Bug
list for Nvu 1.0Bug
list for Nvu 1.0This list is based on experience gained while writing the User Guide for Nvu versions 0.5 through to 1.0. Bugs which have been cleared are not included. My method has generally been to check for any bugs found on previous versions, check for any features covered by release notes then use the new version in any updating of sites I need to do, including updating the user Guide. I also test for any relevant issues mentioned on the lists or forum. I have not included issues related to scripts since I am not experienced in these.Only after these checks is the list released.
Strictly I define a bug as any respect in which the product does not comply with its requirement specification. Unfortunately I am not privy to the requirement for Nvu and do not know whether it has even been formally stated. In this case I must take an ad hoc definition for a bug and work from that. I therefore make a personal inference of a specification and test departure from that.
Clause 1The code which Nvu produces should comply with the relevant sections of the relevant specifications.I take these to be:
(In this context 'relevant' refers to the sections applicable to the particular doctype being worked on.)
Clause 2The code which Nvu produces should, when submitted, validate using the W3C validators
Clause 3The line numbers allocated by Nvu should correspond to the line numbers reported for any errors detected during validation.
Clause 4 Pages developed using the wysiwyg features of Nvu should not require editing in source view to make them work correctly.
Clause 5Nvu should be internally self consistent. Users should be able to use the Human Machine Interface (HMI) in a simple way without having to continually cross check that selections made do not conflict.
Clause 6Nvu should be stable. Its operation should not vary from time to time unless as a result of preferences or other settings deliberately made by the user.
Clause 7The HMI should operate as described by the help system or as implied by the control boxes.
As from the start of 2006 I am including a 'suggestions' or 'wish list' area. Most wish lists are open ended, blue sky give me $1,000,000 (€ or £ maybe) type of requests. These are not. The list is very short and is very closely coupled to the existing features of Nvu. Generally I include only what I consider near-bugs, that is something that does not meet one of my criteria for being included as a bug but which nearly does. Usually these cover places where the Nvu response is non-intuitive and the user expects something else.
Clauses indicate which clause of the specification is not met.
I have allocated a rating to each bug. Necessarily these are personal opinions. I suggest that the first three categories need to be cleared before the product can be considered 'polished'. I have rated all the problems with templates as 'Trivial' not because I consider templates trivial but because I consider that the purpose and aim of the template needs to be reviewed rather than patch the current implementation.
Description The file always appears as an absolute addresses. Once a page is moved to a different location e.g. from a local machine to a server the stylesheet will be looked for at the incorrect location.
Workaround In source view the file can be edited to give a relative location.
ConsequenceBeginner users will find pages rendered incorrectly if they attempt to use one of the most powerful and recommended features of Nvu - External stylesheets. Experts will hardly notice the problem.
.
Reported on 16th July 2005
Description The declaration used for html documents is incomplete - The URL of the DTD is omitted. Para 7.2 of the HTML 4.01 lists the permitted declarations.
WorkaroundEdit the declaration in a text editor and save the page as a template. Base all new pages on this.
Consequence Some browsers will be triggered into 'quirks mode' with the result that text will be the wrong size and cross-browser compatibility is impaired.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 5 When the markup type is set in Tools > Preferences > Advanced this setting does not persist. If any file is created with a different selection this re-sets the preference.
WorkaroundIgnore and never use the markup setting in Preferences.
Consequence If not noticed many pages could be created with the wrong doctype.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 2In several cases, when formatting parts of a document, (1) code is applied which is not permitted by the doctype (2) code is applied which is irrelevant to the format or (3) a format is unavailable though not precluded by the doctype. These responses depend on whether 'Use CSS Styles instead of HTML ...' is set. A number of formats have been tested against all available doctype options. Clause 7The results are tabulated later.
WorkaroundFor
experts, if all formatting is carried out using styles, no problems
will
be encountered.
For others, if 'Use CSS Styles instead of HTML ...' is always set and
Transitional doctype is used no validation errors will occur.
For those wishing to use Strict doctype and menu or button formatting
refer to the table and avoid problem items.
Consequence Validation errors will occur. Reworking could be time consuming.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 4Generating a single layer is easy enough. As soon as you have several on a page problems arise in positioning them. If the grab handle of the one you want lies over (or near) another it is impossible to grab it. Focus always goes to the other (irrespective of the z-index). I suggest that focus should stay with the selected layer. Conversely, grabbing and dragging is an imprecise science, better to allocate classes to layers. This can be done but the layer retains its grab handle; then the possibility of moving it inadvertently occurs. I suggest that, after thought, some method of disabling resizing or dragging classed layers, possibly selectively, should be introduced. (I’ve classed this as a bug because of the first difficulty mentioned.)
