Dynamic Content in Internet Explorer 4

Dynamic Content in IE4:
using the new properties and methods for client interaction

Promises are made to be broken. The emphasis in this column so far has been compatibility, both across dynamic browsers and backward with non-dynamic ones. Both browsers, however, have unique proprietary DHTML capabilities that are worth learning about. Or so it would seem from the many letters I've received. So then, from time to time, we will have a column like the present one, where we throw compatibility to the winds of change, and discuss browser-specific techniques.

This tutorial can be appreciated by users of any version. The dynamics will be outlined but will not be viewable except by users of IE4 Platform Preview 2 WIN95. Macintosh users with IE4 Platform Preview 1 do not have the DHTML ability for the demonstrations either. These properties and methods have been promised for the next version.

What we already know

Regular visitors to these pages are fairly familiar with the IE .innerHTML property. We have used it extensively in column 3 and column 4. It has been our dynamic content property-of-choice because of its similarities to Navigator's document.write() method. innerHTML is, however, just one member of a family of four properties and two associated methods that permit dynamic content change in Internet Explorer.

What we will learn

By the end of this column we will have discussed:

• the power of the three other new properties:
  innerText, outerText, and outerHTML for changing already-existing content.
• how to append content to already-displayed pages with two new methods:
  insertAdjacentText(), and insertAdjacentHTML().
• using them in combination in a real-world real-time interactive educational application.

So let's begin with a look at the ins and outs of the new properties.

Produced by Peter Belesis and

All Rights Reserved. Legal Notices.
Created: 09/24/97
Revised: 09/28/97

URL: https://www.webreference.com/dhtml/column5/