[thelist] dom gives me a headache

Peter-Paul Koch gassinaumasis at hotmail.com
Sat Dec 15 08:02:20 CST 2001


>today must be my lucky day, because i found *exactly* what i needed on the 
>first page of google search results
>
>i was looking for a tutorial, actually, using the search string "offsetTop 
>AND offsetLeft AND position" and i can't believe i found a ready made 
>script --
>
>   http://www.mattkruse.com/javascript/anchorposition/
>
>anybody interested in this should read that source code
>
>better make a stiff drink first, you'll be there a while i had no idea the 
>document object model was so complex

Hmmm...he made it more complex than it needs to be.

BTW: this has little to do with the DOM, coordinates of an HTML element 
on-screen are no part of the DOM (though the elements themselves are, of 
course).

>you'd think there would be a couple variables floating around with an
>object's offsets, but no, you gotta climb the friggin dom tree adding up 
>all the offsets until you reach a null parent (hmmm, sounds vaguely like a 
>reflexive database table relationship...)

*Sometimes* you have to climb up the tree, but not always. I admit this 
script seems to work with the simple test he provided, but will it always 
work, also in far more complex document structures...?

Sorry, but I'm not very impressed. I could be wrong, of course, but I think 
this script is far too complex and sometimes won't function properly.
Try mine (I already sent the URL, but repeating it won't hurt): 
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ppk/js/index.html?findpos.html

ppk

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