WorkaroundThe User Guide suggests some but the consequences remain.
Consequence Limited use of layers presents no problem. Extensive use is virtually precluded at present unless edited in source view.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 5To get ‘Underline misspelled words’ to work this must be set AFTER the file is opened. If set before it must be cleared and re-set.
WorkaroundIf file is opened when ‘Underline misspelled words’ is set clear the setting and re-set it.
ConsequenceMore keystrokes.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 6When misspelled words are underlined right-clicking usually but not always offers spelling suggestions. Correct action can be reinstated by switching off ‘Underline misspelled words’ and switching on again.
WorkaroundClear ‘Underline misspelled words’ and re-set it
ConsequenceMore keystrokes.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 1It is now possible to nest lists. Two problems occur. (a) redundant br elements are introduced which are not cleared by the markup cleaner (b) A spurious mode exists. By pressing tab in a list a nested list can be created which uses incorrect code.
WorkaroundClause 2The break requires no remedial work. Avoid pressing the tab key in a list.
ConsequenceIf tab key is pressed most browsers will render the nesting correctly but validation will fail.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 7If the default browser is Mozilla all is well. If it is Internet Explorer (version 6 at least) when ‘Browse’ is selected the browser opens but in ‘Source’ view not page view. I note that the first time that I tried this after installation it worked correctly. After that it failed every time. (Exactly the same action with 0.9, 1.0PR and 1.0) Still in Nvu 1.00
WorkaroundTo use Internet Explorer browse via Windows Explorer.
Consequence HMI is less elegant - more keystrokes required.
Reported on 16th July 2005
Clause 1DescriptionIt is possible to apply the same id to more than one item.
WorkaroundDon't do it - check manually.
ConsequenceIf done inadvertently incorrect linking or style application could result. Beginners will probably not use the feature, experienced will probably not make the error.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 6Occasionally both sections of the format toolbar become inactive. When this happens one or more of the drop down boxes may become 'grayed out' and inactive and some buttons may become inactive while others continue to work. Also the file name in the header bar may disappear.
WorkaroundClose Nvu and re-open.
ConsequenceFrustration.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 3When passed to the validator errors are reported on lines which differ in number from those listed in Nvu. This is probably linked to unexpected line breaks occurring in Nvu. (PHP users experience issues related to ‘reformatting source code’ which is probably related but I cannot comment on this.
WorkaroundSearch for correct line.
ConsequenceFrustration.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 6I have noticed this several times (I’m not sure what conditions apply). I copy something from one document. I open an other and try to paste. The paste succeeds but to the wrong document. This occurs even if the focus appears to be in the correct document e.g. it is possible to type there but paste still goes to the wrong document.
WorkaroundClose and re-open Nvu.
ConsequenceFrustration.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 6 When tables are inserted they start, in a new installation, at width= 100%. After some time new tables are inserted with width = 100px. This oddity is intermittent but undesirable; 100% is a better choice. (On reviewing I realise that to leave it unspecified is best.)
WorkaroundReset width using table properties window.
ConsequenceNugatory intervention by user is required.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 7When repeatable areas are inserted (whether block or flow) it is not possible to edit the content until they are detached from the template.
WorkaroundEdit content after detaching template.
Consequence Illogical action but of little consequence.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 0A bug seems to have been introduced between Nvu 0.5 and 0.6. In 0.5 File – New > Based on Template > Choose file offers an option to choose “Files of type template”. With 0.7 onwards only “All files” is offered.
WorkaroundSelect the template file normally.
Consequence Possible need to trawl through long list.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 7In the ‘Insert an editable area’ window, when flow areas are selected the option ‘Area is movable’ appears to be available. This is meaningless. Still in Nvu 1.00
WorkaroundNone - the option does not work.
Consequence Possible confusion to user.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 7The HMI (Human-machine Interface) is quite obscure and needs review. Much of the operation is non-intuitive.
WorkaroundNot possible
ConsequenceIn its present form the Templates facility is of no real use.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 7According to Help system Inserting a ToC with ‘Make ToC read only’ checked should omit anchors. This does not happen.
WorkaroundTolerate the links and bloating of the code.
ConsequenceCode bloat. (Few are likely to find the links objectionable.)
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 5These normally display the page title. Sometimes (in a long session) the title of a different page is displayed. On one occason, when all the pages of the User Guide were open (titles carry sequential numbers), all titles were displaced by one unit. Unfortunately I did not record the order of opening or direction of displacement.
