Re: validator.w3.org and XHTML

Because in many cases, including the cases that the NOTE is targeted at, 
the server delivers content based upon the capabilities of the client.  
Unless there is a way to have the validator masquerade as various types 
of clients, then it will necessarily not see the content delivered in 
the way the author intended.  For example, if I had a way to tell the 
validator "look like IE and validate this page" then it would get 
text/html back from my server and act accordingly.  If I could also say 
"look like Opera and validate this page" then it would get 
application/xhtml+xml and act accordingly.  I don't think I can do that 
now.

Anne van Kesteren wrote:
> On Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:05:21 +0100, Shane McCarron <shane@aptest.com> 
> wrote:
>> It's not that we don't appreciate the problem - we do.  We just don't 
>> know how to give some people good advice without giving others bad 
>> advice - in particular when we don't know what problem they are 
>> trying to solve.  Perhaps if the validator had an /option/ that 
>> turned on/off this mode, then the user could decide what they cared 
>> about?
>
> Why can't that option be the media type if it is available? For 
> documents that are on the Web and are validated by entering a URL the 
> media type of the document is known. It seems good to tell people that 
> if the media type is text/html writing <title/> is wrong and 
> <title></title> is ok.
>
>

-- 
Shane P. McCarron                          Phone: +1 763 786-8160 x120
Managing Director                            Fax: +1 763 786-8180
ApTest Minnesota                            Inet: shane@aptest.com