[Webkit-unassigned] [Bug 69029] Please implement key, char, location and locale properties of KeyboardEvent

Wed Jan 11 12:45:48 PST 2012

https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=69029

--- Comment #8 from Aharon (Vladimir) Lanin <aharon at google.com>  2012-01-11 12:45:48 PST ---
(In reply to comment #7)
> > 2. It would be useful in online editors, for things like choosing language-specific quote marks, language-specific digits, and inline directionality changes. Word uses this exact signal for two out of the three above; online editors should be able to do the same.
> 
> This sounds like a way to write very unreliable applications. Any heuristic based on current input source would fail when the input source doesn't provide such information - like input scripting or Character panel. In fact, I'm not sure if any OS X input sources provide language information.
> 
> Language specific quote marks and digits in particular would misbehave when using a U.S. English layout to type French (which is a perfectly normal and comfortable configuration).

Nevertheless, that is precisely the way Microsoft Word works. Open a document, and type: he said "hello"

You will get:

He said “hello”

Now, change the keyboard language to French. Type the same thing again (press the key labeled "3" on your English keyboard to get a quote on the French keyboard). You will get:

He said « hello »

Why does it choose to use such an unreliable way to do this? Because no one will have a heart attack if it happens to get the wrong quotes, and because it's the best signal available for this purpose (outside of doing expensive text analysis to determine the actual language that the user has been typing).

If the leading commercially sold word processor thinks that it's kosher to do this, do we really want to prevent someone writing an online editor from doing the same?

In any case, www-dom went through all of these discussions when we originally proposed this property. You can see them at http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-dom/2010JulSep/0024.html, just keep clicking "Next in Thread".

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