WorkaroundUse file name instead of title or close and re-open files. (But see Bug 31.)
Consequence Confusion to user..
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 5In HTML tags view, when an element is selected it is normally highlighted in the Status Bar. This doesn’t occur when BODY is selected. For a long time I thought that it wasn’t possible to select BODY.
WorkaroundRecognise that it IS possible to select body.
Consequence Illogical and some may miss the possibility of applying styles to body.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 5When a frame is encountered the system seems to freeze. It takes a bit of skill to recover without closing Nvu. The response has improved with Nvu 1.0 but after switching to source view recovery is still very difficult.
WorkaroundOpen a different file from File menu or Site Manager.
ConsequenceFrustration until you learn the workaround.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 7Does not remove all empty blocks (e.g. UL), nor empty classes (including empty spans).
WorkaroundDon't clean the file or use another cleaner.
Consequence Code bloat
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 7If you edit something by selecting the tag and applying an inline style you do not receive an invitation to save i.e. save button remains greyed out and is inactive. You must edit something else to bring it to life.
WorkaroundMake any trivial change to the file.
Consequence Possible loss of code due to thinking a file has been saved when it has not.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionClause 5 Now that Nvu handles xhtml documents Site Manager needs enhancing e.g. it displays xhtml documents only when 'View All files' is selected.. I would prefer the View options to be 1 – All files, 2 – html documents, 3 – Image files, then three new types 3 – xhtml documents, 5 – CSS files, 6 – Page documents (html + xhtml).
WorkaroundSearch visually.
Consequence Slower in use.
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionThe ‘Down’ button does not work.
WorkaroundSelect an item or items lower on the list and use the 'up' button.
ConsequenceMore keystrokes
Reported on 16th July 2005
DescriptionIn several cases some characters are encoded in the source view and/or in the output file file in a way different to that implied by the selections made in the Tools > Preferences > 'Advanced settings' window. Specific details are given below.
WorkaroundUse settings other than 'Only & < > and non-breakable whitespace' only if they produce the code required.
ConsequenceIn all cases code produced results in working files but not necessarily in the form requested and some code may be bloated. Visual inspection of and transfer of code to other applications may be hampered.
Reported on 14th November 2005
DescriptionWhen extracted styles include margin or padding, (a) additional, non-standard style declarations are added such as margin-left-ltr-source: physical, (b) properties such as padding-left are altered to, non standard, padding-left-value: These stop the code being recognised so that a style that ran correctly in inline no longer runs.
WorkaroundEither avoid extracting styles when margin or padding are involved or edit the extracted source code to delete the offending parts.
ConsequenceThose less familiar with styles are likely to be unable to use the extract facility.
Reported on 25th November 2005
DescriptionCSS rules require that Font names containing whitespace should be quoted (or escaped): Nvu does not do this.
WorkaroundWhen using such fonts, edit style values in source code.
ConsequenceMost stylesheets will fail validation but pages will run as expected.
Reported on 13th January 2006
DescriptionWhen, in the Tools > Preferences> General window, 'Save Images and associated files...' is selected all files are saved to the same directory as the page. At the same time the structure of the file is flattened to reflect this fact. While this is occasionally useful the original file structure is destroyed. If new development is based on the new file without realising what has been changed considerable work could be lost. A warning about this should be issued and require confirmation, or the original structure preserved.
WorkaroundMove files using Windows Explorer rather than "Save as..".
ConsequencePages may run locally but not when uploaded and the cause may be difficult to identify..
Reported on 13th January 2006
DescriptionThis displays the filename for the selected file. When several files are open and the last one which was opened is closed the name in the header bar (for all files) sticks at that of the recently closed file until another is opened.
WorkaroundGuess which file you are editing or use title in tab if set. (But see Bug 20.)
ConsequenceInconvenience.
Reported on 13th January 2006
DescriptionTables
are always created as a regular matrix.
When the Option
'Maintain table layout when inserting or deleting cells' is set, this
regularity should be maintained but it is not so rows can have a
varying number of cells.
WorkaroundDon't use 'Insert cell' feature. replace by 'Insert column'.
ConsequenceNot great but may confuse.
Reported on 13th January 2006
DescriptionNvu generates an unregistered name x-gbk for the Chinese simplified GBK encoding, although this encoding has a MIME registration under the name GBK. (from Jukka Korpela) see http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/www/nvu-enc.html.
WorkaroundYou can change the meta tag in the Source mode in Nvu and save the file to fix this.
ConsequenceWill be of concern mainly to authors of Chinese.
