was changed to:

|If the a element has an href attribute set, then the element must not be 
empty.

It is easier to use an empty a element as a placeholder to grab and use with 
scripts later on, for instance:

   <a id="print"></a>

With:

   var elm = document.getElementById("print");
   elm.href = "javascript:window.print()";
   elm.appendChild(document.createTextNode("Print this page"));

...rather than to create the link with script from scratch.

Regards,
Simon Pieters

[1] http://whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/#the-a

Received on Thursday, 1 September 2005 15:31:52 UTC