support for html5 input types 'tel' and 'email'

Hi Manuel,

I'm adopting a mobile first strategy and want to ensure that form input from mobiles and other devices with virtual keyboards is as easy as possible.

I note that many devices will automatically provide the required virtual keypad depending upon the input type of a form input.

eg. Number keypad if an input type is "tel" or
@ and .com keys if input type is 'email'

+ those devices which don't support html5 revert to behaviour of a text input

Are there any plans to support the html5 input types 'tel' and 'email'? / do you know of anyone who has written custom classes for them?

Thanks,


Clive

Adding support for those input types is not a big deal. The problem is that they would not work in non-HTML5 browsers.

It would probably fallback to a text input but the class could not do anything to assure consistent behavior across browsers.

Maybe it is safer for you to rely on regular text input and any custom validations you need.

Alternatively, you may want to try creating a custom input so you do not get stuck waiting on whether there will be support for those types of inputs.

Hi Manuel,

I made a small alteration to the AddInput Method of the forms class. At around line 1190, I added the types 'tel' and 'email' to the switch statement - just under text. This little hack seems to work fine for my needs. (I extended the class first and created an override method - so not that bad!).

The information on the Internet suggests that all major browsers that are not html5 compatible do fall back to a text input and therefore this is an input type that can be fairly safely implemented straight away.

It means that users of most phones and tablets get the most appropriate virtual keyboard based upon the input type. I think 'tel' has been around for a while as it even works on my 2-3yr old nokia E71, and means I dont need the function key to enter phone numbers from the qwerty.

It does spring up some inconsistency though. E.g. for email, Html5 does some of its own validation (and pops up first), Its not therefore visually consistent with the other validation on the page.

Overall, I think having the ease of device choosing the most appropriate keyboard is more important than the inconsistent look in validation.

I would be cautious about adding other types e.g. Date without first having some classes to work out the type of device being used and therefore the content served. 'number' type should be fairly safe though, and again allow users to get the right keyboard for entering financials.

Clive

Right, as I said it would not be hard to add support to those more basic types of HTML5. The problem with be more to some of the more complex.

Addendum:

Needed to add
case "tel":
case "email":

to GetJavascriptConnectionAction, and OutputInput methods

to get focus and VALUE working respectively.

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