Entering postal codes on web forms errors

Hi yfz43,

What you're explaining sounds more like a web browser issue than actual hardware issue with the machine. What did you have on the machine prior to upgrading to Snow Leopard? If you didn't have 10.5.8 (or Safari 4), you've now upgraded the browser to Safari since installing Snow Leopard. It's very possible that we're dealing with a Safari compatibility issue.

If you download and install Firefox do you notice any change in your ability to fill out this form?

Hi yfz43,

I encourage you to submit feedback to Apple regarding Safari's inability to access the particular website you're looking to use. Apple won't know something doesn't work unless someone tells them.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

I've had the same problem since getting a Mac almost 2 years ago. It's not unique to Snow Leopard as it happened prior to its release.

As well, it's not a problem unique to a particular website, it happens with almost all website forms that ask for a postal code (at least in Canadian format).

I would have thought Apple would have provided a fix for this by now. I'm sure it's quite a simple issue to address. I figured out the FF fix but you shouldn't have to use another browser to get around something as simple as inputting your address.

I'm going to rain on the parade here, but this is not a problem with Apple or Safari per se - it's a problem with the Web designers using pattern enforcement / validation in the online forms and not counting on alternate postal code formats like those used in Canada and elsewhere, or not having their code structured to use alternate formats based on the country selected. This is something that I encountered personally when I made a registration form and did not allow for Canadian postal codes. 🙂

The reason a different browser will work where Safari may not lies in the rendering engine the browser uses. Safari uses WebKit, Firefox uses Gecko; either will render/execute code differently.

This is part of the "fun" of doing web design: you have to test your code on the browsers and platforms to be sure that it renders and executes properly. I've found that 95% of the time, code executes properly in Safari, Firefox and Opera; Internet Explorer is another story altogether..

On the sites that you're having problems, find the contact info and send them a note about the problem (they probably don't know!) with your OS and browser versions.

-Douggo

Well, you are obviously far more tech savvy than me. 🙂 However, I have a problem accepting that it's the scenario you describe.

The majority of the sites where I've encountered the problem are Canadian only sites, that Americans (or others) wouldn't have any reason to visit. If they did, they'd find the forms have 2 separate blocks to enter the postal code; one for the first 3 characters and another for the second 3 characters. You couldn't enter a 5 digit US Zip code even if you wanted. Nor could you enter your "state" as the dropdown menus only provide Canadian provinces.

I find it hard to believe that literally dozens of pages are simply coded incorrectly not to accommodate Canadian postal codes, when the sites, the companies involved and indeed the customers entering the data are all Canadian.

However, I have a problem accepting that it's the scenario you describe.

Okay, let me put this in simpler terms. 🙂 When you fill out a webform, you're just inputting text on an HTML page (okay, some webforms can be generated via JavaScript, but the underlying issue is the same). What gets passed back to the server when submitting the form is just text, usually through a POST statement that contains the form field identifiers and values contained in those form fields.

There's a 99% chance that the form has a validation script to verify that the data you entered is in a format that is acceptable to pass back to to the server for processing. That validation routine runs through the web browser on your computer. Validation can take place either when the form is submitted, or interactively as you fill out the form through the use of AJAX or JavaScript.

It is extremely rare that websites will use server-side validation as it generates an excessive amount of traffic and puts the load on the server to execute the validation.

As I said, "The reason a different browser will work where Safari may not lies in the rendering engine the browser uses. Safari uses WebKit, Firefox uses Gecko; _either will render/execute code differently._" The fact that your postal code entry gets rejected in Safari but not Firefox tells me two things:

1) The validation script doesn't execute properly in Safari, and;
2) The web designers for the site(s) have not run _comprehensive and thorough_ browser-compatibility checks.

Certainly, you should notify Apple of the problem as JasonFear suggested, since this is most definitely a Safari bug. But you should also notify the site owner of the issue as well.

Good websites should be pushing for standards-compliant design and function. While Safari may hold a small share of the browser market, it is large enough not to be ignored when running compliancy checks on websites. When I'm working on website designs, I check the pages in as many browsers as possible, both Mac and Windows, to make sure that everything functions as consistently as possible. They should be doing the same.

-Douggo