Re: [Re: [Dynapi-Dev] DynAPI Makefile/code compression almost complete]

[Dougal C. <do...@gu...>]

On 5 Dec 2000, Bill Wheaton wrote:

> What I meant (can't say about Cameron), was that it would be nice to have all
> of the functionality of the API without even worrying if it is cross browser
> compatible.  
> Quite often, I have to write intranet apps where my customer can and
> absolutely does control which ua their users use. (via SMS or whatever).  It
> doesn't matter as much over a lan, but for their remote sales people dialing
> up from his customer's pots line to check product allocation during the lunch
> break, it can be slow.  If I could _only_ include IE code when I knew it was
> the standard, then I could speed things up some.... maybe even a lot.
> maybe I'm dreaming
> -bw

Those of you interested in browser-targeted code might want to take a
look at <URL:http://www.dx0.org/>. This is a cross-browser library with
a difference: it uses server-side technology to detect which browser is
making the connection, then it delivers JavaScript targeted to that
particular browser.

In other words, if you view the site with Netscape 4.x, you only receive
JavaScript for NS4 (there's no "if is.ie" conditionals). If you browse
in with IE5, you get Javascript specifically for IE5 (no "if
is.ns4"). Or Mozilla, or NS6, or whatever (they might be supporting
Opera, if the new release has decent DOM).

The project is still in heavy development, but there are already a few
skinnable widgets built and working (a menu, a floating toolbar, and a
viewBox (a scrollbar/window). 

You build your DHTML code in PHP, Perl, or Python. The server then
delivers appropriate JS to the browser.

Also check out <URL:http://deathstar.eng.utah.edu/~kroford/930/dx0/>

Keep in mind that the library and the site are still under development,
and there are sections of the web site that aren't complete yet. But
from what I've seen on the mailing list, it looks like a few people are
using it in production already.

-- 
Ernest MacDougal Campbell III, MCP <do...@gu...>
http://www.gunters.org/~dougal/
Lumber Cartel Unit #1654 (tinlc): http://come.to/the.lumber.cartel/
"The medium is not the message. The *message* is the message."