[OpenLayers-Dev] Empty geometries causing errors in IE

[Tim Schaub]

Hey-

Roald de Wit wrote:
> Hi list,
> 
> Creating an empty geometry is fine in Firefox (SVG), but fails in IE
> (VML).
> It goes wrong in VML.js in setNodeDimension. This method tries to create
> a bbox, then tests for its existence, but not if there is something in
> there.
> 
> I'd like to start a discussion on whether OL should allow for empty
> geometries or not. The least that should come out of the discussion is a
> solution where the user doesn't get a javascript error for trying.
> 

I'm entirely in favor of this.  I don't think the renderer is the right 
place to bomb (or hey maybe even throw an exception!) on an empty geometry.

I think it makes sense to have our format classes throw exceptions on 
empty geometries.  They could even have an option to allow empty 
geometry.  In any case, it should be up to the application designer to 
decide what to do with empty geometry.  As library developers, I don't 
think we should impose our beliefs about empty geometries on all others.

Breaking in only one browser, and only when rendering, is a bit late and 
a bit inconsistent.


> See ticket #1111 for a simple 'fix'.

See also http://trac.openlayers.org/ticket/968

I'd like to see some tests for the renderers really.  I haven't looked 
closely at your patch, but it would be nice to make sure we don't slip 
once we decide to make a change (like make browser behavior consistent).

Tim

> 
> Chris, Tim, anyone else?
>