Re: [XHTML 2] 24.1 OBJECT declare and "completed loading" (PR#7751)

"Brad Pettit" <bradp@microsoft.com>
>What if the Xhtml document is not well-formed?

The WG formally addressed previous issues saying that there is nothing they 
can say what a UA should do in the situation of non-conforming XHTML, in the 
light of that, I cannot see what relevance WFness errors give.  I agree the 
lack of requirements of what should happen with non-conforming XHTML 2 
family documents is a concern though.

>Document well-formedness -- or the lack thereof -- might not be
>determined until the end of the content is reached. Is it wise to be
>executing <object> elements

It's no more or less wise than executing script, or loading content from 
object or other src embedded objects that are not declare="declare" ? 
There can of course be errors, but there will always be the opportunity for 
such errors when using script or external programmitic objects.  These 
problems should not however hobble the language.

>Formally specifying that no <object> elements are executed until the end
>of the document is encountered and well-formedness is determined
>contributes to the standardization of browser behavior, making behavior
>more predictable, increasing testability and contributing to security.

This has not been formally specificied though, the specification currently 
only specifies it for objects that have the attribute declare set, it does 
not place any constraints on what other objects should do, and in fact the 
definition of declare is suggestive of the very obvious for its absence.

Cheers,

Jim.

Received on Wednesday, 1 June 2005 07:09:18 UTC