onload = start;

function start() {
  outputStringToDisplay(welcomeStr);
}

The other problem is that when you write to the DHTML in Netscape Navigator, you completely blank the other attributes of the DHTML, like its frame, its background color, etc. The solution we use here was to embrace a SPAN element within a DIV element:

<DIV ID="displayID" STYLE="position: absolute"> 
  <SPAN ID="foundSoFar" STYLE="position: absolute; border: 2px red solid; width: 250">
  </SPAN> 
</DIV>

In Internet Explorer, we just change the innerHTML parameter of the inner SPAN, foundSoFar. In Netscape Navigator, we refer to the outer DIV as the DHTML element, and write the SPAN element every time from scratch. Thus, we need to write the border and color specifications, for example, every time:

function outputStringToDisplay(str) {
  if (nameCode == 2) {
    with (document.displayID.document) {
      open();
      str = '<SPAN STYLE="position: absolute; border: 2px red solid; width: 235">' + str + '</SPAN>';
      write(str);
      close();
    }
  } 
  else {
    document.all.foundSoFar.innerHTML = str;
  }
}

Again, notice how Internet Explorer anchors on the inner SPAN foundSoFar element, while Netscape Navigator anchors around the outer DIV displayID element. Learn about an application that implemented the above, in Column 58, The Doc Dialer, Part 2: A Browser-Independent Version.

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