W3C

HTML 4 Errata

The latest version of HTML 4.01:

http://www.w3.org/TR/html401

HTML 4.01 supersedes HTML 4.0.

The latest version of HTML 4:

http://www.w3.org/TR/html4

This document last modified:

$Date: 2005/03/23 14:19:27 $


About this document

This document records known errata to HTML 4 specifications, including HTML 4.0 and HTML 4.01 (which supersedes HTML 4.0).

Errata for HTML 4.0 versions are listed in separate documents:

This document records errata beginning with the 24 December 1999 specification of HTML 4.01.

Please email error reports to www-html-editor@w3.org.

How this document is organized

Each erratum entry below includes the following information:

References to this errata sheet should refer to it as of a specific date and include the number of the most recent error recorded.

Known Errors in HTML 4.01

1. Missing reference to changes from 4.0 to 4.01

Added: 17 Jan 2000

Type: Editorial

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version, 1.1 How the specification is organized, Appendixes [p. 16]

Description: The paragraph does not refer to the changes from HTML 4.0 to HTML 4.01.

Correction: Include that information.

2. Values of marginwidth/marginheight may be 0.

Added: 17 Jan 2000

Type: Error

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version, 16.2.2 The FRAME element [p. 210]

Description: The definitions of the marginwidth and marginheight attributes say that the value must be an integer greater than zero.

Correction: The value must be an integer greater than or equal to zero. That is, furthermore, what the list of changes states.

3. Missing semicolons in entity name of parameter entity references

Added: 17 Jan 2000

Type: Editorial

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version, 6 Basic HTML data types [p. 53 - 56]

Description: Every entity name of parameter entity reference is followed by semicolon in DTDs (and fragment DTDs).

Correction: Examples of parameter entity references in section 6.8 - 6.13 should be: "%LanguageCode;" (section 6.8), "%Charset;" (section 6.9), "%Character;" (section 6.10), "%Datetime;" (section 6.11), "%LinkTypes;" (section 6.12), and "%MediaDesc;" (section 6.13).

4. URIs also used for background images

Added: 26 Jan 2000

Type: Editorial

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version, 2.1.3 Relative URIs [p. 21]

Description: This section lists elements in the HTML that use URIs but omits the (deprecated) use of background images specified on the BODY element.

Correction: Add another bullet: "Designate a background image (see the BODY element). This is a deprecated usage and style sheets should be used instead."

5. Missing DTD comment for OPTION/selected

Added: 26 Jan 2000

Type: Editorial

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version, 21 Document Type Definition [p. 274]

Description: The "selection" attribute of the OPTION element is missing a comment. Also, this example appears in the section 3.3.4.2 Boolean attributes. While it was corrected in this version of the specification, the correction doesn't appear in the list of changes.

Correction: Add the comment "option is pre-selected" to the DTD.

6. Gzipped PDF file problematic on Macs

Added: 26 Jan 2000

Type: Document Issue

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version.

Description: When unzipped, the online PDF format of the specification may cause problems on Adobe Acrobat on MacIntoshes.

Correction: Try using the Postscript format. The PDF format will not be gzipped in future versions.

7. Syntax error in comments

Added: 26 Jan 2000

Type: Editorial

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version, 7.4.4. Meta data, "Meta and Search Engines" [p. 67]

Description: The comments such as "<-- For speakers of US English -->" are missing an "!" after the "<".

Correction: "<!-- For speakers of US English -->" The same applies to the two comments that follow.

8. Use "hreflang" with "Alternate" link types

Added: 26 Jan 2000

Type: Error

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version, 6.12 Link types [p. 55]

Description: The definition of "Alternate" link types says to use the lang attribute to indicate a translated document.

Correction: Use hreflang to suggest the language of the linked document.

9. content-disposition: attachment

Added: 26 Jan 2000

Type: Error

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version, 17.13.4 Form content types, "multipart/form-data" [RFC2388]

Description: RFC2388 incorrectly states in section 4.4: "in the case of multiple files, in a "content-disposition: file" header of the subpart." This syntax appears in the examples in section 17.13.4.2

Correction: Change to "content-disposition: attachment".

10. OBJECT instantiation

Added: 26 Jan 2000

Type: Clarification

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version, 13.3.4 Object declarations and instantiations [p. 170]

Description: Indicate how OBJECT instantiation works.

Correction: After this part of the example at the end of 13.3.4:

...later in the document...
<P>A neat <A href="#earth.declaration"> animation of The Earth!</A>

Add:

Another way of instantiating such a declared object is:
   <object data="#earth.declaration"></object>

11. Unzipping PDF/PS on Windows

Added: 28 April 2000

Type: Document Problem

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version, Online Gzipped PDF version (as well as PS, I presume).

Description: Problem unzipping html40.pdf.gz.

Correction: There is no problem with the gzipped PDF file. If you are having problems unzipping the file it may be that Windows has already unzipped it for you during the download. In this case, simply remove the ".gz" suffix from the file and view it with your PDF viewer.

12. Local links to style sheets in gzipped distribution

Added: 12 May 2001

Type: Document Problem

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version, Gzip'ed tar archive of HTML.

Description: Absolute links to style sheets and icons.

Correction: This was a conscious decision, but may be revised in a future release to allow for easier offline viewing. In theory, caching should address this issue, but in practice that won't work in today's browsing environments.

13. Clarify element declaration exceptions in tutorial.

Added: 12 May 2001

Type: Clarification

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version, section 3.3.3.1 Content model definitions.  [p. 34]

Description: Exceptions (inclusions and exclusions from the content model) not well-described.

Correction: Indicate that exceptions { +(A) and -(A) } appear at the end of the content model description. Show example of this using the A element declaration.

14. It is not specified whether the values of the "coords" attribute (A and AREA elements) are 0-based or 1-based

Added: 12 May 2001

Type: Error

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version, section 13.6.1 AREA element declaration. [p. 174, 175]

Description: The specification is unclear about whether x,y coordinates are 0-based or 1-based. Is the top left corner (0,0) or (1,1)?

Correction: None yet (seeking HTML WG input).

15. Mistaken reference to image instead of object.

Added: 12 May 2001

Type: Editorial

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version, section 15.1.3.1 Float an object. [p. 197]

Description: The "align" attribute values "left" and "right" refer to objects first, then images.

Correction: Substitute "object" for "image" in second sentence of each definition, as in "Subsequent text flows along the object's right side."

16. Example missing TITLE element in head.

Added: 12 May 2001

Type: Editorial

Refers to: 24 Dec 1999 version, section 14.1. [p. 184]

Description: The example in the introduction is a complete HTML 4.01 document instance and is missing a required TITLE element in the HEAD.

Correction: Add a TITLE element.