<html>
<head>
<style>
P
{
margin:0px;
padding:0px
}
body
{
FONT-SIZE: 10pt;
FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma
}
</style>
</head>
<body>Come on!<BR>
I've mistakenly stated PNG instead of GIF. (Well, what was I thinking?!)<BR >Otherwise it would be nonsense, because IE4.01 with filter implementation and support<BR >came out as a patch or upgrade&nbsp;during 1997. While <FONT class="">PNG, even if proposed&nbsp;in 1996,</FONT>&nbsp;<BR>
became a W3C Recommendation only by the end of year 1998. <BR>
Therefore PNG didn't officially exist when IE implemented filters.<BR >So, this should clear out my mistake. And nope, PNG&nbsp;was developed by CompuServe, -the same guys who are<BR>
responsible for all that mess&nbsp;caused&nbsp;by&nbsp;their "free" GIF.<BR >***<BR>
I was not offering a PNG alpha support to this guy, but emulation.<BR>
The syntax&nbsp;comes from a&nbsp;far more older model&nbsp;of filtering&nbsp;any html object<BR>
so&nbsp;you can use it to declare the transparent color of any image including PNG with transparent color. <BR>
So in PNG case, you can always write:<BR>
style=<FONT class="">"<FONT class="">filter:chroma</FONT></FONT>(color='#C2CBCF')" //gaining back PNG's transparent field if encountered&nbsp;IE version fails to render it!<BR>
making it&nbsp; compatible all the way back to ie4. <BR>
That's a Decade of compatibility.<BR>
Other browsers supporting alpha should simply&nbsp;ignore this style declaration.<BR>
If backward compatibility is not&nbsp;an issue,&nbsp;here is another link to<BR>
<A href="http://www.alistapart.com/articles/pngopacity/" >http://www.alistapart.com/articles/pngopacity/</A><BR>
some very good examples on using <FONT class="">AlphaImageLoader</FONT>.<BR >Although, I can't explain the reason behind the fact that all the major browsers failed to fully support PNG until all the Unisys&nbsp;patents<BR>
covering GIF totally expired.<BR>
So, you tell me.<BR >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<BR>
Troy&nbsp;III<BR>
progressive&nbsp;art&nbsp;enterprise<BR>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<BR >
<HR id=stopSpelling>
&gt; Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 10:49:56 +0100<BR>&gt; From: nick@nickfitz.co.uk<BR>&gt; To: javascript@LaTech.edu<BR>&gt; Subject: Re: [Javascript] transparent png<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; Troy&nbsp;III&nbsp;Ajnej&nbsp;wrote:<BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;IE&nbsp;was&nbsp;hoping&nbsp;not&nbsp;to&nbsp;mess&nbsp;with&nbsp;PNG&nbsp;rights&nbsp;and&nbsp;patents,&nbsp;so&nbsp;they&nbsp;introduced<BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;filters&nbsp;since&nbsp;IE4x<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; I'm&nbsp;not&nbsp;sure&nbsp;why&nbsp;you&nbsp;feel&nbsp;this&nbsp;compulsive&nbsp;need&nbsp;to&nbsp;pretend&nbsp;that&nbsp;Microsoft&nbsp;<BR>&gt; isn't&nbsp;responsible&nbsp;for&nbsp;its&nbsp;own&nbsp;failings&nbsp;(even&nbsp;Bill&nbsp;Gates&nbsp;has&nbsp;admitted&nbsp;<BR>&gt; that&nbsp;they&nbsp;dropped&nbsp;the&nbsp;ball&nbsp;on&nbsp;IE)&nbsp;but&nbsp;PNG&nbsp;was&nbsp;never&nbsp;surrounded&nbsp;by&nbsp;rights&nbsp;<BR>&gt; and&nbsp;patents&nbsp;issues,&nbsp;being&nbsp;an&nbsp;open&nbsp;W3C&nbsp;standard.