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Thread: Appropriate DOM levels question
Appropriate DOM levels question
user name
 2008-03-18 12:55:15 
I am coding a series of web pages for an embedded controller
that will
present realtime data. I want it to work with as many
browsers as
possible, but I have been stumbling on a complete
understanding of the
DOM levels and the DOM topography.  I have read the FAQ, and
some
questions were answered, but not enough.  So I have a few
other
questions if someone can help.  Thanks in advance for any
helpful
information.

1. Where can I find a concise description of the differences
between the
DOM levels and what browser level they support?

2. Where can I find the complete topography of the DOM?  As
I
understand things it is:
   Window, frames, and tabs
   Location                           //URL
   History                            //Browser or tab
history
   Document                           //Everything from
<html> to
   </html>
     Anchors                          //<a >
     Images
     Links
     Forms
       Form elements                  //<button>,
<text>, etc.
     Page elements                    //<h1>,
<p>, <table>, etc.

3. Where can I find a list of properties, methods, and
events broken out
by level?

4. Is there a difference between a regular DOM and a DHTML
DOM?  If so,
what is it?

5. I read somewhere that all of the events (onMouseOver for
example) are
at the Window level.  So does this mean that form elements
have no
events aside form the ones at the window level?

Now that I look at the questions, perhaps there needs to be
a document
(my words) called DOM 101 for script writers.

Thanks again.
Dave,
-- 
  dave boland
  dboland9fastmail.fm

-- 
http://www.fastmail.fm
- One of many happy users:
  http://www.fa
stmail.fm/docs/quotes.html
Re: Appropriate DOM levels question
country flaguser name
United States		 2008-03-18 13:26:50 

  


  

    > 1. Where can I find a concise description of the differences between the

> DOM levels and what browser level they support?



The W3C Recommendation documents for DOM Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 (and their optional modules) are available on the W3C's website. "DOM Level 0" is a wholly unofficial name for the early and not-quite-compatabile Dynamic HTML interfaces that existed before the DOM was standardized.



As far as the second part goes: The question is, what level of the DOM does a given _browser_ support. Ask its authors. The DOM is not just a browser interface; it's used many other places as well, and I don't think the W3C tries to keep track of who has implemented which levels or how well -- that's officially a Quality Of Implementation issue.



> 2. Where can I find the complete topography of the DOM?




Much of what you listed is not actually part of the DOM APIs -- it's part of the  _browser's_ APIs, which are outside the scope of the DOM.  The DOM covers only the Document, plus a bit of Document Type information (the document location can be retrieved in some versions of the DOM, for example).



If you're referring to the HTML DOM in particular, that's described in the DOM Recommendation.




> 4. Is there a difference between a regular DOM and a DHTML DOM?  If so,

> what is it?



There is a difference between a basic DOM (which is typically used for XML and XHTML, but may be used for HTML) and an HTML DOM (which is what browsers more often use for HTML and -- if they support it -- XHTML). See the Recommendation. Basically, the HTML DOM adds HTML-specific accessors, but all the information is available through the basic DOM.




> 5. I read somewhere that all of the events (onMouseOver for example) are

> at the Window level.



DOM Event handling is described in DOM Level 2's events module. What happens to the event once it gets out of the DOM and into the browser is the browser's problem.



> Now that I look at the questions, perhaps there needs to be a document


> (my words) called DOM 101 for script writers.



There are many tutorials on the web. There have been many books published.		
  

  
  
   
     
    






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