Closed Bug 222747 Opened 21 years ago Closed 8 years ago

spellchecker should not scan (CSS) content of <style> tags

Categories

(MailNews Core :: Composition, defect)

defect
Not set
minor

Tracking

(Not tracked)

RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 1219928

People

(Reporter: perron.jeanfrancois, Unassigned)

References

()

Details

(Keywords: testcase, Whiteboard: [gs])

Attachments

(2 files)

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; fr; rv:1.3.1) Gecko/20030425
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; fr; rv:1.3.1) Gecko/20030425

when I reply to an HTML message, when doing spell check, the spellchecker runs
thru html tags before reaching the text that I typed.
I think the message that I replied comes from an outlook user.
of course I do not want to spell check the html language, only the text that I
can see in my window.
after finishing the spell check, there is a piece of fun because he ask me if I
wanted to send in 1) html 2) text 3) both of them...
and I chose... 2) text only

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1.compose an html message, or "reply" to an other one
2.ask for spellchecking, or configure it
3.send the message (spellchecking activates automatically)

Actual Results:  
boring spell checking thru html tags,
or cancel spell checking for the whole message

Expected Results:  
spell check only in the text that I can view in the windows of compose.
A good way round could be :
select some text, by hightlighting with the mouse,
spell check on selected text only.
Your build is far too old to report bug.

Try with a 1.5 final build which have spellchecker included.

Thanks.
Summary: when I reply to an HTML message, when doing spell check, the spellchecker runs thru html tags before reaching the text that I typed → when I reply to an HTML message, when doing spell check, the spellchecker runs thru html tags before reaching the text that I typed
I have noticed this happening only when forwarding certain messages from an 
Outlook user that were originally composed in rich text format.  Some messages 
forward ok and others cause the spell checker to go through the hidden html in 
the source code.  It doesn't seem to matter whether or not the send option is 
set for plain text or html, but if I go into account settings > composition 
and addressing and uncheck "compose messages in html format," the problem goes 
away.  So, it doesn't seem to matter if the message is sent in plain text or 
html, but if it's composed in html, the spell checker goes through the hidden 
source code.  I also don't experience this problem when replying.  It's only 
when forwarding.
(In reply to comment #2)
I thought I'd better put my information on here.  I am using Thunderbird 
version .4 and do not have the Mozilla browser.  I may try upgrading to 
version .5 and see if that helps.
could you find a nice example email (something which you don't consider
confidential) and save it to a file (sample.eml) and attach it here?
perhaps people on irc.mozilla.org #mozillazine can help you do that.

before you attach the file, make sure that you can import that email and
reproduce the problem...
QA Contact: esther → core.spelling-checker
I took an email from my husband (using outlook), changed some of the text on
it, and forwarded it to myself. When sending, the spell checker did try
checking hidden html (like msoNormal).	That email is what I attached. I did
forward it to myself & still had the same problem, so you should be able to
replicate it.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8a) Gecko/20040513

My mom actually ran across the bug earlier today when she forwarded something
using the May 6th nightly.  I just downloaded the May 13th nightly from to see
if another bug was fixed (which it was), so I checked and this HTML spell
checking bug is still there.

Note that it only seems to be checking certain parts of Microsoft's proprietary
code.
I have noticed this bug, specially since I use the spanish dictionary and some
tags like "table" are not in it.

I have just realized it happens when you use some signature file in your
configuration, composing or replying.  I am attaching a sample file.
Attached file Sample HTML card
This is a sample HTML card I have configured as my default signature.
Spellcheck prompts on HTML tags.
I am still able to recreate this bug using version 0.7.3 (20040803).
I ran Misty's mail thru the spellchecker, and the only errors I found were not 
the HTML tags themselves, but the contents of the <style> tags.  Normally, tag 
content is what you want to have scanned.

See also bug 234210.  Note that <style> within the <body> of a message is 
technically not legal, altho TB & Moz display such messages more or less as 
expected.

However, this problem occurs whether the <style> is in the <head> or the <body>. 
Putting the <style> within the <head> can be accomplished by editing the file 
corresponding to the Templates folder with a text editor.