&nbsp;Your&nbsp;assertion&nbsp;is&nbsp;made&nbsp;<BR>&gt; even&nbsp;more&nbsp;preposterous&nbsp;by&nbsp;the&nbsp;fact&nbsp;that&nbsp;Michael&nbsp;Stokes&nbsp;of&nbsp;Microsoft&nbsp;was&nbsp;<BR>&gt; one&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;authors&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;PNG&nbsp;standard:<BR>&gt; &lt;http://www.w3.org/TR/PNG/#F-Relationship&gt;<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;try&nbsp;this:&nbsp;(CSS)<BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;filter:alpha(opacity='50')&nbsp;//half<BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;or&nbsp;if&nbsp;you&nbsp;like&nbsp;discrete-color&nbsp;full&nbsp;transparency:<BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;filter:chroma(color='#0000ff')&nbsp;//blue<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; Neither&nbsp;of&nbsp;these&nbsp;has&nbsp;anything&nbsp;to&nbsp;do&nbsp;with&nbsp;PNG&nbsp;alpha&nbsp;transparency,&nbsp;which&nbsp;<BR>&gt; is&nbsp;what&nbsp;Schalk&nbsp;was&nbsp;asking&nbsp;about.&nbsp;I'll&nbsp;respond&nbsp;to&nbsp;his&nbsp;original&nbsp;enquiry&nbsp;<BR>&gt; below...<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;&gt;&nbsp;Does&nbsp;anyone&nbsp;know&nbsp;of&nbsp;a&nbsp;definitive&nbsp;way&nbsp;of&nbsp;making&nbsp;transparent&nbsp;png&nbsp;work&nbsp;in&nbsp;<BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;&gt;&nbsp;IE&nbsp;6-.&nbsp;I&nbsp;am&nbsp;using&nbsp;http://webfx.eae.net/dhtml/pngbehavior/pngbehavior.html<BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;&gt;<BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;&gt;&nbsp;But&nbsp;as&nbsp;of&nbsp;now&nbsp;I&nbsp;cannot&nbsp;confirm&nbsp;that&nbsp;it&nbsp;works.&nbsp;It&nbsp;may&nbsp;be&nbsp;because&nbsp;I&nbsp;have&nbsp;<BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;&gt;&nbsp;IE7&nbsp;installed&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;same&nbsp;system&nbsp;but&nbsp;according&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;IE&nbsp;blog&nbsp;this&nbsp;<BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;&gt;&nbsp;should&nbsp;be&nbsp;backwards&nbsp;compatible,&nbsp;so&nbsp;I&nbsp;am&nbsp;curious.&nbsp;Thanks!<BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;&gt;<BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;&gt;&nbsp;--&nbsp;<BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;&gt;&nbsp;Kind&nbsp;Regards<BR>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;&gt;&nbsp;Schalk&nbsp;Neethling<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; Schalk,<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; It&nbsp;depends&nbsp;on&nbsp;whether&nbsp;you&nbsp;are&nbsp;looking&nbsp;to&nbsp;get&nbsp;PNGs&nbsp;working&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;<BR>&gt; background&nbsp;image&nbsp;through&nbsp;CSS,&nbsp;or&nbsp;as&nbsp;an&nbsp;inline&nbsp;image&nbsp;using&nbsp;the&nbsp;&lt;img&gt;&nbsp;element.