Re: The mandatory constraint is a footgun

On 11 November 2013 22:04, Jan-Ivar Bruaroey <jib@mozilla.com> wrote:
> I've implemented a strict interpretation of the spec's mandatory constraint
> that treats unknown keys as unsupported, I've tried it, and I think it is
> wrong.

I tend to agree.

We've had this discussion several times. Usually it's when someone has
sat down and carefully thought out the real impact that this has on
users and applications.

I'm going to go out on a limb and make a bit of a radical suggestion.
The following functions are sufficient:

 * Enumerate devices with quasi-stable identifiers.
 * Select a specific device.
 * Ask the browser to select a device.
 * Apply settings to MediaStreamTrack instances.
 * Get the set of supported settings, and their acceptable ranges.
 * The overconstrained event (i.e., the settings couldn't be applied event).

I can't think of a good use case that isn't supported by that set of
features.  If we think of constraints as initial settings, I think
that we could make them a whole lot simpler.

Though I don't like being contrary when your logic is so rational, I
have concluded that it's the mandatory set that we keep, and the
optional parts that are removed.  Though I solidly agree about the
part where you point out that unsupported/unknown attributes have to
be ignored.

Received on Wednesday, 13 November 2013 17:57:22 UTC