Interestingly, <script> tags appear to be ignored by the spellchecker.
Status: UNCONFIRMED → NEW
Ever confirmed: true
OS: Windows XP → All
Hardware: PC → All
Summary: when I reply to an HTML message, when doing spell check, the spellchecker runs thru html tags before reaching the text that I typed → spellchecker should not scan content of <style> tags
*** Bug 255550 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
(In reply to comment #9)
> I am still able to recreate this bug using version 0.7.3 (20040803).

The bug 255550 (which is a duplicate of this one) contains an attachment that
reproduces always the bug.
*** Bug 262704 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Adding "CSS" to summary to improve searchability.

I tried implementing an HTML comment to hide the CSS from the parser:
<style> <!--
 .bogusword { ... }
-->
</style>

This does not stop the spellchecker from tripping on "bogusword", altho the 
spellchecker does ignore the content of comments in the message body source.
Summary: spellchecker should not scan content of <style> tags → spellchecker should not scan (CSS) content of <style> tags
having this release,
Mozilla 1.7.3
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; fr-FR; rv:1.7.3) Gecko/20040910

I tested this bug and found it fixed, at least with an html message made from
scratch in mozilla.
more, we can now select some text with the mouse, an then the spelling is done
only on the hightlighted text. ok
for example if you have more than one langage in spellchecker, you can compose a
message in two langages:

text in langage one................
...................................

text in langage two................
...................................

then select the block of text in langage one, activate spellchecking, assign
langage one in it and do the spell check

again with the block in langage two, change the langage in spell checker, and do it

all seems fine. 

I personally think that this bug should be closed, and wait for further testing
from present state, so any body could open a new bug

thanks to everybody
I'm using Thunderbird version 0.9 (20041103) & still having the problem.
I see now that I morphed this bug from the original report.  Sorry, Jean-
François!  At least your problem is fixed; but the problem this bug is now about 
still exists.
Attachment #146198 - Attachment mime type: application/eml → message/rfc822
Product: MailNews → Core
I do not agree that this bug be qualified of "minor". Unability to use the spell
checker in HTML seems to me a major "loss of function"
Still experiencing this bug in version 1.0.2 (20050317).
(In reply to comment #10)
Please note that users do not care if the HTML is technically correct or not.
All they want is to try to use Thunderbird and SpellChecher... and since years,
they cannot.
*** Bug 356037 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
sorry for the spam.  making bugzilla reflect reality as I'm not working on these bugs.  filter on FOOBARCHEESE to remove these in bulk.
Assignee: sspitzer → nobody
QA Contact: spelling-checker → composition
Product: Core → MailNews Core
Keywords: testcase
I also agree that this is not a minor bug. It's a major bug. Regardless of whether or not HTML in an email message is properly formatted or not, <style></style> should not be spellchecked. It's a major nuisance for users.
I am a rather new user of Thunderbird, and I cannot understand that such a bug, raised more than seven years ago, be still considered as a minor one and not yet solved !
I have never seen that in other messaging systems and spell check tools.
Should I get rid of Mozilla, Thunderbid & Co ?
Thanks in advance for solving the problem.
I am an old user of Mozilla, Thunderbird & Co and I am too scandalized. I think that Chrome and co will awake us very soon. 
Can anyone explain me what we can do to change importance from "minor to "major"?
It was a long way to find the Bugzilla site, but be sure that now, I won’t give up until this bug is corrected.

1) The errors we are speaking of are due to the fact that the spell check works on the “original message” when we forward or answer to an existing mail. With or without included HTML code, I think it is not our responsibility to spell check a mail written by somebody else. Furthermore, it's ridiculous in this case to check the spelling of HTML words.

2) I would accept that the bug be considered as “minor” by English (UK or US) writers. Almost all of the mistakes we are prompted to correct in French (my case), or any other non-English language, are generally English words, and not included in the chosen dictionary.
For example, “definition” (without e acute), “family”, “panose”, etc., not speaking of the fonts names, are not French words.

3) All these words being located, in the source of the message we are going to send, after the line “-------- original message -----------“, it shouldn’t be difficult, IMHO, to prevent the spell check to go beyond this line.

