Positioning Objects

Using all absolutely-positioned objects, you can design Web pages which are like CD-ROM applications or Visual Basic programs, with everything in precise, fixed positions. You can also mix absolutely-positioned objects with regular flowing content in a page, but it's difficult to keep them apart. In fact, Microsoft seems to have missed something obvious here, especially as it cites DHTML positioning as a way to achieve more 'DTP like' page layouts.

This page uses all absolutely-positioned elements. To the left is a GIF image (the yellow box with the blue border), with a DIV containing text superimposed over it by means of left, top, width and height STYLE attributes. This text is also in a DIV, positioned to the right of the box. If you resize your browser, you'll see that nothing reflows.

Beware of using even the most recent versions of WYSIWYG authoring tools when writing Dynamic HTML - FrontPage Express 2.0.2, the editor supplied with Internet Explorer 4.0, corrupted this page (destroying the text DIV headers) just by opening and saving it. Web Express 2.03 did the same. Only AOLpress, fast becoming the unsung hero of WYSIWYG tools, left those DIVs alone and kept my DHTML working!