Comparison of layout engines (Non-standard HTML)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

HTML
This box: view • talk • edit

The following tables compare deprecated and proprietary HTML tags and attributes compatibility and support for a number of layout engines. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up-to-date. Unless otherwise specified in footnotes, comparisons are based on the stable versions without any add-ons, extensions or external programs.

In the early years of the World Wide Web, the standards which today are used in most web browsers and web pages were mostly non-existent. Different browsers and HTML editors were being offered by competing vendors such as Netscape, Microsoft and WebTV, all of whom possessed their own ideas for how web sites should be constructed. These varying standards resulted in web developers coding for specific web browsers, using tags which could often be recognized by only one browser.

Contents

[edit] Explanation of the tables

[edit] Engine nomenclature

Rather than the names of web browsers, the names of the underlying engines are used. The browsers that use the various engines are listed below.

Layout Engine Used By
Trident Internet Explorer 4 to Internet Explorer 8
Tasman Internet Explorer 5 for Mac
Gecko All Mozilla software, including Firefox; Galeon; Flock; also Epiphany
WebKit Safari; iCab 4; Epiphany;
KHTML Konqueror
Presto Opera; Nintendo DS Browser; Internet Channel
iCab iCab 1-3
Prince XML Prince XML
Amaya Amaya

[edit] Values

Values indicate the level of support in the most recent version of the layout engine, or (if a version number is given) in the specified version. Version numbers without any other value indicate the version at which the layout engine first fully supported the feature.

Value Meaning
Yes Indicates that the layout engine fully supports this property when valid values are used.
No Indicates that this property is completely ignored.
Partial Indicates that the property is understood, but that not all values are supported. Supported values are implemented correctly.
Incorrect Indicates that the property is understood, but that it is not implemented correctly in all cases.
Experimental Indicates that the property is provided in experimental form under an alternative name, generally with only partial functionality.

[edit] Deprecated HTML tags

Tag Function Supported first by Deprecated in W3C HTML Version Alternative Solution Trident Tasman Gecko WebKit KHTML Presto iCab Prince XML
<applet> Insert an applet HotJava 4 [1] <object> 4.0 Yes 1.7 Yes Yes 7.0 Yes No
<basefont> sets font styles Internet Explorer 4 CSS Styles: font-family, color, font-size 2.0 Yes No[1] 1.0 Yes Yes  ? No
<blackface> Used to display text in a double-weight bold font face WebTV ---- Alternate fonts
CSS Style: font-weight		 No No No No No No No No
<center> centers elements ---- 4 CSS Styles: text-align:center (text)
margin-left auto; margin-right: auto; (block elements with set width)		 Yes  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes  ?  ?
<dir> directory list ---- 4 <ul>
<ol>		 Yes  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes  ?  ?
<font> applies font styles Netscape 4 CSS Styles: font-family, color, font-size Yes  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes  ?  ?
<isindex> [2] adds a search field ---- 4 <form>
<input type="text">		 5.5  ? 1.7 1.3  ? Partial  ?  ?
<listing> Succeeded by <pre>...</pre> tag; displays preformatted text W3C 3.2 <samp>
<code>
<pre>
CSS Styles: font-family:courier, monospace;
white-space with the value pre, pre-wrap or pre-line		 1.0  ? 1.7 1.2 3.3 Yes  ?  ?
<menu> menu list ---- 4 <ul>
<ol>		 Yes  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes  ?  ?
<plaintext> Designates that all HTML tags be ignored, and to display the page as is ---- 3.2 Convert all < and > characters into HTML entities &#60; and &#62;. Yes  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes  ?  ?
<s> strike through ---- 4 <del>
CSS Styles: text-decoration:line-through		 4.0 Yes 1.7 Yes Yes 7.0 Yes 6.0
<shadow> Adds shadow to text WebTV ---- CSS 3 Style: text-shadow No No No No No No No  ?
<strike> strike through ---- 4 <del>
CSS Style: text-decoration:line-through		 4.0 Yes 1.7 Yes Yes 7.0 Yes 6.0
<u> underline ---- 4 CSS Style: text-decoration:underline 4.0 Yes 1.7 Yes Yes 7.0 Yes  ?
<xmp> Similar to PRE, but ignores all HTML tags within and displays as is. ---- 3.2 <samp>
<code>
Convert < and > characters inside tag into HTML entities &#60; and &#62;.		 1.0  ? 1.7 1.2 3.3 4.0  ?  ?

[edit] Deprecated HTML attributes

Attribute Deprecated if used in tag Alternative solution Trident Tasman Gecko WebKit KHTML Presto iCab
align caption, div, fieldset, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, img, input, legend, p, object, table CSS Yes  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes  ?
alink body CSS  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?
background body CSS  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?
bgcolor body, table, td, tr, th CSS  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?
border img, object CSS  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?
clear br CSS  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?
compact dl, ol, ul CSS  ?  ? No  ?  ? Yes  ?
color basefont, font CSS  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?
height td, th CSS  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?
hspace img, object CSS  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?
language script Attribute type  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
link body CSS  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?
noshade hr CSS Yes  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes  ?
nowrap td, th CSS  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?
size basefont, font, hr CSS Yes  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes  ?
start ol CSS  ?  ? Yes  ?  ? Yes  ?
text body CSS  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?
type li, ul, ol CSS Yes  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes  ?
value li CSS Yes  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes  ?
version html DTD declaration  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
vlink body CSS  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?
width hr, pre, td, th CSS Yes  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes  ?
vspace img, object CSS  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes  ?

