Is Internet Explorer 6 really Supported???

[nwrcube]

I'm in the process of evaluating RoundCube (version 0.3.1) as a replacement for our current web mail client.  On of the reasons we are looking at roundcube is that it states one of its "Tested Browsers" is IE6, which I took to mean RC works correctly in IE6.  When I tried RC in IE6 it does not function correctly.  It gets past the login fine, but initial page stops with an error.
Line 97, Char 1, object expected.
Basically it is unusable.  However, RC works fine in IE8 and FF 3.5.

So, the question is, Is Internet Explorer 6 really Supported?

Now, I realize some people are going to say IE6 is an old outdated browser and I could not agree more.  However IE6 is still the standard for a number of companies and customers…  Wikipedia/Net Applications estimates as of Jan 2010, IE6 still has a 20% market share of all browsers…  Only IE 8 has a higher market share.

[toetag]

I'll have to test tomorrow.  I could swear that most of my usage with roundcube and IE has been with IE6.  Unless i'm on a server level OS that comes with IE7 or higher, I don't load IE updates.  Most of my desktops have XP and the default install of IE.

(first thing I do is load FF )

[nwrcube]

I did a little more digging.  It definitely works fine on IE7 and on IE8.  And eventually I got it to work on IE6.

If I go directly into roundcube, the first time, it does not work.  I close the browser and try again, same result.

However, if I go into roundcube and keep the broken page up and press the refresh button, the roundcube screen renders correctly.  So, it has to something to do with the initial build of the page.

If I exit IE6 now and go back into IE6 and go to roundcube, everything works fine.  However, if I delete the IE6 cache and then go back in, the same problem occurs.

I have attached screen shots of the results.

What ever is causing the problem really flakes IE6 out, because it won't even let me view the source once it encounters the error.

[SKaero]

Its working for me, have you tried the SVN?

[nwrcube]

I haven't used the SVN, on the current release.

[SKaero]

Try the SVN, there was a large JavaScript update.

[nwrcube]

I loaded SVN r3241 and had the same results.

It appears to be happening with the following line:


As noted before, the error seems to occur when you first use RoundCube.  If you refresh the broken screen, everything displays correctly.  It appears to happen to every page: Inbox, setting, address book, compose email, etc.  If you refresh on each page, then that page works correctly from that point forward.

[nwrcube]

I have attached the HTML from when it works correctly.  That file is unavailable when it does not work.

[nwrcube]

I installed a debugger for IE6 and I was able to determine that the issue is occuring in /rc/skins/default/templates/mail.html on line 33



It appears that IE6 has not loaded external js files necessary to execute the functions in the javascript.

According to the debugger, the following JS are missing from memory:
splitter.js
functions.js
list.js

If you perform a refresh on the errored pages, the JS file then get loaded.  Attached on screen shot of error and javascript debugger results showing the loaded javascript files.

This error occurs on any page that has similar code (message.html, settings.html, addressbook.html).

Thanks
Brad

[dennylin93]

This is a known issue. I'm guessing that your JS files are being served gzipped. IE6 doesn't handle gzipped JS correctly, so try turning it off.

There's a lot of info about this on the Internet.

[nwrcube]

Thanks!!!  I turned off compression of Javascript and that did indeed resolve the problem.  I had never heard of this issue before.  I have been using JS compression for several years with no problems, but I was only using 1 external JS file.  It must occur when you are using multiple files.  

Thanks again for the information!!