Proposal for SIZE attribute

I was thinking recently that a SIZE attribute that indicated the
physical size in bytes of an included object would be a useful
addition to HTML.

It would be an optional attribute for tags that include other data
objects, specifically <img src=> and the new <insert>.  The value
could be a number of bytes, kilobytes, or megabytes.  The units would
be indicated by a unit suffix (i.e. size="102k", or size="24M").  Some
alternative names are LENGTH, BYTES, or OCTETS.

The purpose of this attribute is to hint to the browser the expected
length of included (or linked) object.  Although the HTTP protocol
gives the size in the header, this requires a network connection.  The
size hint could allow browsers and users to determine what to
automatically get and what to delay until later.  In addition, it
could be used for scheduling different objects; for example getting
all small images, and waiting for large images or sound files.

Finally, it provides a consistent way of informing the size of a file
before they start a lengthy download; instead of putting the size in
the text, it is placed in the tag.  Also, the length attributes could
easily be updated automatically by a preprocessing script.


 - Ian


-- 
== Ian Burrell =====================*** iburrell@leland.stanford.edu ***
Always remember that you are absolutely unique, just like everyone else.
************************************====================================

Received on Monday, 8 January 1996 20:55:34 UTC