stupid multiple definitions for the TYPE attribute

[If you reply to this, please reply only to www-style or www-html; not
both.]

The TYPE attribute has been used for a variety of things, such as
the TYPE of input field in a form, the TYPE (media type) of an OBJECT,
etc.  Then it was defined for nearly every attribute when you use
inline style.

Here's an example where it specifies the style sheet language:

   <P type="text/css" style="font-size: 12pt; color: fuschia">Aren't  
   style sheets wonderful?

Here's an example of using TYPE in an OBJECT tag:

 <OBJECT data="TheEarth.mpeg" type="application/mpeg">           

(Both of these examples come from one version of the HTML 4.0 spec.)

So what if I want to do something like this:

   <OBJECT data="TheEarth.mpeg" type="application/mpeg" type="text/css"
	style="font-size: 12pt; color: fuschia>This text is colorful
	if you don't see the movie.</OBJECT>

The answer is that I'm trying to write two type attributes, and it just
doesn't work.

A correct solution would have been to use style-type as an attribute
name.  So I think it would be good to design browsers to look at
style-type if it exists, type otherwise, and the default provided
by HTTP or the META HTTP-EQUIV tag if no attribute specifies the type.

Comments?

Received on Saturday, 6 September 1997 18:31:20 UTC