Last modified: 2007-01-07 22:31:28 UTC
Vector Markup Language is a way to draw lines in a browser, similar to SVG, except that it is available in Internet Explorer. VML is required, at least, by my Google Maps Extension for MediaWiki.[1] However, as described on Microsoft's site[2], VML must be explicitly enabled with an XML namespace in a page's <html> tag in order to work in Internet Explorer. For example, a page needs all instances of: <html> Changed to: <html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml"> Currently, MediaWiki does not have this namespace defined in any skins. I am attaching a patch that fixes this for MonoBook and derivatives of Skin.php. This change is non-intrusive to other browsers. As a side note, right now I have my users hacking the template files themselves, and this patch will save them a lot of trouble! 1. http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Maps_Extension 2. http://www.microsoft.com/mind/0100/VML/VML.asp
Created attachment 2537 [details] Adds appropriate xmlns attribute to MonoBook.php and OutputPage.php
VML is non-standard and not supported by any browsers other than IE; we will not use it.
(In reply to comment #2) > VML is non-standard and not supported by any browsers other than IE; we will not use it. Other browsers have SVG to provide the same functionality; this patch essentially brings IE to feature parity with them. I think it'd be a shame to remain in the vector graphics Stone Age for refusal to support the world's most popular browser. MediaWiki's skins include non-standard CSS to support IE; why not change a line of code to support its non-standard vector graphics engine as well? I'm trying to give my IE users the same features as Firefox users, not more. Please reconsider.
Well, if IE really is using XML namespaces here you don't need it on the <html> element anyway, as I understand it; you can simply include the namespace definition on the wrapper element (probably a <div>) for your custom extension's output.
Nope, unfortunately, I've tried that. I've also tried setting the appropriate namespace attribute in the <html> tag using JavaScript, but IE has a terribly hackish implementation here. If it doesn't see that namespace the first time it reads the <html> tag, it turns off VML irreversibly. I've wrestled with this problem for a long time, I've scoured the web and the Google Maps API listserver, and there's just no way around it. I treat this patch as a last possible resort. I know it's ugly, I know 99% of wikis won't use it, and I know it's just so *Microsoft*, but at worst the change is harmless and at best it lets some of us enjoy the coolness of Google Maps embedded in a wiki. :)
Bleah. :) Ok, what I'd recommend then is having a way to add arbitrary namespace specifiers onto the root element, sort of a bastard cousin of $wgMimeType. Custom installations, or extensions, could then add to this array and they'd get spit out automagically by skins/OutputPage. Default value might be, say: $wgXhtmlNamespaces = array( '' => 'http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml', // main namespace, no prefix ); which could then be extended at runtime like: $wgXhtmlNamespaces['v'] = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml';
Created attachment 2576 [details] add XHTML namespaces generically Here's the bastard cousin. :) I think having an empty string key is a bit kludgy. This patch defines two variables: $wgXhtmlRootNamespace (defaults to "http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml") and $wgXhtmlNamespaces (defaults to an empty array). These are then evaluated in OutputPage.php and MonoBook.php (by way of SkinTemplate.php, as seems to be the idiom). Please let me know if I've missed anything, or if there's something you think should be done differently. Thanks!
Good job, commited as r18943.
