January 19, 2000 - Updating Existing Text

January 19, 2000 Updating Existing Text Tips: January 2000 Yehuda Shiran, Ph.D. Doc JavaScript

<SPAN ID="banner" STYLE="position: absolute;"></SPAN>

The ID attribute is similar to the NAME attribute in that it defines the HTML element's individual name. The ID attribute is used to reference the element in JavaScript. In Navigator, document.banner reflects the element, while document.all.banner, or simply banner, represents it in Internet Explorer.

Microsoft and Netscape agree on CSS, but disagree on the object model. Navigator treats a positioned element as a new browser window, so you can write to its document object, whereas Internet Explorer features a property that reflects the element's inner content (innerHTML). The following function sets the content of a specific element:

function display(id, str) {
  if (NS) {
    with (document[id].document) {
      open();
      write(str);
      close();
    }
  } else {
    document.all[id].innerHTML = str;
  }
}

We invoke this function as follows:

display("banner", "new code here");

Learn how we used this function in Column 1, Rotating Text Banners.