Hi David, I didn't mean to sound quite so belligerent, I apologise, and I also take your point: they are all equally valid at the moment. In the future as browsers come more into line with supporting things properly they may not be. No one knows, so maybe this discussion is all academic. I do enjoy a good discussion however. ;)
I have too often seen people referring to the fact a browser supports a tag as 'semantics' which is of course totally wrong. I incorrectly read your post as more of the same. I just strongly believe in the difference between semantics and code for code's sake. Iain ------------------ Iain Gardiner http://www.firelightning.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of David R Sent: 12 January 2005 22:39 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Are forms tabular data? (was Re: [WSG] Can I use a table in a form?) Iain Gardiner wrote: > They are only "semantically correct" when used within specific > contexts. > > Too many people confuse semantics (the implicit meaning of markup) > with valid html (correct code). They are two completely different > sides of the same coin. If it doesn't matter to you, then you're a > member of the wrong list. Lets not start a flame war ;) Tables are used to define data, data sets, results, and "columnar" information. DefLists (<dl><dt><dd>) are strictly for the listing of defintions, its generally accepted practice to use this element for information displayed in "title/content" pairs. And fieldsets are used to group related input fields. Consider that Tables are equally qualified to display information in "title/content" format, this is how databases store information, and from a glance, an Excel spreadsheet is no different from a database's dataview, or a table containing the same data. Real-world(tm) forms, such as Tax Returns, are often layouted in a "tabular" manner... see for yourself, its tax-season in the states right now (AFAIK). But at the same time, a <dl> could be used, as virtually all the questions on a tax return are in the "Question: Write/Choose your answer" format. Don't accuse me of confusing semantics with valid code, I think I know the difference. It seems you're the one confusing me with a beginner in the field. I'm not an idealist, I'm a realist, and in the real world, it doesn't make a difference regarding semantics, accessibility, rendering/apperance or usability in general. All are equally valid! -- -David R ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ****************************************************** ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ******************************************************
