Re: inputmode attribute

Correct. Fields viewed on mobile should be able to give hints about which
keyboard to use, without forcing the datatype.
Mobile could use the hinted keyboard as default, but still give the user a
way to switch the layout.

The problem is basically that "there are no current way using a numeric pad
on keyboard, without giving (often) too much constraints on the field."

The spec contains all sorts of things nowadays, but it feels like the some
of the most basics have been forgotten :)

On Mon, Jul 31, 2017 at 5:06 AM, Takayoshi Kochi <kochi@google.com> wrote:

> So you want a more hint-like attribute, rather than enforcement of the
> type, right?
> I think "inputmode" attribute originally introduced for such purpose, but
> has not gained
> enough interest from browser implementors, unfortunately.
>
> The original one was introduced before the mobile-first era, so we may
> reconsider the spec
> from the current architecture of input for modern mobile environment.
>
> A bit of history...
>
> As far as I know, once Chrome tried to implement some of Japanese
> IME-related modes in inputmode,
> but the effort was abandoned due to low interest and feasibility for
> non-Windows platforms, especially
> mobile platforms.
> https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=248482
> https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=244688
> https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=642800
> At least we should remove the script-specific types (e.g. japanese-kana)
> from the spec.
>
> Other modes have overlap with type= attribute (e.g. type=number), and
> type= is currently
> the preferred way of specifying the type of the input (also the spec is
> saying so).
> IIUC Android Chrome implements type=number.
>
> I'd think this kind of modality should not be specified via CSS, as it has
> nothing to do with styles.
>
> (FYI, IME related mode settings were available in IE and Firefox via CSS.
> https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/ime-mode
> https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=4490
> which I think, is a wrong approach, either)
>
>
> On Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 5:56 PM, Lars Solberg <lars.solberg@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hello
>>
>> I am trying to figure out the story of the inputmode attribute for the
>> <input> element.
>> I'm seeing discussions about that attribute long back (5-10 years), and
>> based on https://caniuse.com/#feat=input-inputmode, it was supported
>> back in firefox 17-20.
>>
>> But what happened to it? Why are no browsers adopting it? Giving hints to
>> mobile platforms about which keyboardtype to use seams very powerful. Using
>> type=number sets a lot of other limitations on the field.
>>
>> The best way would be to set hints like this using css.
>>
>> Is there a work in progress here?
>> Is, and will it be type=inputmode that is the way to do this, including
>> it's limitations?
>> Will there be a bigger standard for controlling things like this on
>> mobile devices, as it becomes more popular?
>>
>> Best regards
>>   Lars
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Takayoshi Kochi
>