HTML form elements
It�s really surprising to notice how HTML form elements haven�t changed since HTML 4. A ton of better features can be developed to aid the end user and the programmer. To me, it is quite bizarre simple things as the label attribute isn�t included in the
tag by default.
Sure, you can use and to achieve a certain degree of editing for display, or you can build your form like this:
�But it just feels like a line too many. Another issue is the focusing of a control upon a page�s load event using JavaScript. If you can specify the tabular index of a control, you should be able to force initial focus on a control using HTML. Keeping in mind the way attributes work in HTML, it could easily be specified the same way you use the selected attribute of a tag
From the little information available on the W3C, I think Xforms will help a lot, giving a programming feel to building XHTML forms. However, HTML tags should have been reorganized much sooner. As an e-commerce software developer, almost every page I build is actually a big form. There is way too much use of JavaScript to accomplish simple control behavior. Experience with ASP controls showed me they offer a lot more control on the display of web forms. Microsoft was inspired a lot from the way Windows Forms are built. I would also assume JSP can offer the same liberty.
The thing is, I don�t feel it�s a server-side programming language�s job to deal with what seems like the first level options for HTML controls. Everyone is putting high hopes in financial success on the Internet nowadays. E-commerce is still expected to become a big fraction of company sales in the near future. User input under these conditions need to be improved. It�s just too bad everyone is going crazy on the arrival of XHTML, but none waited for Xforms to be ready for a joint release.