((((((((((((((((( WEBREFERENCE UPDATE NEWSLETTER )))))))))))))))))
NOVEMBER 23, 1998
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Now with over 49100 subscribers
http://www.webreference.com <- link to us today
http://www.webreference.com/new/ <- archive, subscribe/unsubscribe
New this week on WebReference.com and the Web:
1. DOC JAVASCRIPT: Scrolling HTML Basics, Part I: Netscape version
2. DHTML LAB: JavaScript Enhancement with VBScript
3. HTML WITH STYLE: Boxing with CSS, Part I: The Theory
4. E-COMMERCE WATCH: Three tiers for Internet Security!
5. NEW LINKS: Internet Tutorials, HTML Collections, Backgrounds
6. NEW FEATURES: News Harvester Installer, Pausable Scroller
7. NEW SOFTWARE: DHTMLLib 2: A Cross-browser DHTML API
8. OTHER VOICES: The DOM Dissected
9. NET NEWS: AOL to buy Netscape
Spread the word! Feel free to send a copy of this newsletter to
your friends and colleagues, and while you're at it, snap a link to
WebReference.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. DOC JAVASCRIPT: Scrolling HTML Basics, Part I: Netscape version
Ever wonder how those cool news scrollers work? Wonder no more!
In this column, the Doc shows you how to build a window that
scrolls an external HTML file. Learn how to pause the scroller
with a mouseover, position the scroller within your page, and
avoid those pesky Netscape bugs. In future columns we'll create
an Explorer version and then combine them together for a cross-
browser scroller. By Dr. Yehuda Shiran.
http://www.webreference.com/js/column30/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. DHTML LAB: JavaScript Enhancement with VBScript
Learn how to combine VBScript with JavaScript in Explorer, without
sacrificing functionality in other browsers. We show how to call
VBScript functions from JavaScript, and introduce a customizable
cross-browser dialog box library to replace the default dialogs.
By Peter Belesis.
http://www.webreference.com/dhtml/column22/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. HTML WITH STYLE: Boxing with CSS, Part I: The Theory
This week we spar with one of the trickiest parts of style sheets:
The CSS visual formatting model. This is the part your parents
never even told you about. Find out what a box really is, where
little boxes come from, and what boxes do when they get together.
By Stephanos Piperoglou.
http://www.webreference.com/html/tutorial9/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4. E-COMMERCE WATCH: Three tiers for Internet Security!
Designers love them, developers love them, and your auditors will
love them too. Three-tier client server architectures are just
what the doctor ordered for e-commerce systems. By Mark Merkow.
http://www.webreference.com/ecommerce/mm/column14/
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you're missing!
http://redir.internet.com/webref/981120/www.dell.com/outlet/_welcome.htm
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5. NEW LINKS: Internet Tutorials, HTML Collections, Backgrounds
>General Internet Tutorials
New to the Net? Look to these tutorials to show you the way.
http://www.webreference.com/internet/tutorials.html
>HTML Collections
Looking for buried treasure, are ye? Well matey, you've come to
just the place. There's many a fine gem in our store of HTML
repositories.
http://www.webreference.com/authoring/languages/html/collections.html
>Background Tiles
White dingy Web pages got you down, bunky? Spice it up then with
these subtle and not so subtle background patterns. Thousands of
patterns to choose from!
http://www.webreference.com/authoring/graphics/background.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6. NEW FEATURE: News Harvester Installer, Pausable Scroller
>Free news scroller now easier to install
The fastest free news ticker available, News Harvester, has just
become easier to install. Internet.com announced today that it
has created a command-line installer for the professional versions
of its popular News Harvester program: the Perl and Perl/DHTML
versions which display updated headlines 24 hours a day.
The new installer automates the process of installing either
the Perl (static headlines) or Perl/DHTML (static + scrolling)
versions on Unix or NT servers. Webmasters just type in where
they want the files, and the installer does the rest.
For more details go to the News Harvester site at:
http://www.webreference.com/headlines/nh/
>Pausable Scroller
For a sneak preview of things to come in News Harvester try out
our new pausable news scroller. To pause the scroller, just click
on the VCR-like pause button to the right of the internetnews.com
logo. The button turns into a play button, which you can click
again to resume scrolling.