Reported on 13th January 2006
DescriptionFrom limited tests this seems to work with ISO-8859-1 encoding but fails with other encodings. With ISO-8859-1 ascii characters are exported as ascii, characters with entities are exported as entities and all others as numeric character references. With other encodings tested (ISO-8859-7, UTF-8 and Shift_JIS) ascii are exported as ascii, any character in the repertoire is exported as the character, even if this is not a text character, and all others as numeric character references.
WorkaroundSet encoding to ISO-8859-1 before using this option and reset later.
ConsequenceNone to most users.
Reported on 13th January 2006
DescriptionThe first option includes a typing error (an additional single quote in the middle) and uses a non-standard term (non-breakable whitespace). The latter term should be replaced by the standard 'no-break space'.
WorkaroundNone needed.
ConsequenceTrivial.
Reported on 13th January 2006
DescriptionDragging layers changes units not specifically set. All layers are created with values set in pixels. It is possible to edit these to other units e.g. percentage. This will be respected. If one axis, having been set as percentage is dragged all values associated with this axis are reset to pixels. This is not good but is understandable. However the other axis even if not touched is also set in pixels. This is neither good nor acceptable.
WorkaroundManipulate layers using style editors only.
Consequence Limited use of layers presents no problem. Extensive use is virtually precluded at present unless edited in source view or via style editor.
Reported on 14th March 2006
DescriptionDescribe effect.
WorkaroundDescribe workaround.
ConsequenceDescribe consequence.
Reported on nnth mmmm 2006
| File reference | 1 | 1a | 5 | 3 | 3a | 7 | 2 | 2a | 6 | 4 | 4a | 8 |
| 'Use CSS styles' UNCHECKED | 'Use CSS styles' CHECKED | |||||||||||
| Transitional doctypes | Strict doctypes | Transitional doctypes | Strict doctypes | |||||||||
| see Note 1 | Full | Short | Full | Full | Short | Full | Full | Short | Full | Full | Short | Full |
| HTML | XHTML | HTML | XHTML | HTML | XHTML | HTML | XHTML | |||||
| Format applied | Response of Nvu e.g. method applied to achieve format - Coloured cells indicate unsatisfactory (or sub-optimal) response (see Key) | |||||||||||
| Button - Choose color for text | font | font | font | font | Inactive | Inactive | style | style | style | style | style | style |
| Format > Text Color | font | font | font | font | Inactive | font *4 | style | style | style | style | style | style |
| Button - Smaller font size | small | small | small | small | small | small | small | small | small | small | small | small |
| Format > Size > Smaller | small | small | small | small | small | small | small | small | small | small | small | small |
| Button - Larger font size | big | big | big | big | big | big | big | big | big | big | big | big |
| Format > Size > Larger | big | big | big | big | big | big | big | big | big | big | big | big |
| Format > Size > x-large | font | font | font | font | Inactive | Inactive | font | font | font | font | font | Inactive |
| Button - Chose color for background (Page background) | bgcolor *2 | bgcolor *2 | bgcolor *2 | bgcolor *2 | Inactive | Inactive | ||||||
| Button - Chose color for background (Block background) | style *3 | style *3 | style *3 | style *3 | style *3 | style *3 | ||||||
| Button - Bold | b | b | b | b | b | b | style | style | style | style | style | style |
| Format > Text style > Bold | b | b | b | b | b | b | style | style | style | style | style | style |
| Button - Italic | i | i | i | i | i | i | style | style | style | style | style | style |
| Format > Text style > Italic | i | i | i | i | i | i | style | style | style | style | style | style |
| Button - Underline | u | u | u | u | Inactive | Inactive | style | style | style | style | style | style |
| Format > Text style > Underline | u | u | u | u | Inactive | Inactive | style | style | style | style | style | style |
| Button - Emphasize | em | em | em | em | em | em | em | em | em | em | em | em |
| Format > Text style > Emphasis | em | em | em | em | em | em | em | em | em | em | em | em |
| Button - Strong emphasize | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong |
| Format > Text style > Stronger emphasis | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong |
| Button - Align right | align | align | align | align | Inactive | Inactive | style | style | style | style | style | style |
| Format > Align > Right | align | align | align | align | align | align | style | style | style | style | style | style |
| Button - Justify | align | align | align | align | Inactive | Inactive | style | style | style | style | style | style |
| Format > Align > Justify | align | align | align | align | align | align | style | style | style | style | style | style |
| Button - Indent text | blockquote | align | blockquote | blockquote | blockquote | blockquote | style | style | style | style | style | style |
