JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook

JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook

by Danny Goodman
Released April 2003
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9780596004675

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Book description

On numerous online forums for JavaScript and DHTML, the majority of questions begin with "How do I...?" This new Cookbook provides the answers. After reading thousands of forum threads over the years, author and scripting pioneer Danny Goodman has compiled a list of problems that frequently vex scripters of various experience levels. He has now applied state-of-the-art ECMA and W3C DOM standards and used best practices to create this extensive collection of practical recipes that can bring your web pages to life.The JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook is all about adding value to the content of a web page. The book focuses on practical and sensible applications of scripting, rather than flying images and gratuitous color changes. For every problem Goodman addresses, there's a solution or "recipe"--a focused piece of code that web developers can insert directly into their applications. Yet, rather than just cut-and-paste code, you also get explanations of how and why the code works, so you can learn to adapt the problem-solving techniques to your designs.The recipes range from simple tasks, such as manipulating strings and validating dates in JavaScript, to entire libraries that demonstrate complex tasks, such as cross-browser positioning of HTML elements and sorting tables. This book contains over 150 recipes on the following topics:

  • Working with interactive forms and style sheets
  • Presenting user-friendly page navigation
  • Creating dynamic content
  • Producing visual effects for stationary content
  • Positioning HTML elements
  • Managing browser windows and multiple frames
This book is the ideal companion to O'Reilly's JavaScript: The Definitive Guide and Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference. If you own either of these books, the JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook is a must.