This scroller is based on the Perl/DHTML version of News Harvester,
and gracefully degrades for non-DHTML-enabled browsers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
7. NEW SOFTWARE: DHTMLLib 2: A Cross-browser DHTML API
For the user, viewing and using a well-written DHTML-enhanced site
is a real pleasure. For the developer, creating that stunning site
is another matter. DHTML has the capability to create compelling Web
applications, (take a look at Peter's hierarchical menu tool, or
Jeff Rouyer's htmlguru.com site) but it needs to be standards-based
to become widely adopted.
http://www.webreference.com/dhtml/dynomat/
http://www.htmlguru.com/magic/
http://www.htmlguru.com
DHTML is a collection of technologies (HTML, style sheets, and
JavaScript) that allows scripts to dynamically access and update
the content, structure, and style of documents, through something
called the DOM. The Document Object Model (DOM) are objects that
represent the scriptable entities within your HTML and XML
documents.
Unfortunately, Netscape and Explorer have widely different DOMs,
so creating cross-browser DHTML is at best problematic. While the
W3C has released a DOM recommendation, that we hope future versions
of browsers adopt, the current state of affairs is not unlike HTML
was in its infancy.
Explorer 4, released months after Netscape 4, more closely follows
the W3C's DOM, and exposes most of its elements to JavaScript, and
could be said to support true Dynamic HTML (can be modified after
load). Netscape 4, on the other hand, has more limited support of
the DOM. Creating cross-browser DHTML today requires an intimate
understanding of the DOM and the incompatibilities between each
browser.
There are a number of methods developers have adopted to create
cross-browser DHTML:
* Code by hand using common and uncommon code - Our own DHTML and
JavaScript experts use this approach, it gives the most compact
code, but requires an intimate knowledge of the DOM and browser
differences.
* Use a DHTML editor - Tools like the new Dreamweaver 2, NetObjects
Fusion, and HotMetal Pro 5 make creating cross browser DHTML a cut-
and-paste affair, but you're stuck with what comes with the program.
* Use cross-browser objects and templates - After a while DHTML
scripters build up a library of reusable functions and objects,
many of which they share on the Net. (see our own experts and
htmlguru.com)
* Use a cross-browser DHTML API - A DTHML Application Programming
Interface (API) is a JavaScript layer that acts as a common
language to both browser's DOM's. They add some overhead (10-20K
typically), but this external library is cached, and development
time is greatly reduced.
Using a DHTML API or cross-browser objects means not thinking about
browser differences and lets you concentrate on implementing your
ideas. There are a few DHTML APIs available, most of which create
a third DOM, with another set of commands to learn. DHTMLLib 2,
from insidedhtml.com takes a unique approach to this problem, by
emulating a subset of IE4's DOM within Netscape!
DHTMLLib 2.0 is the brainchild of Scott Isaacs, a Microsoft employee
and DHTML expert who also runs the companion site to his book,
Inside DHTML at:
DHTMLLib acts as a JavaScript layer that constructs an IE-compatible
object and event model in Navigator 4.0. The library flattens Netscape's
DOM and emulates Explorer's document.all collection and event bubbling.
So developers need only write the code once for Explorer, and it
(should) work on Netscape. I tested some of Scott's examples, and
they even worked on IE4 Mac (notorious for its poor DHTML support).
Version 2 of DHTMLLib was just released, and makes object properties
read-write, fixes a number of bugs, and was completely rewritten.
Scott says:
"Basically, I wrote a recursive algorithm that walks Netscape's object
model once the page is loaded and rebuilds it to match as much of
Internet Explorer's object model as possible. I also map the entire
Netscape event model by capturing all their events and then manually
rerouting them in reverse order to simulate event bubbling." Details at:
http://www.insidedhtml.com/dhtmllib/page3.asp
The entire library is under 14.5 K, and is being used at places like
Builder.com. The library is free for non-commercial sites, if you
meet his requirements (copyright notice, a link). Naturally, Scott
wrote DHTMLLib based on IE4 as it has a more developed DOM, and he's
a Microsoft employee, but this library does add some initial overhead
to Netscape users, while none to IE4 users.