| Format > Increase Indent | blockquote | align | blockquote | blockquote | blockquote | blockquote | style | style | style | style | style | style |
| Drop down - Courier | font | font | font | font | Inactive | Inactive | font | style | font | style | style | style |
| Format > Font > Courier | font | font | font | font | Inactive | Inactive | font | style | font | style | style | style |
| Format > Image props > Appearance | align | align | align | align | Inactive | Inactive | float | float | float | float | float | float |
| Format > Page colors and background | bgcolor *5 *6 | bgcolor *5 *6 | bgcolor *5 *6 | bgcolor *5 *6 | Inactive | Inactive | style *5 *7 | style *5 | style*5 *7 | style *5 *7 | style *5 *7 | style *7 |
| Key: | ||||||||||||
| Red | Uses code prohibited by doctype or setting. | |||||||||||
| Orange | Functionality restricted due to format not being available. | |||||||||||
| Yellow | Codes applied which are irrelevant to format applied may produce unexpected results. | |||||||||||
| Clear | Fully compliant. | |||||||||||
| Notes: | ||||||||||||
| * 1 Note Full Doctype is as defined in HTML specification. Short Doctype is as applied by Nvu to HTML documents. This omits URL of DTD. | ||||||||||||
| * 2 Note when bgcolor applied to body body also has alink, vlink, link and text applied. | ||||||||||||
| * 3 Note when color applied to block body also has alink, vlink, link and text applied. | ||||||||||||
| * 4 This function is intermittent - Usually it is inaccessible. | ||||||||||||
| * 5 Comment applies to background. Link colours applied in addition always as alink vlink link. | ||||||||||||
| * 6 Text also applied. | ||||||||||||
| * 7 Color also applied (within style). | ||||||||||||
| 'Inactive' Indicates that the function cannot be performed. The button and/or menu item may be greyed out or missing but not necessarily so leading to more uncertainty. | ||||||||||||
Bug report submitted on 14th November 2005
This applies to Nvu 1.0 tested on Windows XP
I have found a number of issues relating to this subject where the code produced is not what I expected from the options selected.
I have tested files coded as ISO-8859-1, -7 and -15 and also UTF-8
I have tested a number of characters including the whole Latin-1 set and representative characters which differ in the each specification as well as out of range characters (above U+00FF).
I have tested the four options for 'Output the following characters as entities' which I call Options 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the order they are offered. I have tested the same options with the box 'Don't' encode > outside attribute values' checked. I call these options 1a, 2a, 3a and 4a.
I call the code seen in source view 'source code'
I call the code as loaded into a browser (e.g. Firefox) and seen in
'View > Page Source'
the file code.
I call coding as &#..; 'ncrs' - Numerical character references.
Here are my results.
For ISO 8859-1 Encoding
1 - The code for options 1, 2, and 3 is as expected. With Options 1a, 2a and 3a the file code for > is always > though the source code is correct.
2 - With Option 4 the source code is correct but the
file code
uses entities for Latin-1 characters and ncrs otherwise.
For ISO-8859-7 and -15
3 - The same issue as No 1 above occurs
4 - With option 4 the source code is correct. Where the Greek (or
Latin-9) character in the code position differs from the Latin-1
character the file code is correct i.e. ncrs are used. Where the
character is the same as in Latin-1 the file code uses the simple
character instead. (This differs from ISO-8859-1 encoding which uses
entities.)
For UTF-8 Encoding
5 - The same issue as No 1 above occurs.
6 - For option 4 the file code uses simple characters though the source code correctly uses ncrs.
For all encodings
7 - The symbols & < > and nbsp use ncrs in source code (except when > uses the simple character) but entities in file code.
When Nvu creates a new page it takes its defaults from two sources: Tools > Preferences > New page Settings and Tools > Preferences > Advanced. When a new page is created the opening window allows the markup preferences from the latter may be changed. This is acceptable. What is undesirable is that these changed values become the defaults (changing that set in Tools > Preferences). This is confusing. It would be better to put the markup settings in the New page settings and have them persist (though still selectable when creating a new page).
When writing the User Guide I have recommended, for various reasons, that the defaults which are set on installing Nvu should be changed. The recommendations are detailed at http://www.nvudev.org/guide/1.0PR/ugs09.htm I suggest that these changed values should become the defaults for later versions.
The changes are:
Nvu really needs a 'Refresh' button.
When changes are made outside Nvu, e.g. providing an image that was
missing (or editing a style sheet external to Nvu - pace!), it is very
difficult, sometimes impossible to get Nvu to recognise the change.
Sometimes closing and re-opening the file works but sometimes you have
to close Nvu and re-open.
Charles Cooke 14 March 2006
