Re: lynx-dev non-sticky text inputs

[Klaus Weide]

On Wed, 28 Jul 1999, Heather wrote:

> > I assume for one-input-only forms the behavior is pretty widespread
> > and quasi-standard (otherwise it probably wouldn't be used on
> > www.freshmeat.net), although I couldn't find it in HTML 4 when I just
> > looked.
> 
> I think it was A Particular Browser's idea of robustness at corrupt forms,
> and authors took off with it because it was a comfortable way to specify
> what to say instead of "this is a searchable index"

I don't know about that.  Or what's the value of such a statement about an
unnamed "Particular Browser" without giving a time frame - <IMG> also was
A Particular Browser's idea of something.

What I (now) know - it is mentioned in HTML 2.0 (RFC 1866):

   When there is only one single-line text input field in a form, the
   user agent should accept Enter in that field as a request to submit
   the form.

I found no mention of this behavior (by searching for "submit") in either
HTML 3.2 or HTML 4.0.

> (BTW as I switched modes, I noted, the pickbox on options form, userlevel,
> starts out painted ltgrey:blue with statusline color for picked item.  Moved
> one up to "Intermediate" - 2. in front of that + 3. Advanced all turned
> white:blue.   I double checked the color setting for the machine I'm in, it's
> one of the ones with color 0 and 4 both white - there's no ltgrey in this 
> context that came from me!  How'd that happen?)

I cannot find anything unexpected in that account, given the incomplete
description of your COLORs.

> > curly brace doesn't apply for empty and not-too-long contents.
> 
> Oh.  Then I can hardly tell how it's going to show without screen attributes.
> Even my local colorless has attributes - dull, bright, and reverse.

Without *any* screen attributes it's easy - everything has to look the
same (if that case occurs at all in reality).  With only one screen
attribute - you could try to make a terminfo that has only (say) standout
mode.  I don't know what various (n)curses would do with that.

> I don't think non-submit fields have to grow brackets, I'm just trying to
> think of a way to make submit textfields more obvious, now that it's pointed
> out color isn't always sufficient.  Another status line message?  Maybe.

The statusline message should already show a different text for submitting
text input fields than for non-submitting ones...  And indeed it does.

> If a text field has the following states:
>       unselected
>       selected but non-edit         <-- + submit if applicable?
>       edit
> 
> How do we show 4 or 5 states, where we only needed two before?

statusline.

> (I just thought of, we could use dots instead of underlines for an
> inactive text input, but it would still need to be repainted)  

With all those ideas, you really should get into hacking the code
yourself...  :) Otherwise most of them will probably not get realized.

   Klaus