Not to be outdone, Netscape has its own DHTML API, based in part on
Mike Hall's work.
Netscape's Cross-Browser DHTML API (and test suite)
http://developer1.netscape.com/docs/technote/dynhtml/xbdhtml/xbdhtml.html
http://developer1.netscape.com/docs/technote/dynhtml/csspapi/csspapi.html
http://developer.netscape.com/docs/technote/dynhtml/csspapi/tests.html
Mike Hall's Cross Browser Library
http://members.aol.com/MHall75819/dhtml/cbdhtml.html
Danny Goodman includes cross-browser functions in his fine book
DHTML: The Definitive Guide from O'Reilly
http://www.dannyg.com
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/dhtmlref/ (his library is in the examples)
Our own Doc JavaScript has also started his own DHTML API,
DOCJSLIB 3.0 at:
http://www.webreference.com/js/column29/
And our own DHTML expert Peter Belesis utilizes cross-browser
techniques and objects at:
http://www.dhtmlab.com
FreeDOM (Free Dynamic Object Model) is a generic OO API. From Laurence Rozier.
The Pattern
FreeDOM version of W3C DOM Specifications - can be used to create DOM compliant apps in version 4 browsers. (beta)
Builder.com Review
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8. OTHER VOICES: The DOM Dissected
>The DOM Dissected
DHTML requires a thorough understanding of the Document Object
Model. Find out what it is, how to use it, and where it might be
leading us.
http://wdvl.com/Authoring/DHTML/DOM/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9. NET NEWS: AOL to buy Netscape
The New York Times reported this morning that AOL has confirmed
it is on the verge of acquiring Netscape Communications for an
estimated $4 billion in stock. The proposed deal would include
a side deal with Sun Microsystems, who would distribute Netscape's
electronic commerce software. Sun, in return, would pay AOL a
user fee. The deal would give Sun greater access to Netscape's
software and further the reach of its Java programming language.
AOL would control Netscape's portal and would likely bundle
their browser with AOL's software (though the Times reported
that AOL would still bundle Explorer with its software).
If the deal goes through AOL would eclipse Yahoo for reach
by combining their 24 million visitors a month with Netscape's
16 million, over Yahoo's 25 million. (from Media Matrix)
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/1998/11/2301-aol.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/217272.asp
http://www.nytimes.com
Various sources, Nov. 23, 1998
That's it for this week, see you next time.
Andrew King
Managing Editor, WebReference.com
update@webreference.com
+------------------ADVICE FROM "NEWS" HARVEY---------------------+
Q. Dear "News" Harvey, how do I get.... FREE HEADLINES ON MY SITE?
A. Get News Harvester at http://www.webreference.com/headlines/nh/
- NH 3.1 works so well we took it outta beta! Get yours now !:-)
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
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The WebReference Update is the "Official Resource for Web News"
for the International Webmasters Association (IWA). The IWA and
WebRef have partnered to better serve our members by providing
timely, relevant info to help stay on top of their profession.
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Also on Internet.com .... http://www.Internet.com
Guide to Internet Access and the WWW http://www.boardwatch.com
The best Web sites every moment http://www.coolcentral.com
The Reference Desk for Web Marketing http://www.cyberatlas.com
The latest Internet news http://www.internetNews.com
How to do e-commerce on the Internet http://e-comm.internet.com
The Leading Business Internet Magazine http://www.internetworld.com
Java applets: freeware and shareware http://www.javaboutique.com
A free cut & paste JavaScript library http://javascriptsource.com
The definitive high-tech encyclopedia http://www.pcwebopaedia.com
Boost your site's search placement http://searchenginewatch.com
ServerWatch ratings and reviews http://www.serverwatch.com
Download Internet apps 4 WIN 3.x/95/NT http://www.stroud.com
THE list of ISPs with 3,000+ http://www.thelist.com
The Web Developer's Virtual Library http://www.wdvl.com
Web server software comparisons http://www.webcompare.com
WebDeveloper, resources and tips http://www.webdeveloper.com
The developer's guide to webmastery http://www.webreference.com
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