Re: [whatwg] Standardizing autocapitalize

On Tue, 10 Mar 2015, at 20:56, Edward O'Connor wrote:
> Hi Mounir,
> 
> > I would like to standardize the Apple's proprietary autocapitalize
> > attribute. This attribute is widely used and it would probably benefit
> > the platform to have a broader support for it. The implementation cost
> > should be fairly low while it can be very beneficial for the user
> > experience with the keyboard on Mobile.
> 
> Cool. We proposed it here back in 2011, though it didn't end up getting
> adopted.
> 
>           https://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=12409
> 
> It might be worth reading the old discussion around this topic.

It seems that the main reason why it was killed is because it was
considered that inputmode superseded autocapitalize. Unfortunately, in
the wild, this is not the case and we (Google) have data about the usage
of the attribute (cf Hixie's comment 1). I believe it is high enough to
consider standardizing.

> > In addition, if Apple has some feedback about the proposal, it would be
> > very valuable.
> 
> I'll take a look and get back to you.

Thanks :)

On Tue, 10 Mar 2015, at 21:44, Jonas Sicking wrote:
> I think I'd prefer to define "on" and "off" as defined values unless
> there is very little usage of them. We can certainly mark them as
> deprecated, but unless their usage is negligible, it seems better to
> document their behavior than to try to change all existing content not
> to use it.
> 
> Especially since it'll also make the .autocapitalize JS property
> behave less surprising "on"/"off" is used.

"off" is defined. The "Non-conforming" note means that the attribute
reflection will behave like this:
```js
input.autocapitalize = 'off';
input.autocapitalize === 'none'; // true
```

The same way you would have:
```js
input.autocapitalize = 'NoNe';
input.autocapitalize === 'none'; // true
```

Basically, "off" should behave as "none" which is what Safari iOS is
doing AFAIK.

Regarding "on", as pointed by Ted in the linked bug, it behaves like
"sentences" (for states text and search). "sentences" is also the
default value for those. This is the value that would be used if you
were to type "foobar" or "whatever". The fact that "on" is used a lot
(or not) isn't really relevant here. To quote Ted """In reality, if the
attribute is present then only "off" is checked and all other values are
assumed to be "on".""" (He is mentioning the deprecated API.)

HTH,
-- Mounir

Received on Tuesday, 10 March 2015 22:06:01 UTC