Re: [XHR] Dependencies in XHR

On Tue, 27 May 2008 18:59:38 +0200, Doug Schepers <schepers@w3.org> wrote:
> It seems that there are multiple dependencies upon HTML 5.0 in the XHR  
> specification.  As Team Contact, I would like to caution against this  
> approach, as the HTML 5.0 specification is a long time from being  
> stable, and this hinders implementation (particularly for vendors who  
> sell their browsers, and must therefore market them).

Vendors have actually requested this. The problem is summarized here:

   http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-webapi/2008May/0249.html


> If possible, I would like to identify all dependencies and see if we can  
> remove them, or move them to a smaller, more manageable deliverable.  
> Anne (the editor) has helpfully marked these in the spec, which I  
> applaud as excellent speccing best practice.
>
> "The terms origin and event handler DOM attribute are defined by the  
> HTML 5 specification."
>
> I believe that "origin" can be defined in the Window Object  
> specification, one of this WG's explicit deliverables.

In theory it could, yes. Until someone has done that it seems better for  
implementations to reference HTML5 as that has a better definition at the  
moment.


> We have discussed adding consideration for "event handler DOM attribute"  
> in the DOM3 Events spec, such that a host language can define what that  
> means in its context

Again, HTML5 currently has a better definition.


> "Objects implementing the Window interface must provide an  
> XMLHttpRequest()  constructor."
>
> Again, see Window Object spec.

The Window Object specification is not being maintained.


> "If there is a Content-Type header which contains a text/html MIME type  
> follow the rules set forth in the HTML 5 specification to determine the  
> character encoding. Let charset be the determined character encoding."
>
> This is not, strictly speaking, a dependency.  It is a matter of each  
> host language defining its own value for charset.  Am I missing  
> something here?

It's about determining the character encoding out of a stream of bytes.


> I know that everything in the spec is normative unless marked otherwise,  
> but I just wanted to make sure that none of the references are  
> informative?

There is one non-normative reference to HttpOnly cookies in the editor's  
draft, see:

   http://dev.w3.org/2006/webapi/XMLHttpRequest/#bibref


-- 
Anne van Kesteren
<http://annevankesteren.nl/>
<http://www.opera.com/>

Received on Tuesday, 27 May 2008 22:23:58 UTC