Use cases for Range::createContextualFragment and script nodes

[Henri Sivonen]

When WebKit or Firefox trunk create an HTML script element node via 
Range::createContextualFragment, the script has its 'already started' flag set, 
so the script won't run when inserted into a document. In Opera 10.63 and in 
Firefox 3.6.x, the script doesn't have the 'already started' flag set, so the 
script behaves like a script created with document.createElement("script") when 
inserted into a document.

I'd be interested in use cases around createContextualFragment in order to get 
a better idea of which behavior should be the correct behavior going forward.

-- 
Henri Sivonen
hsivo...@iki.fi
http://hsivonen.iki.fi/

Re: Use cases for Range::createContextualFragment and script nodes

[Stewart Brodie]

Henri Sivonen  wrote:

> When WebKit or Firefox trunk create an HTML script element node via
> Range::createContextualFragment, the script has its 'already started' flag
> set, so the script won't run when inserted into a document. In Opera 10.63
> and in Firefox 3.6.x, the script doesn't have the 'already started' flag
> set, so the script behaves like a script created with
> document.createElement("script") when inserted into a document.
> 
> I'd be interested in use cases around createContextualFragment in order to
> get a better idea of which behavior should be the correct behavior going
> forward.

Does the specification for createContextualFragment say anything about this?


-- 
Stewart Brodie
Team Leader - ANT Galio Browser
ANT Software Limited

Re: Use cases for Range::createContextualFragment and script nodes

[Adam Barth]

On Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 7:14 AM, Stewart Brodie
 wrote:
> Henri Sivonen  wrote:
>> When WebKit or Firefox trunk create an HTML script element node via
>> Range::createContextualFragment, the script has its 'already started' flag
>> set, so the script won't run when inserted into a document. In Opera 10.63
>> and in Firefox 3.6.x, the script doesn't have the 'already started' flag
>> set, so the script behaves like a script created with
>> document.createElement("script") when inserted into a document.
>>
>> I'd be interested in use cases around createContextualFragment in order to
>> get a better idea of which behavior should be the correct behavior going
>> forward.
>
> Does the specification for createContextualFragment say anything about this?

I don't believe such a spec exists, or at least I couldn't find one
the other month.

Adam

Re: Use cases for Range::createContextualFragment and script nodes

[Maciej Stachowiak]

On Oct 20, 2010, at 9:41 PM, Adam Barth wrote:

> On Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 7:14 AM, Stewart Brodie
>  wrote:
>> Henri Sivonen  wrote:
>>> When WebKit or Firefox trunk create an HTML script element node via
>>> Range::createContextualFragment, the script has its 'already started' flag
>>> set, so the script won't run when inserted into a document. In Opera 10.63
>>> and in Firefox 3.6.x, the script doesn't have the 'already started' flag
>>> set, so the script behaves like a script created with
>>> document.createElement("script") when inserted into a document.
>>> 
>>> I'd be interested in use cases around createContextualFragment in order to
>>> get a better idea of which behavior should be the correct behavior going
>>> forward.
>> 
>> Does the specification for createContextualFragment say anything about this?
> 
> I don't believe such a spec exists, or at least I couldn't find one
> the other month.

It is indeed not part of any standard. It was originally a Mozilla vendor 
extension, later copied by Opera and Safari. We added support for it in 2002 
because at least at the time, some sites used it: 
http://trac.webkit.org/changeset/2940

It should probably be added to a spec at some point. Perhaps Web DOM Core could 
be expanded to cover Range & Tranversal?

Regards,
Maciej

Re: Use cases for Range::createContextualFragment and script nodes

[Olli Pettay]

On 10/21/2010 09:43 AM, Maciej Stachowiak wrote:


On Oct 20, 2010, at 9:41 PM, Adam Barth wrote:


On Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 7:14 AM, Stewart Brodie
  wrote:

Henri Sivonen  wrote:

When WebKit or Firefox trunk create an HTML script element node
via Range::createContextualFragment, the script has its
'already started' flag set, so the script won't run when
inserted into a document. In Opera 10.63 and in Firefox 3.6.x,
the script doesn't have the 'already started' flag set, so the
script behaves like a script created with
document.createElement("script") when inserted into a
document.

I'd be interested in use cases around createContextualFragment
in order to get a better idea of which behavior should be the
correct behavior going forward.


Does the specification for createContextualFragment say anything
about this?


I don't believe such a spec exists, or at least I couldn't find
one the other month.


It is indeed not part of any standard. It was originally a Mozilla
vendor extension, later copied by Opera and Safari. We added support
for it in 2002 because at least at the time, some sites used it:
http://trac.webkit.org/changeset/2940

It should probably be added to a spec at some point. Perhaps Web DOM
Core could be expanded to cover Range&  Tranversal?


I'd actually like to get rid of it.
So perhaps browsers could start warn about using it.
(That ofc doesn't solve the problem Henri has atm.)

-Olli

Re: Use cases for Range::createContextualFragment and script nodes

[Maciej Stachowiak]

On Oct 21, 2010, at 1:06 AM, Olli Pettay wrote:

> On 10/21/2010 09:43 AM, Maciej Stachowiak wrote:
>> 
>> It is indeed not part of any standard. It was originally a Mozilla
>> vendor extension, later copied by Opera and Safari. We added support
>> for it in 2002 because at least at the time, some sites used it:
>> http://trac.webkit.org/changeset/2940
>> 
>> It should probably be added to a spec at some point. Perhaps Web DOM
>> Core could be expanded to cover Range&  Tranversal?
> 
> I'd actually like to get rid of it.
> So perhaps browsers could start warn about using it.
> (That ofc doesn't solve the problem Henri has atm.)

Even 8 years ago it was pretty frequently used by Web sites, and I would not 
expect things to be different now. Also, it is apparently used in a number of 
JavaScript libraries: 


I suspect getting rid of createContextualFragment is not a practical option at 
this point. And I expect a new entrant to the browser market would likely have 
to implement it to achieve sufficient Web compatibility. So I think it should 
be spec'd.

Out of curiosity, though, what's the reason to get rid of it?

Regards,
Maciej

Re: Use cases for Range::createContextualFragment and script nodes

[Anne van Kesteren]

On Thu, 21 Oct 2010 08:43:18 +0200, Maciej Stachowiak   
wrote:
It should probably be added to a spec at some point. Perhaps Web DOM  
Core could be expanded to cover Range & Tranversal?


There is:

  http://bitbucket.org/ms2ger/dom-range


I am not sure if it is a good idea to put Range into DOM Core. Range  
probably means doing Selection too and that is quite far away from what  
DOM Core is about.



--
Anne van Kesteren
http://annevankesteren.nl/