Re: Javascript is Access Cryptonite.

	I want to thank David Woolley and Kynn Bartlett  for
their knowledgeable responses to my rant.  I would love to do
something to contribute to solving this problem.  The more I
learn about the problem, the worse it looks.  I suspect that a
VT100-style javascript browser along the lines of lynx would
contain scores of stub functions that do nothing but return a 0
exit code so the browser would pretend to handle tasks that have
no counterpart in the text world.  Those functions that did do
something such as display a link or allow a user to fill in a
form would have to do what makes sense within the bounds of a
VT100 while not breaking any rules that the server expects.

	Most likely, the best solution is to pick an open-source
browser such as Mozilla and give it ASCII terminal (curses-based)
support.  If this could be done, the functionality would grow
with the browser as long as Mozilla remained a player.

	I simply mention Mozilla because it is similar to
Netscape.  Any other open-source browser that does javascript in
UNIX is also included in my suggestion.

	I haven't had a chance to start looking at what it would
take, but I hear it is a monster of the first order.  Don't
anybody hold their breath.

Martin McCormick

Received on Sunday, 8 July 2001 20:56:57 UTC