<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; In&nbsp;the&nbsp;"background-image"&nbsp;case&nbsp;you&nbsp;will&nbsp;find&nbsp;that&nbsp;IE's&nbsp;limited&nbsp;support&nbsp;<BR>&gt; for&nbsp;alpha&nbsp;transparency&nbsp;via&nbsp;the&nbsp;AlphaImageLoader&nbsp;means&nbsp;that&nbsp;not&nbsp;all&nbsp;<BR>&gt; designs&nbsp;can&nbsp;be&nbsp;implemented&nbsp;with&nbsp;ease,&nbsp;or&nbsp;at&nbsp;all;&nbsp;for&nbsp;more&nbsp;details,&nbsp;have&nbsp;<BR>&gt; a&nbsp;look&nbsp;at&nbsp;my&nbsp;recent&nbsp;post&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;css-discuss&nbsp;mailing&nbsp;list:<BR>&gt; &lt;http://archivist.incutio.com/viewlist/css-discuss/76522&gt;<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; For&nbsp;the&nbsp;"&lt;img&gt;"&nbsp;case,&nbsp;there's&nbsp;an&nbsp;older&nbsp;post&nbsp;to&nbsp;css-d&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;subject:<BR>&gt; &lt;http://archivist.incutio.com/viewlist/css-discuss/72894&gt;<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; For&nbsp;examples&nbsp;of&nbsp;this&nbsp;in&nbsp;action&nbsp;without&nbsp;needing&nbsp;an&nbsp;HTC&nbsp;file&nbsp;or&nbsp;any&nbsp;<BR>&gt; JavaScript,&nbsp;you&nbsp;could&nbsp;have&nbsp;a&nbsp;look&nbsp;at<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; &lt;http://www.gwrfmbristol.co.uk/showsanddjs&gt;<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; On&nbsp;that&nbsp;page,&nbsp;the&nbsp;images&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;DJs&nbsp;are&nbsp;done&nbsp;with&nbsp;&lt;img&gt;&nbsp;elements,&nbsp;and&nbsp;<BR>&gt; the&nbsp;gradient&nbsp;backgrounds&nbsp;are&nbsp;background&nbsp;PNGs&nbsp;going&nbsp;from&nbsp;100%&nbsp;transparent&nbsp;<BR>&gt; to&nbsp;0%&nbsp;transparent.&nbsp;Due&nbsp;to&nbsp;some&nbsp;limitations&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;content&nbsp;management&nbsp;<BR>&gt; system&nbsp;(which&nbsp;powers&nbsp;nearly&nbsp;40&nbsp;local&nbsp;radio&nbsp;station&nbsp;web&nbsp;sites&nbsp;using&nbsp;that&nbsp;<BR>&gt; design&nbsp;here&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;UK),&nbsp;the&nbsp;appropriate&nbsp;CSS&nbsp;and&nbsp;the&nbsp;hacks&nbsp;to&nbsp;get&nbsp;IE&nbsp;<BR>&gt; working&nbsp;properly&nbsp;are&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;source&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;page,&nbsp;within&nbsp;IE-only&nbsp;<BR>&gt; conditional&nbsp;comments&nbsp;(one&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;good&nbsp;things&nbsp;about&nbsp;IE).&nbsp;So&nbsp;if&nbsp;you&nbsp;view&nbsp;<BR>&gt; the&nbsp;source&nbsp;and&nbsp;have&nbsp;a&nbsp;look&nbsp;at&nbsp;the&nbsp;CSS&nbsp;files,&nbsp;you&nbsp;should&nbsp;be&nbsp;able&nbsp;to&nbsp;work&nbsp;<BR>&gt; out&nbsp;what's&nbsp;going&nbsp;on.<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; Note&nbsp;that&nbsp;there's&nbsp;no&nbsp;JavaScript&nbsp;-&nbsp;I&nbsp;wanted&nbsp;the&nbsp;designs&nbsp;to&nbsp;work&nbsp;even&nbsp;with&nbsp;<BR>&gt; JavaScript&nbsp;off,&nbsp;and&nbsp;the&nbsp;various&nbsp;HTC&nbsp;files,&nbsp;or&nbsp;"behaviors",&nbsp;that&nbsp;people&nbsp;<BR>&gt; have&nbsp;created&nbsp;don't&nbsp;work&nbsp;without&nbsp;JS.&nbsp;However,&nbsp;if&nbsp;a&nbsp;JS-only&nbsp;solution&nbsp;is&nbsp;<BR>&gt; acceptable&nbsp;for&nbsp;your&nbsp;purposes,&nbsp;understanding&nbsp;the&nbsp;content&nbsp;of&nbsp;those&nbsp;two&nbsp;<BR>&gt; css-d&nbsp;posts&nbsp;and&nbsp;that&nbsp;page&nbsp;will&nbsp;enable&nbsp;you&nbsp;to&nbsp;better&nbsp;determine&nbsp;whether&nbsp;<BR>&gt; the&nbsp;behavior&nbsp;you&nbsp;are&nbsp;using&nbsp;is&nbsp;doing&nbsp;its&nbsp;job.