Re: INPUT TYPE="checkbox"

On Fri, 24 Aug 2001, Philip Mak wrote:

> [Note: I'm not subscribed to this list]
> 
> I have an HTML 4.01 Transitional document that includes the following
> line:
> 
> <input type="checkbox" name="terms">
> 
> I ran it through validator.w3.org but the validator did NOT complain about
> the fact that I omitted the VALUE attribute, which is required for INPUT
> TYPE="checkbox" according to
> http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/interact/forms.html#edef-INPUT

Really?

THe technical answer to this is that there is no formalism available
to the validator to express the notion "attribute X may be either
REQUIRED or IMPLIED depending on the VALUE of attribute Y"
(plug X=value and Y=type into the above).  Any workaround for this
would be completely incompatible with the usual web browsers.

> I only found out about this when people with certain web browsers
> complained that the checkbox didn't work properly (even when they checked
> it and submitted the form, my server treated them as if they had not
> checked it).

Now that's another issue, and I'd be in a better position to comment
if you had cited browser(s) affected and a URL where they exhibited
the problem.  Because my strong prejudice is that a problem is far
more likely to have been caused by something different, perhaps by a
failure in your server's processing of the form.

-- 
Nick Kew

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