HTML 4.0 Specification Errata

Gentlemen,

I'm having great difficulty following a particular entry in the HTML 4.0 Specification Errata of 24-April-1998 and require your assistance.

Specifically, the entry for Section 16.4.1 reads:

 "The list of attributes defined elsewhere for NOFRAMES has been inadvertently omitted. Please see the DTD fragment for the correct list."

Apparently, "DTD fragment" as used above, refers to the Transitional Document Type Definition (loosedtd.html#noframes), which entry then directs the reader to the Generic Attributes described on the same page (loosedtd.html#coreattrs, loosedtd.html#i18n and loosedtd.html#events).

Are the Generic Attributes in the Transitional Document Type Definition, in fact, the attribute definitions missing from Section 16.4.1? Is the complete list of Generic Attributes applicable, or are certain attributes to be excepted?

Note that neither the Document Type Definition page (as implied by the erratum entry) nor the Frameset Document Type Definition page (as one might next guess) nor the Index (general) contain any mention of "NOFRAMES". Moreover, the "NOFRAMES" entry in the Index of Attributes only points to Section 16.4.1 and is of no help. The only other significant reference I can locate within the HTML 4.0 Specification is found in Section A.1.1 where "NOFRAMES" is listed as a new element.

Note also that Section 16.4.1 contains four "NOFRAMES" links which point only to Section 16.4.1 itself. That is, those four links go nowhere and accomplish nothing whatsoever. Section 16.4.1 also contains a link to "%noframes.content", which eventually directs the reader to the Generic Attributes discussion on the Transitional Document Type Definition page. The lack of any mention of "NOFRAMES" in any other DTD pages and the eventual redirection to the Generic Attributes discussion apparently provide the only plausible indications of your intent.

Would you please, at your earliest convenience, provide complete and concise corrections to the discussion of the NOFRAMES element? Both the status of NOFRAMES as a new element and the otherwise high quality of the HTML 4.0 Specification surely merit your thorough attention to this unfortunate blemish. Optimally, amendments to the 24-April-1998 errata will make the needed corrections available to everyone.

In advance, thank you for your time and attention.

Bob Porter
mailto:bavigdor@email.msn.com