Re: Validator doesn't send HTTP_ACCEPT headers, "Conflict between Mime Type and Document Type" warning is incorrect.

Hi Andries,

On Jul 31, 2007, at 14:07 , Andries Louw Wolthuizen wrote:
> Your validator (http://validator.w3.org/check)

It's your validator too, if you use it.

> doesn't send the HTTP_ACCEPT header with a request

Indeed, and it doesn't have to. Some have argued it would be better  
if it did.
Nobody ever sent a reasonable patch to that effect.

> , so I (or my server) can't send a Content-Type: application/xhtml 
> +xml header.

Your server is broken.

> p.s. My website does send a correct header to browsers (such as  
> firefox) that send a HTTP_ACCEPT header, so the problem isn't on my  
> side.

No. Not all user agents will be sending HTTP_ACCEPT headers, and they  
will be perfectly right, per the HTTP standard. On the other hand,  
XHTML 1.1 shouldn't be served as text/html. Are you sure the problem  
isn't on your side?

> Try it for yourself, setup a page with:
> http://juicystudio.com/article/content-negotiation.php#php

Trying to work around browser bugs is very understandable, but an  
improvement to this technique would be to use application/xhtml+xml  
as the *default*, as it should be for XHTML 1.1. Not the other way  
around. Hence:

* if accept headers present, and application/xhtml+xml not accepted,  
send text/html
* else, send application/xhtml+xml

I think this would be a much more sane behavior. Gez? What do you think?


> Please correct this error in your validator, and let your validator  
> send a HTTP_ACCEPT header.

Please send a patch for the validator (It's open source, the source  
can be retrieved e.g from http://dev.w3.org/cvsweb/validator/ ), and/ 
or complain to the vendor(s) of browsers not respecting the specs.  
I'd personally suggest the latter - covering up bad behavior with  
layers of hacks over hacks is a bad idea...

-- 
olivier

Received on Tuesday, 31 July 2007 06:03:06 UTC