layout information tool for IE

Hi
Is there any tool in existence that will tell you why elements are placed
where they are on the page? What rules has IE followed to place your elements
where they are?
This would be very very useful!

Thanks
F

On 2 Apr 2004 07:03:52 -0800, <foldface (AT) yahoo (DOT) co.uk> wrote:

Hi
Is there any tool in existence that will tell you why elements are
placed
where they are on the page? What rules has IE followed to place your
elements
where they are?
This would be very very useful!

Thanks
F

Ideally, all browsers would follow http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/ . That's
still the best place to start.

In essence, browsers put content on the screen in the order you list it.
Some elements are block level, others are inline, others different still.
If you know CSS, these pages detail the way W3C recommends browsers
display information: http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS2/sample.html
http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/sample.html

foldface (AT) yahoo (DOT) co.uk wrote:

Hi
Is there any tool in existence that will tell you why elements are
placed where they are on the page? What rules has IE followed to
place your elements where they are?
This would be very very useful!

I doubt if you can find out *why* IE does what it does. I think sometimes the
answer is "the designer had a bad-hair day"!

If instead you want to know which things you see on the screen are tables,
which are divs, which are lists, etc, this is very easy, even with IE.

Create your own CSS, and tell IE to use it. Tools > Internet Options... >
Accessibility. The CSS may have rules like:
table { border: 1px dotted blue; }
div { border: 1px dotted green; }

But if you want to understand other people's web pages that you see, you would
be better off using either Firefox or Netscape/Mozilla with the web
developer's toolbar. It has a whole array of features for helping to
understand why web pages appear as they do.
http://www.chrispederick.com/work/firefox/webdeveloper/

--
Barry Pearson
http://www.Barry.Pearson.name/photography/
http://www.BirdsAndAnimals.info/
http://www.ChildSupportAnalysis.co.uk/

You asked for it - you got it!
http://www.cheztabor.com/IEDocMon/index.htm

<foldface (AT) yahoo (DOT) co.uk> wrote

Hi
Is there any tool in existence that will tell you why elements are
placed
where they are on the page? What rules has IE followed to place your
elements
where they are?
This would be very very useful!

Thanks
F