How to implement a form across several web documents

Forum Moderators: open

Message Too Old, No Replies

How to implement a form across several web documents

Multiple Document Interface (MDI)

flashfan

3:33 am on Jun 26, 2004 (gmt 0)

The most popular layout for WWW is SDI. How to implement MDI layout web pages?

tedster

8:00 am on Jun 26, 2004 (gmt 0)

Could you give us a bit more detail about what you hope to accomplish?

Browsers began as a Single Document Interface (SDI) and stayed that way for many years. More recently tabbed browsing has been introduced, and that is a kind of Multiple Document Interface (MDI). But that's just the browser - the web author is still creating many single documents.

The title you chose for this thread seems to indicate you are working with a form - do you need to pass form variables between several windows? Or perhaps I have completely missed your point?

edpudol

9:03 am on Jun 26, 2004 (gmt 0)

I am not really sure to of what you mean. Isn't about frames?

flashfan

2:37 pm on Jun 26, 2004 (gmt 0)

Sorry for the vague expression. Let me give you an example: page A loads data window, chart window and control window concurrently. When click on some link of the data window, the chart window should be reloaded. And the control window has buttons to show/hide data/chart window. All windows are resizable or draggable. The page A likes a MDI form.

I approach the design with div+iframe+JS. It seems working. But when "window"s overlap, the mouseevent control is very unstable. Don't want to use frame, coz it's not draggable.

Any other approach?

flashfan

3:02 pm on Jun 26, 2004 (gmt 0)

myIE2, firefox, opera all support tabbed browsing. But there is no communications between windows. That's not a solution.

BlobFisk

5:10 pm on Jun 27, 2004 (gmt 0)

HI flashfan,

So, you are developing a page where you are using CSS, JavaScript and layers with iFrames, is that correct? As far as I can tell you are having trouble with some mouse events with this setup - but maybe also some form trouble?

Are you having trouble passing variable between the iFrames as tedster asked?

flashfan

5:50 pm on Jun 28, 2004 (gmt 0)

Yes, I can pass variables between "sub-windows" (divs acctually; each div has an iframe in it). The issues are:
1. when w1 overlaps w2, resize w1 will result in "select all" on w2.
2. no easy to focus on a sub-window.

BlobFisk

8:16 am on Jun 29, 2004 (gmt 0)

Working with iFrames and layers can be problematic. While iFrames are part of the DOM of the containing page, they also have their own DOM. Layering iFrames can cause strange things to happen.

As for setting the focus, how about setting the focus to an element within the iFrame - that should set the focus to the frame also.

HTH