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Table of contents

  1. A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
  2. Preface
    1. About You
    2. About the Recipes
    3. What’s in This Book
    4. Browser Platforms
    5. Conventions Used in This Book
    6. Request for Comments
    7. Acknowledgments
  3. 1. Strings
    1. 1.0. Introduction
    2. 1.1. Concatenating (Joining) Strings
    3. 1.2. Accessing Substrings
    4. 1.3. Changing String Case
    5. 1.4. Testing Equality of Two Strings
    6. 1.5. Testing String Containment Without Regular Expressions
    7. 1.6. Testing String Containment with Regular Expressions
    8. 1.7. Searching and Replacing Substrings
    9. 1.8. Using Special and Escaped Characters
    10. 1.9. Reading and Writing Strings for Cookies
    11. 1.10. Converting Between Unicode Values and String Characters
    12. 1.11. Encoding and Decoding URL Strings
    13. 1.12. Encoding and Decoding Base64 Strings
  4. 2. Numbers and Dates
    1. 2.0. Introduction
    2. 2.1. Converting Between Numbers and Strings
    3. 2.2. Testing a Number’s Validity
    4. 2.3. Testing Numeric Equality
    5. 2.4. Rounding Floating-Point Numbers
    6. 2.5. Formatting Numbers for Text Display
    7. 2.6. Converting Between Decimal and Hexadecimal Numbers
    8. 2.7. Generating Pseudorandom Numbers
    9. 2.8. Calculating Trigonometric Functions
    10. 2.9. Creating a Date Object
    11. 2.10. Calculating a Previous or Future Date
    12. 2.11. Calculating the Number of Days Between Two Dates
    13. 2.12. Validating a Date
  5. 3. Arrays and Objects
    1. 3.0. Introduction
    2. 3.1. Creating a Simple Array
    3. 3.2. Creating a Multidimensional Array
    4. 3.3. Converting Between Arrays and Strings
    5. 3.4. Doing Something with the Items in an Array
    6. 3.5. Sorting a Simple Array
    7. 3.6. Combining Arrays
    8. 3.7. Dividing Arrays
    9. 3.8. Creating a Custom Object
    10. 3.9. Simulating a Hash Table for Fast Array Lookup
    11. 3.10. Doing Something with a Property of an Object
    12. 3.11. Sorting an Array of Objects
    13. 3.12. Customizing an Object’s Prototype
    14. 3.13. Converting Arrays and Custom Objects to Strings
  6. 4. Variables, Functions, and Flow Control
    1. 4.0. Introduction
    2. 4.1. Creating a JavaScript Variable
    3. 4.2. Creating a Named Function
    4. 4.3. Nesting Named Functions
    5. 4.4. Creating an Anonymous Function
    6. 4.5. Delaying a Function Call
    7. 4.6. Branching Execution Based on Conditions
    8. 4.7. Handling Script Errors Gracefully
    9. 4.8. Improving Script Performance
  7. 5. Browser Feature Detection
    1. 5.0. Introduction
    2. 5.1. Detecting the Browser Brand
    3. 5.2. Detecting an Early Browser Version
    4. 5.3. Detecting the Internet Explorer Version
    5. 5.4. Detecting the Netscape Navigator Version
    6. 5.5. Detecting the Client Operating System
    7. 5.6. Detecting Object Support
    8. 5.7. Detecting Object Property and Method Support
    9. 5.8. Detecting the Browser Written Language
    10. 5.9. Detecting Cookie Availability
    11. 5.10. Defining Browser- or Feature-Specific Links
    12. 5.11. Testing on Multiple Browser Versions
  8. 6. Managing Browser Windows
    1. 6.0. Introduction
    2. 6.1. Setting the Main Window’s Size
    3. 6.2. Positioning the Main Window
    4. 6.3. Maximizing the Main Window
    5. 6.4. Creating a New Window
    6. 6.5. Bringing a Window to the Front
    7. 6.6. Communicating with a New Window
    8. 6.7. Communicating Back to the Main Window
    9. 6.8. Using Internet Explorer Modal/Modeless Windows
    10. 6.9. Simulating a Cross-Browser Modal Dialog Window
    11. 6.10. Simulating a Window with Layers
  9. 7. Managing Multiple Frames
    1. 7.0. Introduction
    2. 7.1. Creating a Blank Frame in a New Frameset
    3. 7.2. Changing the Content of One Frame from Another
    4. 7.3. Changing the Content of Multiple Frames at Once
    5. 7.4. Replacing a Frameset with a Single Page
    6. 7.5. Avoiding Being “Framed” by Another Site
    7. 7.6. Assuring a Page Loads in its Frameset
    8. 7.7. Reading a Frame’s Dimensions
    9. 7.8. Resizing Frames
    10. 7.9. Setting Frameset Specifications Dynamically
  10. 8. Dynamic Forms
    1. 8.0. Introduction
    2. 8.1. Auto-Focusing the First Text Field
    3. 8.2. Performing Common Text Field Validations
    4. 8.3. Preventing Form Submission upon Validation Failure
    5. 8.4. Auto-Focusing an Invalid Text Field Entry
    6. 8.5. Changing a Form’s Action
    7. 8.6. Blocking Submissions from the Enter Key
    8. 8.7. Advancing Text Field Focus with the Enter Key
    9. 8.8. Submitting a Form by an Enter Key Press in Any Text Box
    10. 8.9. Disabling Form Controls
    11. 8.10. Hiding and Showing Form Controls
    12. 8.11. Allowing Only Numbers (or Letters) in a Text Box
    13. 8.12. Auto-Tabbing for Fixed-Length Text Boxes
    14. 8.13. Changing select Element Content
    15. 8.14. Copying Form Data Between Pages
  11. 9. Managing Events
    1. 9.0. Introduction
    2. 9.1. Equalizing the IE and W3C Event Models
    3. 9.2. Initiating a Process After the Page Loads
