The DOM is a specification defining what objects should be available to web page scripting. Such scripts are often written in JavaScript (and current implementations of JavaScript comply with ECMAScript). However, the DOM is different from JavaScript. JavaScript, for that matter, has little to do with Java. It was originally to be called LiveScript, but Netscape's marketers wanted to associate it with Sun's Java language.
I've started a DOM Level 1 test suite. It's a very large project, and I'm about 0.1% done.
I've also written an alterate stylesheet selector demo using the Level 1 DOM. It's loosely based on Chris Wilson's selector plugin for MSIE 4.0. It has many forms:
| Javascript Source | Clean HTML | HTML with form hack for Netscape | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Javascript + DOM Level 1 | Source | Selector | Selector |
| Javascript + MSIE5's DOM | Source | Selector | Selector |
I also have a selector plugin that is only a slight modification of Chris's selector so that it works for MSIE5. If I get his permission, I'll put a link to that here (and maybe even the necessary changes in instructions).
See my CSS pages for info on this application of the Level 2 DOM.
(Back to David Baron)
LDB, dbaron@dbaron.org, 1999-04-30