&nbsp;A&nbsp;useful&nbsp;tool&nbsp;is&nbsp;the&nbsp;IE&nbsp;Web&nbsp;<BR>&gt; Developer&nbsp;toolbar:&nbsp;while&nbsp;nowhere&nbsp;near&nbsp;as&nbsp;capable&nbsp;as&nbsp;the&nbsp;Firefox&nbsp;<BR>&gt; equivalent,&nbsp;it&nbsp;will&nbsp;allow&nbsp;you&nbsp;to&nbsp;see&nbsp;whether&nbsp;the&nbsp;necessary&nbsp;filters&nbsp;are&nbsp;<BR>&gt; being&nbsp;applied.&nbsp;See:<BR>&gt; &lt;http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e59c3964-672d-4511-bb3e-2d5e1db91038&amp;displaylang=en&gt;<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; One&nbsp;common&nbsp;problem&nbsp;with&nbsp;getting&nbsp;the&nbsp;IE&nbsp;filters&nbsp;working&nbsp;is&nbsp;that&nbsp;the&nbsp;<BR>&gt; element&nbsp;to&nbsp;which&nbsp;they&nbsp;are&nbsp;applied&nbsp;must&nbsp;have&nbsp;had&nbsp;its&nbsp;"hasLayout"&nbsp;property&nbsp;<BR>&gt; triggered;&nbsp;see<BR>&gt; &lt;http://www.satzansatz.de/cssd/onhavinglayout.html&gt;<BR>&gt; and<BR>&gt; &lt;http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/IETechCol/cols/dnexpie/expie20050831.asp&gt;<BR>&gt; for&nbsp;more&nbsp;on&nbsp;that.<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; IE7&nbsp;supports&nbsp;PNG&nbsp;transparency&nbsp;correctly,&nbsp;so&nbsp;the&nbsp;conditional&nbsp;comments&nbsp;<BR>&gt; make&nbsp;sure&nbsp;the&nbsp;fixes&nbsp;are&nbsp;only&nbsp;applied&nbsp;to&nbsp;IE&nbsp;6&nbsp;and&nbsp;below.&nbsp;They&nbsp;won't&nbsp;work&nbsp;<BR>&gt; at&nbsp;all&nbsp;on&nbsp;IE&nbsp;less&nbsp;than&nbsp;5.5,&nbsp;as&nbsp;the&nbsp;AlphaImageLoader&nbsp;was&nbsp;only&nbsp;introduced&nbsp;<BR>&gt; with&nbsp;5.5.<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; Oh,&nbsp;and&nbsp;if&nbsp;you&nbsp;have&nbsp;IE6&nbsp;and&nbsp;IE7&nbsp;installed&nbsp;side-by-side&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;same&nbsp;<BR>&gt; machine&nbsp;you'll&nbsp;have&nbsp;real&nbsp;trouble&nbsp;getting&nbsp;anything&nbsp;working&nbsp;reliably:&nbsp;<BR>&gt; Microsoft&nbsp;have&nbsp;explicitly&nbsp;stated&nbsp;that&nbsp;they&nbsp;don't&nbsp;support&nbsp;side-by-side&nbsp;<BR>&gt; installation,&nbsp;and&nbsp;the&nbsp;interactions&nbsp;between&nbsp;the&nbsp;two&nbsp;are&nbsp;unpredictable,&nbsp;<BR>&gt; particularly&nbsp;when&nbsp;code&nbsp;tries&nbsp;to&nbsp;determine&nbsp;which&nbsp;version&nbsp;it's&nbsp;running&nbsp;on.<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; HTH,<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; Nick.<BR>&gt; --&nbsp;<BR>&gt; Nick&nbsp;Fitzsimons<BR>&gt; http://www.nickfitz.co.uk/<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; _______________________________________________<BR>&gt; Javascript&nbsp;mailing&nbsp;list<BR>&gt; Javascript@LaTech.edu<BR>&gt; https://lists.LaTech.edu/mailman/listinfo/javascript<BR><BR><br /><hr />With MSN Spaces email straight to your blog. Upload jokes, photos and more. It's free! <a href='http://clk.atdmt.com/MSN/go/msnnksac0030000001msn/direct/01/?href=http://www.imagine-msn.com/spaces' target='_new'>It's free!</a></body>
</html>