    4. 9.3. Determining the Coordinates of a Click Event
    5. 9.4. Preventing an Event from Performing Its Default Behavior
    6. 9.5. Blocking Double Clicks
    7. 9.6. Determining Which Element Received an Event
    8. 9.7. Determining Which Mouse Button Was Pressed
    9. 9.8. Reading Which Character Key Was Typed
    10. 9.9. Reading Which Noncharacter Key Was Pressed
    11. 9.10. Determining Which Modifier Keys Were Pressed During an Event
    12. 9.11. Determining the Element the Cursor Rolled From/To
    13. 9.12. Synchronizing Sounds to Events
  12. 10. Page Navigation Techniques
    1. 10.0. Introduction
    2. 10.1. Loading a New Page or Anchor
    3. 10.2. Keeping a Page Out of the Browser History
    4. 10.3. Using a select Element for Navigation
    5. 10.4. Passing Data Between Pages Via Cookies
    6. 10.5. Passing Data Between Pages Via Frames
    7. 10.6. Passing Data Between Pages Via URLs
    8. 10.7. Creating a Contextual (Right-Click) Menu
    9. 10.8. Creating Drop-Down Navigation Menus
    10. 10.9. Providing Navigation Trail Menus
    11. 10.10. Creating Expandable Menus
    12. 10.11. Creating Collapsible XML Menus
  13. 11. Managing Style Sheets
    1. 11.0. Introduction
    2. 11.1. Assigning Style Sheet Rules to an Element Globally
    3. 11.2. Assigning Style Sheet Rules to a Subgroup of Elements
    4. 11.3. Assigning Style Sheet Rules to an Individual Element
    5. 11.4. Importing External Style Sheets
    6. 11.5. Importing Browser- or Operating System-Specific Style Sheets
    7. 11.6. Changing Imported Style Sheets After Loading
    8. 11.7. Enabling/Disabling Style Sheets
    9. 11.8. Toggling Between Style Sheets for an Element
    10. 11.9. Overriding a Style Sheet Rule
    11. 11.10. Turning Arbitrary Content into a Styled Element
    12. 11.11. Creating Center-Aligned Body Elements
    13. 11.12. Reading Effective Style Sheet Property Values
    14. 11.13. Forcing Version 6 Browsers into Standards-Compatibility Mode
  14. 12. Visual Effects for Stationary Content
    1. 12.0. Introduction
    2. 12.1. Precaching Images
    3. 12.2. Swapping Images (Rollovers)
    4. 12.3. Changing Text Style Properties
    5. 12.4. Offering Body Text Size Choices to Users
    6. 12.5. Creating Custom Link Styles
    7. 12.6. Changing Page Background Colors and Images
    8. 12.7. Hiding and Showing Elements
    9. 12.8. Adjusting Element Transparency
    10. 12.9. Creating Transition Visual Effects
  15. 13. Positioning HTML Elements
    1. 13.0. Introduction
    2. 13.1. Making an Element Positionable in the Document Space
    3. 13.2. Connecting a Positioned Element to a Body Element
    4. 13.3. Controlling Positioning Via a DHTML JavaScript Library
    5. 13.4. Deciding Between div and span Containers
    6. 13.5. Adjusting Positioned Element Stacking Order (z-order)
    7. 13.6. Centering an Element on Top of Another Element
    8. 13.7. Centering an Element in a Window or Frame
    9. 13.8. Determining the Location of a Nonpositioned Element
    10. 13.9. Animating Straight-Line Element Paths
    11. 13.10. Animating Circular Element Paths
    12. 13.11. Creating a Draggable Element
    13. 13.12. Scrolling div Content
    14. 13.13. Creating a Custom Scrollbar
  16. 14. Creating Dynamic Content
    1. 14.0. Introduction
    2. 14.1. Writing Dynamic Content During Page Loading
    3. 14.2. Creating New Page Content Dynamically
    4. 14.3. Including External HTML Content
    5. 14.4. Embedding XML Data
    6. 14.5. Embedding Data as JavaScript Objects
    7. 14.6. Transforming XML Data into HTML Tables
    8. 14.7. Transforming JavaScript Objects into HTML Tables
    9. 14.8. Converting an XML Node Tree to JavaScript Objects
    10. 14.9. Creating a New Element
    11. 14.10. Creating Text Content for a New Element
    12. 14.11. Creating Mixed Element and Text Nodes
    13. 14.12. Inserting and Populating an iframe Element
    14. 14.13. Getting a Reference to an HTML Element Object
    15. 14.14. Replacing Portions of Body Content
    16. 14.15. Removing Body Content
    17. 14.16. Sorting Dynamic Tables
    18. 14.17. Walking the Document Node Tree
    19. 14.18. Capturing Document Content
  17. 15. Dynamic Content Applications
    1. 15.0. Introduction
    2. 15.1. Displaying a Random Aphorism
    3. 15.2. Converting a User Selection into an Arbitrary Element
    4. 15.3. Automating the Search-and-Replace of Body Content
    5. 15.4. Creating a Slide Show
    6. 15.5. Auto-Scrolling the Page
    7. 15.6. Greeting Users with Their Time of Day
    8. 15.7. Displaying the Number of Days Before Christmas
    9. 15.8. Displaying a Countdown Timer
    10. 15.9. Creating a Calendar Date Picker
    11. 15.10. Displaying an Animated Progress Bar
  18. A. Keyboard Event Character Values
  19. B. Keyboard Key Code Values
  20. C. ECMAScript Reserved Keywords
  21. Index
  22. About the Author
  23. Colophon
  24. Copyright

Product information

  • Title: JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook
  • Author(s): Danny Goodman
  • Release date: April 2003
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9780596004675