Knowledge Base

PRB: </PLAINTEXT> Closing Tag Is Ignored in IE4

Article ID: 182733

Article Last Modified on 5/11/2006

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 128-Bit Edition
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 2

This article was previously published under Q182733

SYMPTOMS

Internet Explorer 4.0x (IE4) does not close the <PLAINTEXT> container like Internet Explorer 3.0x does.

Please note that the <PLAINTEXT> tag has been marked as an obsolete tag by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

RESOLUTION

Use the <PRE> tag and display all reserved characters (such as brackets) with their corresponding HTML character entities.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

The <PLAINTEXT> tag was designed to render all of a Web page's subsequent text without parsing any tags, including its own </PLAINTEXT> tag. IE4 supports this tag as it is defined by the HTML specification. This element is not recommended as different browsers may not support it consistently. Instead, use the <PRE> tag and display all reserved characters (such as brackets) with their corresponding HTML character entities.

The <XMP> and <LISTING> elements are not recommended substitutes, as they are legacies of the original HTML 1.0 specification that will eventually not be supported by Web browsers. Using <PRE> will assure that your content is displayed accurately on all browsers, now and in the future.

REFERENCES

For more information about developing Web-based solutions for Microsoft Internet Explorer, visit the following Microsoft Web sites:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/ie/

http://support.microsoft.com/iep

HTML 4.0 Spec, section A.1.3 Obsolete elements: http://www.w3.org/TR/REC- html40-971218/appendix/changes.html#h-A.1.3

Additional query words: PRE LISTING

Keywords: kbfaq kbprb KB182733