Auto fill for form fields

This seems to be an obvious thing to suggest, but a search of the
archive for this list didn't turn anything up. So either it's a new suggestion
or I missed it (if the latter, please ignore me).

I'm getting really tired of typing my name and e-mail address in form after
form after form on the Web. It seems to me that a simple extension to
HTML could save thousands of people from early carpal tunnel syndrome
by automatically supplying commonly requested information. At first I
though this belonged in HTTP, but the potential for abuse there is too high
(an HTTP server might be able grab the info without your permission). So
I think it makes more sense to add a "fill-in" attribute to HTML text fields
<input type=text> that requests the browser to fill in a certain piece of
data. This way the form can come up with user information already filled
in. Privacy should not be a problem, since the user always has the option
of not submitting the form or erasing the field contents. 

Most UA's already know your name and e-mail address. The spec could
include phone number, address, etc. The user can decide what
information they want to provide (in the preferences section of the UA).

Comments?

________________________________________________________________
Jim Taylor, Director of Information Technology
<mailto:jhtaylor@videodiscovery.com>
Videodiscovery, Inc. - Multimedia Education for Science and Math
Seattle, WA, 206-285-5400 <http://www.videodiscovery.com/vdyweb>

Received on Tuesday, 13 February 1996 21:21:11 UTC