[thelist] Intranets and proprietary code

aardvark roselli at earthlink.net
Sat Oct 12 12:41:01 CDT 2002


> From: "fstorr" <fffrancis at fstorr.demon.co.uk>
[...]
> I work on an intranet and have always been strictly standards based.
> I was wondering which of the many people on the list that develop
> intranets use any proprietary browser code (whether it be ActiveX for
> IE, html, css etc) and if so, why.

i've worked on a number of intranets (and extranets that have browser
requirements)...

i've used a good amount of JS to code DHTML menus that won't look
quite so good in other browsers, or even work in older browsers (3.x
and below)...

i've used CSS to create 'greyed out' image buttons (column sort
buttons, mostly) by using proprietary alpha filters in CSS...

JS to create alerts with code to trim textareas to a max character
limit, or JS to move a user from one field to the next (when entering
an SSN, for example) without having to tab...

i even had to use a <marquee> once to create a scrolling news ticker
for one client...

yeah, i've had my fair share of proprietary, invalid, or non-
degrading code stuffed into some of my projects...

it's an issue of knowing your audience, after all, and if an
organization has standardized on a particular browser, creating work-
arounds in scripts to handle for other browsers is, well, a waste of
the client's money...

of course, you still should attempt ti future-proof your work...

--
Read the evolt.org case study
Usability: The Site Speaks for Itself
http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1904151035/evoltorg02-20
ISBN: 1904151035





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