Should the special handling of <isindex> be removed?

[travisleithead]

This was started as an editorial change in PR #238, but want to make sure this is resolved as decision of the WG.

See Bugzilla bug: https://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=28326

Parser support for the inflation of <isindex> into multiple DOM nodes as described currently in the spec appears to exist in Safari (latest?) and Mozilla. Chrome and Edge have dropped their handling of this element.

Mozilla had some feedback, haven't heard from Safari reps.

@arronei @karlcow @annevk @hober @hsivonen @rniwa

[karlcow]

Given the dependency on the server side and its non implementation across some browsers. From a Web compatibility point of view, it doesn't create any issues to remove it.

And it doesn't seem to be a big change either for Firefox, but @hsivonen will know better

[karlcow]

• Consider removing <isindex> from the parser and form submission
• "ASSERTION: mForm should be null at this point" with deeply nested tags, <isindex>

[travisleithead]

Sounds like @hsivonen responded in https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1266495 confirming OK to remove. Also was removed from WHATWG. This SGTM.

[Azvareth]

Late to the party AGAIN... I do not understand that.... Anyway.

Actually, it has some implication - for preservation, and the possibility on modern machines be able to view a bit of history...

There is STILL websites created like 1892 or so, not to mention the wayback machine. For an historical purpose, it would be nice to still have these tags/elements supported, if not inside the mainbrowser itself so at least as a plugin of some sort.

Just because HTML 5 does not support elements from HTML 3 or earlier does not mean one should remove them.

Otherwise why don't you put in a filter that old sites created before HTML 4 or 3 was invented could not be viewed in that browser. It is just as bad.

Perhaps as I mentioned, have a plugin system for the html elements and some settings that let the user select what minor elements he/she wish to be able to view (HTML 5/4/3/2/1), once created as a plugin, that part never has to be touched again, at least not much.

Just my input as a random user that randomly accessed this post from a browser supporting the elements on this webpage. And could access it still, after two years!

[chaals]

The isindex attribute does have a number of specifications so people can work out how to implement support for it if they want.

The point of dropping it from current specs is so that people don't go out and use it, primarily because it no longer works reliably. It is important to give this message to site authors, because otherwise browsers are stuck supporting everything that gets put into new sites, which increases the cost of maintenance and so makes it harder for anyone to manage a new browser.