CODEWITHSUNDEEP
htmlbackwards-compatibility
helloworld922
helloworld922

Reputation: 10939

html5 data attributes backwards compatibility

I've been reading up on custom data attributes for html webpages (one example of the numerous ones). From what I can tell going forward this is likely the best solution.

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My question pertains to backwards compatibility.

Supposedly the html standard specifies that unknown attributes should be ignored (I've read this comment multiple times, haven't actually read the standard myself :P), but are there any known browsers (including past versions, both mobile and PC-based) which might have problems with the new custom attribute specification? If so, which ones?

Additionally, are there any known possible issues where data-something might already be defined for old browsers (something is an arbitrary placeholder)? The focus is on core browser functionality (including standard addons shipped with the browser), ignore website scripts/libraries like JQuery and the likes.

Upvotes: 4

Views: 919

Answers (2)

Niet the Dark Absol
Niet the Dark Absol

Reputation: 324650

Unknown attributes are ignored in that they don't do anything, but they are still available for getAttribute to retrieve.

I'm fairly sure it's safe to assume that data-* is not used for anything else - otherwise they would have chosen a different identifying keyword that didn't conflict with something else.

Upvotes: 4

Trott
Trott

Reputation: 70075

There are no known issues with backwards compatibility for data-* attributes, certainly not with any browser you are actually likely to run into.

The whole don't-break-old-browsers thing is kind of one of the guiding principles of HTML5.

Upvotes: 3

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