Re: usemap referencing external map definitions

Brad Pettit wrote:
 > The message at the following link introduces some issues we've 
encountered with the usemap attribute of IMG and OBJECT.
 >
 > http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Member/w3c-html-wg/2002JulSep/0083.html
 >
 > The issues relate to usemap referencing an external html file 
containing the MAP information, and, in part, how those imported 
elements exist within the DOM environment of the host document. We have 
encountered multiple implementation issues related to correct DOM 
support of what is largely a feature of convenience.
 >
 > For context, I am including the relevant portion of that message 
below. The developer Tantek references in the blockquote is me.
 >
 > Brad Pettit
 >

 > I believe this proposal:
 >
 > 2. Maintains backward compatibility with current usage of usemap.  In
 > practice I have never seen an external image map except on Masayasu's 
test
 > page.

I'm not sure if this comment is appropriate here, or on the html list.

The reason that there aren't any examples is because it was never 
implemented by a major browser.  But there are certainly strong use 
cases for wanting this feature.  The case I wanted it for was a visual 
navigation system across multiple pages of a web site.  The example site 
I was working on in 2000 was http://www.westcoastinternet.net/ .  I 
settled for using DOM methods to add the necessary image map (about 100 
entries) to each document, but it would have been much more convenient 
for me to link to an external document, and presumably loading would be 
more efficient.

My point... there are good use cases, so I'm not convinced it should be 
completely dropped without further consideration.

Thanks,
Dylan Schiemann
http://www.sitepen.com/

Received on Friday, 23 August 2002 17:29:32 UTC