whether it is worth going to all this bother when you could just use
target="_blank" to open a new window, although using that means your
site will not validate with a strict doctype.
Or whether it's worth separating presentation from structure (preferably
CSS), behaviour from structure (preferably JS&DOM), etc. ...? Even when
failing to do so wouldn't necessarily lead not to passing the validation?
Actually the best situation is avoiding all presentational and
behavioural markup (including target attribute and in-line JS) and
having only something DOM-attachable, like rel attribute, to serve as an
flag for external JS to provide the intended functionality of opening
new windows or small pop-ups or whatever you may need.
The one argument that may trump the other arguments is that there's a
target property in the CSS3 Hyperlink module working draft. Does this
mean that they have seen the error of removing the target attribute and
are now bringing it back, in which case we should just keep using it and
use a transitional doctype?
It is not an error to remove it from the (X)HTML as it was done with
center, align, etc. ... Mind the fact that element.target property is
still present in DOM, so the functionality only resides in its
appropriate place.
Having it in CSS seems to be an awful mixture of behaviour in the
presentation layer, but it was done with generated content as well, so I
think it's only a matter of web designer's responsibility to feel the
right case to use the tool provided.
Another thing that interested me in the comments was this, "How about
mobile devices, non-textual linux terminals (lynx)?"
What is the problem with using the target attribute with these devices?
And what about web-enabled refrigerators or toasters? ;) They simply
don't have this functionality and won't open new ... (canvas for
presenting, speaker for sound output or whatever medium you may find for
example). Be it in presentation or behaviour.
--
Jan Brasna :: www.alphanumeric.cz | www.janbrasna.com | www.wdnews.net
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