21270 2013-03-13 17:05:12 +0000 Introduce syntax for getters that keep returning the same object 2013-08-02 06:08:40 +0000 1 1 1 Unclassified WebAppsWG WebIDL unspecified PC All RESOLVED FIXED P2 normal --- 21271 1 annevk cam bzbarsky jsbell mike public-script-coord travil public-webapps-bugzilla oldest_to_newest 84352 0 annevk 2013-03-13 17:05:12 +0000 It would be nice if we could annotate e.g. Node.childNodes and Element.attributes in IDL with something that indicates the same object will be returned each time. Gecko has [Constant] for this. We could maybe have something like NodeList* to indicate it returns a pointer rather than a new object (in C terms...). Alternative we could maybe say that this is the default and use "new NodeList" for the other case, but then there are some getters that will sometimes return the same object and sometimes a new one. Or maybe say that unless the prose uses the word new, it must be taken as the same object will be returned each time... 84354 1 bzbarsky 2013-03-13 17:10:40 +0000 I bet the prose for .firstChild never mentions "new". ;) 84357 2 travil 2013-03-13 17:25:28 +0000 I like the idea of a concise syntax that describes this (without needing to use a verbose extended attribute); however, I don't like the asterisk (*) since it's an overloaded concept with C. 84909 3 cam 2013-03-25 05:44:00 +0000 I think this is would be a reasonable addition, although I think it should be opt in rather than the default. What about: interface Node { const attribute NodeList childNodes; }; That reads nicely to me, with the small downside of complicating the LL(1) grammar. 91536 4 cam 2013-08-02 06:08:40 +0000 Resolved here: http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-script-coord/2013JulSep/0133.html