[edit] Proprietary HTML tags

Tag Function Supported first by Alternative solution Trident Tasman Gecko WebKit KHTML Presto iCab
<audioscope> Used to display the audioscope, a graphical display of sound waves WebTV Flash No No No No No No No
<bgsound> Used to add sound to the background of a website Internet Explorer Flash
HTML5		 2.0 Yes No† 1.0 3.1 5.12  ?
<blink> Used to display a blinking text Netscape CSS Style: text-decoration No No 1.7 No No 7.2  ?
<bq> Used to display a blockquote WebTV, HTML 3.0 <blockquote>  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
<comment> Used to allow the addition of comments to HTML documents Internet Explorer, WebTV <!-- ... --> Yes  ? No No No No  ?
<embed> Used to allow the automatic display of a plug-in Netscape HTML5
<object>		 Yes Yes Yes  ?  ? Yes  ?
<fn> Footnotes WebTV, HTML 3.0 <a href="#anchor"> combined with <element id="anchor"> where anchor is a valid id  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
<ilayer> Inline layers Netscape (4 only) <iframe> No No No No No No  ?
<image> Synonym of <img> ---- <img> Yes  ? Yes  ?  ? Yes  ?
<keygen> Generates a public key certificate request and its associated private key Netscape, Opera  ?  ?  ? Yes Yes  ? Yes  ?
<layer> Used to create multiple layers of text and images which lay on top of each other in a given order Netscape (4 only) CSS Styles: position, z-index
<iframe>, AJAX		 No No No No No No  ?
<limittext> Used to set the width of the text display WebTV CSS Style: width  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
<marquee> Used to display a scrolling, marquee-like text. Internet Explorer, WebTV Javascript
CSS 3 Style: marquee		 2.0 (another source saying 3+) Yes 1.7 1.2 3.3 7.2  ?
<multicol> Used to format and display multiple columns of text and images Netscape CSS 3 Style: columns No No No No No No  ?
<nobr> Prevents any line breaks from occurring within the flow of a text ---- CSS Style: whitespace:nowrap
&nbsp;		 Yes  ? Yes Yes Yes Yes  ?
<noembed> Displays an alternative text for browsers which do not recognize the <embed> tag Netscape N/A Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
<nolayer> Displays an alternative text for browsers which do not recognize the <layer> and <ilayer>tag Netscape N/A Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
<nosmartquotes> Prevents regular single '...' and double "..." quotes from automatically being replaced with smart single ‘...’ and smart double “...” quotes WebTV N/A No No No No No No  ?
<rt> Denotes and annotates the pronunciation text used by the <ruby> text Internet Explorer  ? Yes  ? No[2]  ?  ? No  ?
<ruby> Container for ruby character notation. Later a W3C recommendation Internet Explorer  ? Yes  ? No[3]  ?  ? No  ?
<server> Inserts server-side JavaScript into an HTML document Netscape Enterprise Server See server-side JavaScript  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
<sidebar> Creates a sidebar window that displays control elements WebTV N/A No No No No No No No
<spacer> Adds whitespace between words Netscape CSS Style: padding, margin No No No No No No  ?
<wbr> Placed inside a <nobr> element to add a line break ---- UTF-8-separator 2.0 Yes 1.7 No 3.1 No  ?
<xml> Delimits an XML data island inside an HTML page Internet Explorer  ? Yes Yes  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?

[edit] Trident support notes

  • <wbr> isn't supported for IE5.0 [4]

[edit] Gecko support notes

  • ^  <bgsound> is only supported with the Stop Autoplay - Extension[5]

[edit] Proprietary HTML attributes

attribute Deprecated if used in tag Function Supported first by Trident Tasman Gecko WebKit KHTML Presto iCab
autoactivate select viewer selects the list, it is activated automatically WebTV  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
bgproperties body Determines whether background image scrolls with the background Internet Explorer Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
bordercolor body Sets colors for 3-D table borders in the table, td, th, and tr tags Internet Explorer Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
bordercolordark body Sets colors for 3-D table borders in the table, td, th, and tr tags Internet Explorer Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
bordercolorlight body Sets colors for 3-D table borders in the table, td, th, and tr tags Internet Explorer Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
controls img Uses the image tag to place video or audio clips Internet Explorer Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
dynsrc img Uses the image tag to place video or audio clips Internet Explorer Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
frame table Controls the display of the outer borders of a table in the table tag Internet Explorer Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
framespacing frameset Sets the amount of space between frames Internet Explorer Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
leftmargin body Sets the margin between the browser window and the contents of the page Internet Explorer Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
loop img Uses the image tag to place video or audio clips Internet Explorer Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
rightmargin body Sets the margin between the browser window and the contents of the page Internet Explorer Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
start img Uses the image tag to place video or audio clips Internet Explorer Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
target form Specifies a target window or frame for the output of a form Internet Explorer Yes  ? No[6]  ?  ? No  ?
usestyle caption ??? WebTV  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?
valign input Sets vertical alignment of table caption Internet Explorer Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? No  ?

[edit] References

  1. ^ HTML 4 Changes, W3C, 1997-12-18, <http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/appendix/changes.html#h-A.3.1>. Retrieved on 7 May 2008 
  2. ^ Isindex Example, <http://obscuretags.com/isindex.html>. Retrieved on 7 May 2008 

[edit] See also

v • d • e
Layout engines
List of layout engines
Amaya · Boxely · Gecko · GtkHTML · Gzilla · iCab · KHTML · Mariner · NetSurf · Robin · Tasman · Tkhtml · Trident · Presto · Prince · WebKit
Comparison of layout engines
HTML · XML · XHTML · Graphics · CSS · DOM · HTML 5 · ECMAScript · SVG · Deprecated and proprietary Tags and Atrributes