22276 2013-06-05 05:19:44 +0000 Content model of datalist described inconsistently 2013-06-21 15:51:22 +0000 1 1 1 Unclassified WHATWG HTML unspecified PC Windows NT RESOLVED FIXED P2 normal Unsorted 1 jukka.k.korpela ian ian mike contributor oldest_to_newest 88696 0 jukka.k.korpela 2013-06-05 05:19:44 +0000 The content model of <datalist> is described thusly: “Either: phrasing content. Or: Zero or more option elements.” This clearly says that <datalist>foo</datalist> is OK and so is <datalist><option></datalist> but <datalist>foo<option></datalist> is not (because it’s either or). Yet, the prose text says: “The contents of the element represents fallback content for legacy user agents, intermixed with option elements”. And http://validator.nu plays by this principle; it accepts <datalist>foo<option></datalist>. A minimal fix would be to change the content model description to “Phrasing content and option elements” but perhaps the following more formal description is needed instead: “Phrasing content optionally intermixed with option elements”. This content model implies that any option element should be explicitly closed with a closing tag, e.g. <option value=foo></option>, if it is followed by phrasing content. Otherwise the phrasing content will be parsed as option element content, possibly causing a syntax error. 89110 1 ian 2013-06-11 18:26:03 +0000 The content model is right, but you're right that I should make it clearer what's going on. The idea is that if you want to do fallback, you do it with a <select> element inside the <datalist> element. I'll add an example or something. 89241 2 jukka.k.korpela 2013-06-13 10:47:36 +0000 (In reply to comment #1) > The content model is right So is the validator wrong? And the prose text? It says: “The contents of the element represents fallback content for legacy user agents, intermixed with option elements that represent the predefined options.” I don’t see how this could be possible if the content model, with “or” at top level, is right. > The idea is that if you want to do fallback, you do it with a <select> > element inside the <datalist> element. I'll add an example or something. An example or two would help indeed. My intuitive understanding was that since <datalist> is something associated with a control, feeding predefined alternatives into it, the natural content would be descriptive prose, possibly mentioning some examples as alternatives, e.g. as in <label for="dest">Destination city:</label> <input name="dest" list="cities"> <datalist id="cities"> <br>(Enter city name, e.g. Helsinki, Espoo, or Turku.) <option value="Helsinki"> <option value="Espoo"> <option value="Turku"> </datalist> If the content model is right, this is not allowed. I don’t see how using <select> elements would help. On old browsers, <select> would create a dropdown menu, so there would be a text field *and* a dropdown, for the same data. Do you mean that the approach would be something like the following: <label for="dest">Destination city:</label> <input name="dest" list="cities"> <datalist id="cities"> <br>(Type a city name in the bow above or select it from the list below:)</br> <select name="dest"> <option value="Helsinki"> <option value="Espoo"> <option value="Turku"> <select> </datalist> Then I guess the description should be clarified, saying that the .options IDL attribute returns a collection of all option elements that a descendants of the <datalist> element, not just direct children. Note that the current wording for datalist.options says “Returns an HTMLCollection of the options elements of the table”, where “table” must be a slip; the sentence should probably end with “the option elements inside the datalist element” (corresponding to the more formal text after the statement). 89710 3 ian 2013-06-21 15:49:35 +0000 I've tried to clarify the spec. Thanks for the feedback! 89711 4 contributor 2013-06-21 15:51:22 +0000 Checked in as WHATWG revision r7993. Check-in comment: Clarify <datalist> content model. http://html5.org/tools/web-apps-tracker?from=7992&to=7993