Please, Mozilla gentlemen, realize that for the non-English community the bug is a MAJOR, easy-to-solve, one, and correct it !
Thanks and regards.
Paps
My spell-checking of forwarded messages forces me to go through the list of font names that are in the original sender's Outlook messages.

The spell-checker objects to:
PMingLiU, Calibri, Garamond, windowtext

I'm using Thunderbird 3.1.6 on Fedora Linux 13.
Please Mozilla, I have directors getting so frustrated my users are afraid to send emails. This issue is alive and kicking with multiple users across all platforms. Your attention to this issue will be most appreciated by everyone who uses Mozilla products. 
Thanks for your professionalism,
Travis Thorn
I know this seems unimportant or trivial, but then so are many of the changes actually made to TB in the many years since this bug was first reported. To get a reported spelling error in a word that you "know" is not in your message is not merely annoying, it is very frustrating to non-technical users and causes much time-wasting to anyone with a little technical knowledge.

I remember noticing this (and trying) to report it probably 3 computers and 3 versions of Windows ago. yet here it still is in TB 3.1.10 on Windows 7 SP1,
Still happening. Using TB 11.0.1 on OS/X 10.7
Still happening with TB 13.0.1 on Vista 32 SP2. I agree with Brian Hershman's comment, over a year has passed since then and no change.  I know it's open source software and I appreciate the huge efforts that people have put in over the years getting it to work, but spell check is a core part of an email client and should be robust. This is the kind of bug that makes people run away to Gmail or Outlook. Its importance should be increased.
You are right, I have voted for THIS bug about ten years ago. And too for some basic bugs in Firefox. I am very sorry for open  source, but I have been obliged to quit to Chrome. Maybe I should try Outlook, but I do not success to switch to MS...
I think that a fundation like Mozilla is maybe too big and too old. Like Panam, these old rebectable ladies become too fat and fossilized and die.
To add to Pierre Couderc diagnosis:

 I feel that this is a symptom of a much wider disease that I would call "Microsoftosis" - an incorrigible tendency to make changes for changes' sake, to confuse long-suffering users but to ignore their real problems. 

  I encountered this long ago when virtually all commercial programmers wrote systems to meet their own specifications, not those of their customers. Thunderbird is not just one person's hobby but a practical tool used by many millions of users who are not IT specialists and are not fascinated by all the clever things that Mozilla (or Microsoft or....) can do.

If it's not broke, don't mend it! But if it needs mending, then get on with it!
I see this frequently; here is a snippet from an email I received today, and forwarded with a recent (31.2?) version of Thunderbird:

Email Marketing Powered by MailChimp
http://www.mailchimp.com/monkey-rewards/?utm_source=3Dfreemium_newsletter&=
utm_medium=3Demail&utm_campaign=3Dmonkey_rewards&aid=3D51be0abff289ae72c86=
8bd484&afl=3D1
--_----------=_MCPart_728584149
Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<html>
<head>
=09<title>All Hands on Board!</title>
    <meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dutf-=
8">
=09
<style type=3D"text/css">
=09=09body=2C.backgroundTable{
=09=09=09background-color:#ffffff;
=09=09}
=09=09#contentTable{

The spell-checker complained about backgroundTable and ffffff and contentTable.
Removing myslef on all the bugs I'm cced on. Please NI me if you need something on MailNews Core bugs from me.
I had reported this problem - unwittingly duplicating, at least more or less, this bug-report - elsewhere. However (my fault?) I cannot locate that new report. However, in that new report Mozilla programmers said, I think, that they had fixed the problem. Yet, I am unsure about that. For I have Thunderbird 38.4.0 on Windows (and I have a version on Linux too, but I haven't had the problem there for a while) and I have just had the problem with text pasted from Word into the body of the e-mail. Perhaps the problem has been fixed solely for signatures.
I confirm that the problem still occurs in Windows with TB 38.4.0 at least via the following: forward a received email from a non-TB user and do a spell check before (not) sending it.  The spellchecker still comes up with "misspellings" of words like Calibri, EmailStyle etc.
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 8 years ago
Resolution: --- → DUPLICATE
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