Hello!
Thank you for the reply.
Le Sat, 24 Feb 2007 04:17:30 +0200, Matthew Raymond
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> a écrit:
Mihai Sucan wrote:
I'm not sure if this is appropriate thread to make a wish, but the
subject
is "WF3 feature list". Please don't forget about extending <input
type=email> to allow a list of multiple emails, comma separated. See my
request:
http://lists.whatwg.org/htdig.cgi/whatwg-whatwg.org/2007-January/008986.html
I presume you mean separated by semicolons, as you would do in
Microsoft Outlook.
No. I really meant commas, not semicolons. This is because I use commas to
separate multiple email addresses in the "To:" field in Opera M2. I'm
quite certain it also works in Outlook, and semicolons also work in Opera
- it's most likely a matter of taste picking which char to use.
I think the following is a better idea:
| <p repeat="template" id="row">
| <label for="emails">To:</label>
| <input type="email" id="emails" name="emails_[row]">
| <button type="remove">Delete Email</button>
| </p>
| <p><button type="add" template="row">New Email</button></p>
Adding and removing semicolon-separated items in a text box is highly
cumbersome. I much prefer something similar to a Thunderbird-style email
address entry, where new rows are added for each email. In fact,
Thunderbird-like email entry is pretty simple to mark up:
| <p repeat="template" id="row">
| <select id="emailtypes" name="emails_[row]_type">
| <option value="to">To:</option>
| <option value="cc">Cc:</option>
| <option value="bcc">Bcc:</option>
| </select>
| <input type="email" id="emails" name="emails_[row]_address">
| <button type="remove">Delete Email</button>
| </p>
| <p><button type="add" template="row">New Email</button></p>
Using a single control with semicolon may be cheaper from a markup
standpoint, but when was the last time you saw it used for anything but
email addresses? It's harder to see a specific address, harder to select
and delete it, and if you're using a single-line text box, it's a real
pain to reach an email address on one end of the line or the other.
Plus, as you just illustrated, it may not be clear to the user what
character to use as a separator. Not to mention the fact that the server
has to parse addresses out of a single string when the form is submitted.
I do agree with you on this. The server has to split the string based on
commas and semicolons, needing to take into account many more
possibilities than a single input type=email field.
Also, keep in mind that the |type| "email" isn't necessarily just a
text box with an email pattern. It may, for instance, offer
autocompletion based on your address book. Having all emails in a string
with separator characters may limit what features can be offered by user
agents.
Opera offers autocomplete based on the known contacts list (the address
book). This works in <input type=email>. And... getting to my point: the
Email composer has a single "To:" field, where you can type multiple email
addresses, separated by commas, with autocomplete. Thus, Opera has the
capability of providing autocomplete for emails even in a single text box.
Besides, you can use the |pattern| attribute to accomplish about the
same effect anyways, so there's no real benefit to supporting a new
|type| value.
I agree with your point of view. The provided markup is a lot more safer
than what I have done at the time of writing the email, however it's more
than sufficient in the context of the web application I've done.
One should also take into consideration the following:
Given a list of emails (separated by commas or semicolons), e.g.:
[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In Opera I can select this list and copy/paste it into the To field. This
just works.™
I find it hard to believe that does *not* work in Thunderbird. I'm quite
certain this email client also allows multiple email addresses in a single
"To:" field - based on a logical POV (people generally use this, and, if
Thunderbird is supposed to be easy to use, such a capability must be
available). I never used Thunderbird.
Now ... if the web application is made with a markup as you've provided,
one has to manually copy/paste (or write) each email address in a single
"To:" field. This is more than boring.
Hence, even in your case the need for allowing comma separated (and/or
semicolon) email addresses still stands. You did not eliminate the need,
you've just made it (a) harder for the user to input multiple email
addresses, or (b) you just added multiple "To:" input fields which still
need to be parsed as I said.
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