Frames and Layers

[Einstein47]

I think I know the answer to this already, but I am asking here anyway.

Our web application uses Frames, and we currently have a Java Applet that provides menu-bar like navigation. This applet is in the top frame, but is able to display over top of the main content frame just below it.

Something like this:

|==================================|
|      Java Applet here            |
|==================================|
| L |     Main Content             |
| I |                              |
| N |                              |
| K |                              |
| S |                              |
|   |                              |
|   |==============================|
|   |    Status Info               |
|==================================|

I was asked to see if we could replace the out of date (and technologically restrictive) Java Applet with something more 21st Century (like Flash, or DHTML). The biggest problem is that we don't want to retrain all the users, so we want it to LOOK like the Java Applet menu-bar with the same functionality.

I told my manager that it isn't possible. That with frames the content is limited to the page frame. She asked me why the Java Applet is able to float above the frames. I told her that Java runs in the browser, not in an individual frame. I told her that nothing else out there would be able to "float" over the frame like we have now.

Needless to say she was NOT pleased to hear this. She "strongly encouraged" me to ask in the forums if anyone might know of something that could do what she wants.

So I am ready to be either proven right, or made to eat crow. Either way, I want to get her an answer by next week. Can anyone offer up any advice and/or suggestions? THANKS!!!

Einstein47
For best results: hand wash in cold, tumble dry low.
For not so good results: drag through puddles, pound on rocks, air dry on tree branch.
[[]Starbase47.com]

 

[Vragabond]

AFAIK, you're right. Nothing I know would float above the frames. However, if you're talking "21st Century", I think there would only be space for CSS driven menus and no frames.

___________________________________________________________
[small]Do something about world cancer today: PACT[/small]

 

[CliveC]

You can float anything you like over a frameset provided that you open it in a new browser session. You can also dynamically change the dimensions of a frame using javascript as another alternative.

Clive

http://tubularity.com

http://PalliativeCareConsulting.org

 

[Einstein47]

What about using Javascript to write from one frame to another (kind of like how I can script a popup from a parent page)? Is that possible?

What I'm thinking is that I can send a command from my top frame (the menu-bar frame) and have it display a div with the appropriate links on the main content frame. I just need to learn how in the DOM those 2 frames are related.

More to come - I have hope, it might be empty but right now it is all I have.

Einstein47
For best results: hand wash in cold, tumble dry low.
For not so good results: drag through puddles, pound on rocks, air dry on tree branch.
[[]Starbase47.com]

 

[CliveC]

There are several FAQs about this especially in the javascript forum. Here are some:
faq216-692
faq216-3542
faq216-5703
faq216-931.

Javascript variables for the frameset can be stored in the frameset page and can then be accessed from any frame within the frameset (using top.) The same javascript variables can be updated from a window outside the frameset using opener (opener.)

Clive

http://tubularity.com

http://PalliativeCareConsulting.org