Re: remove the meter element

On Fri, Jan 8, 2010 at 2:30 PM, Maciej Stachowiak <mjs@apple.com> wrote:
> On Jan 8, 2010, at 12:13 PM, Jonas Sicking wrote:
>> I disagree with this bug. I think having an element that can be used
>> to display a gauge-like graphic will be useful for authors and will
>> result in more semantic markup being used.
>>
>> However I really don't like the name "meter". It might be because i'm
>> english is my second language, but I associate the word "meter" much
>> more with the SI unit of length, than with a gauge-like instrument. I
>> unfortunately don't have a better name for it at this time as I agree
>> that "gauge" is probably too hard to spell.
>>
>> I do however think it's critical for CSS to enable the <meter> to be
>> styled such that it gives authors a lot of control of how it is
>> displayed. Possibly pseudo elements need to be introduced to select
>> the "full" and "empty" parts of the meter.
>>
>> I do however think it would be interesting if we could merge
>> <progressbar> with <meter>. After all, a <progressbar> is just a
>> specific instance of a <meter>. Usually where the maximum is 100. This
>> would also remove concern that people would use <progressbar> where
>> <meter> should be used and the other way around. Suggestions to this
>> effect would be very welcome to me.
>
> At least on Mac OS X, the native controls equivalent to <progress> and
> <meter> are different controls with totally different native appearances and
> APIs. I also believe the elements as currently defined have some distinctive
> properties. <progress> can be indeterminate, while <meter> cannot. <meter>
> has the ability to indicate positions on the gauge that are low, high, or
> "optimum". I note also that they have somewhat different semantics. A
> <progress> element is nearly always constantly changing until it finishes;
> if it's static or stays still for a very long time, then you are doing it
> wrong. A <meter>, though, is very likely to indicate a static level that is
> likely to stay steady for a long time until a user action our outside events
> cause it to change. For all these reasons, I think they should remain
> distinct elements. On the whole I think it would be more confusing than
> helpful to overload the concepts of "level indicator" and "progress
> indicator", despite the superficial similarities.

Agreed - having them separate enables several useful distinctions.

Also, being a native english speaker, "meter" sounds just fine.

~TJ

Received on Friday, 8 January 2010 21:27:45 UTC