< character causes odd behavior

ID:100984
 
Aug 26 2010, 5:46 pm (Edited on Aug 26 2010, 7:29 pm)
BYOND Version:N/A (Website Bug)
Operating System:Windows 7 Ultimate
Web Browser:Internet Explorer 8.0
Applies to:Website
Status: Deferred
This issue may be low priority or very difficult to fix, and has been put on the back burner for the time being.
Descriptive Problem Summary:
In a bug report, if you put a "<" character followed by a new-line, it will show the literal HTML for a linebreak.


Numbered Steps to Reproduce Problem:
1. In a new bug report, Type < and then return.
2. See your post.

Code Snippet (if applicable) to Reproduce Problem:
<


Does the problem occur:
Every time? Or how often? Every time
In other games? N/A
In other user accounts? Yes
On other computers? Yes

When does the problem NOT occur?
When you don't do it.

Did the problem NOT occur in any earlier versions? If so, what was the last version that worked? (Visit http://www.byond.com/download/build to download old versions for testing.)
N/A

Workarounds:
Don't use emoticons.
</<>
Aug 27 2010, 2:31 am
Open html tags screw up in general. Because the website attempts to clean up by removing unclosed tags. <boink
Aug 27 2010, 4:47 am
There are no valid emoticons that end in < anyway--only anime pseudoemoticons. Workarounds: Use better emoticons, or use the &lt; entity like you're supposed to for those cases. Although frankly, using emoticons in bug reports isn't necessary.
Aug 27 2010, 5:51 am
It can mean less than!
Aug 27 2010, 6:21 am
Indeed, but no one puts a less-than symbol on the end of a line; it's always followed by something.

Just to clarify though, I acknowledge this is sort of a bug. It's hard to get a filter to really work well when people are using angle brackets in an environment where HTML is also allowed, but this is fixable. It just won't be high priority because there are good workarounds.
Aug 27 2010, 6:41 am (Edited on Aug 27 2010, 6:53 am)
It will also cut off any following text <like this
Edit (or reply to) this comment to see
Seems to happen if the first word of the following text is connected
It also cuts off this whole line somehow <
Aug 27 2010, 6:45 am
Ah, I see what you mean there. That's going to be even harder to catch, to be honest, but it seems like a way worse problem than putting < at the end of a line.
Aug 27 2010, 6:46 am
Lummox JR wrote:
but it seems like a way worse problem than putting < at the end of a line.

Indeed it is. That's sort of what I was saying in my original comment.
Aug 27 2010, 8:39 am
Lummox JR wrote:
or use the &lt; entity like you're supposed to for those cases.

Really? Come on- I'm just a user of your website and software - to suggest that I'm 'supposed' to do some programmery-workaround is silly.

I completely agree that it's a minor bug, but figured that it should be posted nonetheless.
Aug 27 2010, 8:47 am
When working in an environment that lets me post HTML, I make no assumptions about whether < is going to be treated as part of a tag or not. You can't assume that of any given browser, nor any given filter. From an ease-of-use standpoint I agree it'd be nice if it just plain worked the way you expect it to, but practically speaking that isn't necessarily the case. Again though, I acknowledge this can and should be handled better (at least in some cases) and the fact that it isn't does make it a bug.
Aug 27 2010, 8:53 am
Lummox JR wrote:
When working in an environment that lets me post HTML, I make no assumptions about whether < is going to be treated as part of a tag or not. You can't assume that of any given browser, nor any given filter.

Yes, yes. I am the same way. But I am in web design, and you are a programmer of some sorts - this is a community of a lot of varied people, a lot of which would have no clue what &lt; is.
You can't assume that your users would.

I'm done here, thank you for taking this bug into consideration.