Re: The argument for |bugmode| (was Re: If we have versioning, it should be in an attribute, not the doctype)

On 4/18/07, Alfonso Martínez de Lizarrondo <amla70@gmail.com> wrote:
> > If I want to manually opt in to IE9's super standards mode and
> > automatically opt in to 10, 11 and 12, but not automatically opt in to
> > 13, would a date be sufficient?
>
> You can't do that.
> It doesn't make sense to say that your page will render properly in a
> future browser that no one knows how it will look like and what bugs
> does fix and the new problems that will bring.
>
> You can only say "I've tested this page in the standards mode of the
> current version and it works fine", but you don't even know if your
> page is using some bug that will be fixed later and so it will break.
>
> No matter how MS ends up doing the opt-in, if you try to opt-in before
> testing that your page really works then some one will have problems
> when IE.next is released.
>

Thanks.

I see 2 crowds here.

1. Those that want to opt in to the first super standards mode and
update the opt-in when a new version comes out and everything is still
O.K. (or just leave it alone).  This provides a safeguard this way so
new versions of IE don't even get a chance to break the page.

2. Those that want to opt-in to the first super standards mode and
automatically opt in to each one after that.  Then, if it is found
that a new version of IE breaks the page, you update your page to work
around it, or if really needed, opt out of that version of super
standards mode and use the last one that didn't break the page. But,
the version that comes next  might be O.K. and produce a really great
rendering, so you assume the best instead of the worst.

I don't want to do #1 myself. I want the latest and greatest from IE
automatically and I don't want to have to update opt-ins each time a
major release happens. I want those major bug fixes automatically just
like I get in other browsers.

Now, if I can do #2 for IE just by having <!DOCTYPE html> and an html
element with no version or bugmode attribute, then I'm not worried.
But, if I have to add a version attribute or bugmode attribute to even
get IEs' super standards mode and update that attribute each time IE
makes major fixes (so that those fixes are triggered), then I want the
version or bugmode attribute to allow me to opt in initially and
automatically after that.

I think both #1 and #2 should be possible.  Not saying it should be
added to the spec, but it should be taken note of by the IE team when
designing the opt-in method.

However, for #2, *if* there's a need to limit the automatic opt-in for
just a couple major releases (kind of like a relaxed safeguard), then
the opt-in format should allow that. ( I don't know if there's a need,
but I bring it up, so it's not a suggestion.)


-- 
Michael

Received on Wednesday, 18 April 2007 20:59:49 UTC