HTML5 hidden input defaultValue update
Nov 16, 2010I recently got back from vacation and was pleasantly surprised to find that Hallvord of Opera QA fame had thrown his hat into the ring regarding the inconsistencies of hidden inputs wrt form controls of other types in Opera, Firefox, Chrome and Safari.
This is a big step in overcoming the browser vendor inertia surrounding this obscure issue. Even though the behaviour doesn't make sense, the fact that these browsers have always done it this way means changing the way things are done will be a necessarily active process. The more people we can convince that having a special case for hidden input form controls is a bad thing for HTML5, the better our chances of actually getting the specification changed.
Do you want to help? Download and install the user javascript and check out the behaviour on my newly updated selection of test cases. The new test page now shows the same tests applied to both hidden inputs and inputs of type="text" for comparison. Without the user javascript enabled, you can see how the behaviour differs between these two form control types in Opera. The goal of all this ballyhoo is to make the two columns behave in the same way; in other words consistent behaviour across form control types.
Thanks, Hallvord! And thanks very much for your help too! Good luck to all of us.
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