Re: XHTML and form elements

>>1. Why is XHTML considered invalid if form elements are split between
>> the cells of a table [used for layout purposes]?

> They're not. See the valid XHTML 1.1 below:

Your code validates. Good. Then I tried a variation of your code: I placed
everything from <form> to </form> in another table around the entire
construct to see what the XHTML validator thinks of a nested version of
this. It didn't accept it, but nested tables are generally a big no-no
anyway, and this puts to rest the nesting issue in terms of valid XHTML
markup.

>> 2. Why do the <form> and </form> elements include [seemingly useless]
>> vertical spacing if they're invisible?

>They don't. The XHTML specs don't specify any spacing around a form,
>although browsers are free to implement it. Most would let you override
>that using CSS though.

OK, I guess some of us are a lot less familiar with what the specs specify
versus what the browsers do on the user's end. CSS fixes this, but it seems
strange to have to "fix" something that was never specified.

The designer's only medium of communication is the browser window, which
means we're stuck with how browsers are told to handle markup. An endless
balancing act.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
Emlyn Addison
Director of Creative Services
www.RI.gov -  Rhode Island Government Online
401.831.8099 x24

Received on Friday, 7 November 2003 09:32:51 UTC