Fantastic, thanks a lot Ben that makes a lot of sense.
Best Regards,
Jamie Mason
Skybet.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Ben Curtis [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: 14 November 2005 17:57
To: wsg@webstandardsgroup.org
Subject: Re: [WSG] Altering a Valid (X)HTML with DHTML => Is it still REAL LY valid?
>>> It's a tricky one
>>
>> How?
>>
>> If a tree falls in a wood and no-one hears it - does it still make a
>> noise?
>
> Well, it is tricky one. It certainly makes some air waves, ...
>
> So, kidding aside, invalid is invalid.
Except that validity is a concept that can only be applied to documents. Is the document valid? Yes. QED? Nope. It's tricky.
Once the document is parsed, the W3C is very clear on the matter: how these data, nodes, etc., are represented in the internal memory structure of the client application is entirely up to the vendors -- and I can pretty well assure you that they all do it differently.
However, they must maintain the DOM API, which is designed to work in specific ways. These ways will permit an in-memory structure of nodes and attributes that could only be derived from an invalid document if they were wholly derived from a document; the DOM API permits them, so they are valid internal structures.
So, validity cannot be applied to the in-memory document, once parsed. But, of critical importance is that if a variety of vendors do things differently, and the only thing linking them together is the validity of the source document. Straying from the interpretation of that document means you are possibly venturing into areas where the vendors disagree.
It's not a validity issue; it's a compatibility issue. And, given the confluence of specs involved (HTML, XML, CSS, DOM), there ought to be plenty of guaranteed-compatible room outside of what would come from valid documents. But staying "valid" would be easier, I should think, though "easier" is not always the primary concern.
"Is it REALLY valid?"
To sum up my position: it's like asking if a deep blue sky with little puffy clouds if REALLY sweet? Sweet, in this case, has nothing directly to do with sugar, but how we humans react to sugar.
"Valid" is a term that does not directly apply to the in-memory data structure; it is, nevertheless, a helpful and analogous concept to keep in mind. And it helps keep your code sweet.
--
Ben Curtis : webwright
bivia : a personal web studio
http://www.bivia.com
v: (818) 507-6613
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