Posted by JDS on 11/12/05 04:57

On Sat, 12 Nov 2005 00:47:50 +0000, code_wrong wrote:

> processing .. why not just save a document as an htm file and then post it
> onto a web site?

It may be an acceptable start into learning how the web works in a very
general way. However there are plenty of tools available that would be
better. Even OpenOffice produces beter HTML code, is free, and is
basically WYSIWYG. (Not that I'm recommending OO.org for web development,
but if you *must* use a word processor for this task...)

(...hmm. I take it back. I just tested OO.org out, and it looks like
OO.org is actually not so bad at all, but that;s another story...)

In any case, here is my real world example of why not to use MS Word.
This example may seem contrived, and it certainly won't affect everyone,
but it is a real example that I actually ran across today.

I built a CMS for a client. The CMS has a WYSIWYG widget in place of a
<textarea> to edit the content. The client cut-n-pasted the HTML directly
from Word into the CMS. Click Submit/update, and poof! It exploded. Well,
not literally, but the page, which is generated by PHP, could not be
displayed even to allow it to be edited again.

The problem stems from the "HTML" that Word generated. MS Word uses XML
gobbeldy gook unnecewssarily to, well, I don't know what it is supposed to
do. In any case, the "<?" opening of the XML stuff broke the PHP page.

Sure, I could design in some better error-checking and parsing of the
submitted data. Sure, I could do something that allows the data to go in
untouched. But the point is that MS Word does not generate valid, usable
HTML.

later...
--
JDS | jeffrey@go.away.com
| http://www.newtnotes.com
DJMBS | http://newtnotes.com/doctor-jeff-master-brainsurgeon/

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