Re: HTML 3.2 PR TEXTAREA WRAP attribute

> 	As a practicing Web developer, I would like to suggest that the
> TEXTAREA WRAP attribute be (re)considered.

WRAP is included in HTML Pro, with the values ON,OFF,HARD,SOFT
(as there was nothing in the Netscape documentation on the default, 
OFF is assumed). 

I suspect that HARD and SOFT are more likely to be understood by
non-experts from their association with wordprocessors than VIRTUAL
and PHYSICAL. There are some pitfalls too, such as 

   * what to do with manually-inserted LFs on a Mac (where CR alone 
     is the newline character) and manually-inserted CRs under UNIX 
     (where LF alone is the newline);

   * should newlines be sent under PHYSICAL where they are those
     inserted by the application doing auto-wrapping, or should
     only those inserted by the user be honoured?

   * You don't describe the default. If you specify OFF, does this 
     mean there is an ON as well?

> 	In short, HTML 3.2 leaves it up to the *user agent* to wrap text
> lines. I believe that the *form's author* should be able to specify
> how the text is wrapped and sent to the server.

I'd agree completely. This isn't just a presentation issue, it can get
very important when writing the script that processes it.

> 	I suggest that the WRAP attribute be considered or a
> suitable alternate scheme be implemented, if such a thing does not
> already exist.

<!ATTLIST TEXTAREA ...
...
WRAP	(ON,OFF,HARD,SOFT,VIRTUAL,PHYSICAL)	"OFF"
...>

(or whatever combo).

///Peter

Received on Tuesday, 12 November 1996 07:23:09 UTC