Hi Barry, I cannot access the http://freepages.computers.ancestry.com/~bristowe/xhr/draggable-div.html - am getting a 404 The other link http://freepages.computers.rootsweb.com/~bristowe/xhr/xhr-test.html Is really interesting, but how do I get those boxes in the middle of my screen which isn't seemingly as large as yours! Kind regards, Jill http://www.kingston-bagpuize.com - an online history of Kingston Bagpuize & area. -----Original Message----- From: freepages-help-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:freepages-help-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Barry Carlson Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2011 4:20 AM To: FREEPAGES-HELP@rootsweb.com Subject: [FreeHelp] An Alternative to Pop-up Windows I've been looking at alternatives to 'iFrame' and 'popup' windows that make HTML calls to the server, and found that with a little adaption a pseudo window created as a div can be used to call for a .txt file from the server - provided the file called is on the same domain. This method is generally acceptable for downloading text data, but with some judicious manipulation is capable of downloading and displaying just about any sort of file using the .txt extension. It works equally well in all browsers back to and including IE5.01 and makes use of the xmlHttpRequest object to implement, using JavaScript, the retrieving of data from the server. A test file containing 5 .txt links is at:- http://freepages.computers.rootsweb.com/~bristowe/xhr/xhr-test.htm W3C browsers interpretation of what is a cross-domain link is stricter than that imposed by the MSIE browsers. This means that a link on the same domain must be exactly that, i.e. in your same freepages community, e.g. freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~user and freepages.computers.rootsweb.com/~user are treated as sub-domains, and W3C browsers will not allow cross access, whereas MSIE browsers will. Each link has been configured on a "no-cache" principle, and each call retrieves data from the server and not the browser cache. The downloaded file carries its own styles along with styles to modify the pseudo window size and colors, along with title information that is displayed in the top of each frame. Finally, a version where the window frame is draggable (in all browsers back to IE5.5) by clicking on the top bar is at:- http://freepages.computers.ancestry.com/~bristowe/xhr/draggable-div.html Tip!... Drag the frame to where you want it, and successive frames will open in the same position. Barry ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to FREEPAGES-HELP-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

At 03:54 AM 1/22/2011, Jill Muir wrote: >I've been looking at alternatives to 'iFrame' and 'popup' windows that make >HTML calls to the server, and found that with a little adaption a pseudo >window created as a div can be used to call for a .txt file from the >server - provided the file called is on the same domain. This method is >generally acceptable for downloading text data, but with some judicious >manipulation is capable of downloading and displaying just about any sort of >file using the .txt extension. --snip-- Barry, I'm confused by all of this. I tested the pop-up windows on my navy website with the version you give in your test file and the load time on your test file takes a lot longer (instantaneous vs two or three seconds). What is the advantage of your alternative to a pop-up window? Thanks, Charles Dobie

On Monday, January 24, 2011 12:51 PM (UTC+13) Charles Dobie wrote:- > I'm confused by all of this. I tested the pop-up windows on my navy > website with the version you give in your test file and the load time on > your test file takes a lot longer (instantaneous vs two or three seconds). > What is the advantage of your alternative to a pop-up window? ------------------------- To clear this up, Charles and I have discussed this timing issue off list and in Charles' words, "I did some more pop-up window testing and the speed of the window display is a slight of hand. What displays instantly is the frame and then the actual text takes another second or two before it fills the frame. However the viewer's perception is an instant response. In your method, the viewer sees nothing until the full window frame plus contents is formatted." That is correct, and is by design, as the called file may want to change the default frame size and styles. See below ... The other advantages are:- (a) You design the frame, e.g. color etc.. (b) There is no need to close the frame before making another server call. (c) The new call will just modify the style of the existing frame and replace its contents. (d) The called contents are a .txt file. (e) For SEO purposes, the hyperlinks using the javascript onClick() method can also have the standard href="url". The javascript will ignore the href call, and search engines will read it. (f) Plus others .... Barry