Talk:Dynamic HTML

Rewrite?
I noticed that this page needed a rewrite. DHTML is awesome. It's still not a wonderful article, but I clarified a few points. Personally, I think it needs a section on the history of DHTML, some examples, etc. Also, what version of Mozilla would be listed as a modern web browser? - Pingveno 03:38, 11 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Calling it "static" markup is misleading, as the whole premise of real DHTML rests on some kind of DOM. The first real DOM was in IE4, and NS4 has a twisted and sick DOM, that however usually managed to accomplish the desired effect. Any version of Mozilla (assuming post NS4) could be called modern, however only past say m9, did it achieve any kind of stability. Maybe I'll add to the article later :) Spendthrift

If i remember correctly, the term DHTML, at the time it was coined, usually referred to functionality available by the implementation of layers in Netscape. The term itself was invented, or stolen/adopted by Microsoft though. The article should have some historical reference; early pioneers were Dan Steinmann, Eric Arvidsson and others(even though me and others played with it before the introduction of any terms). Today there is no relevant distinction between DHTML and AJAX as the 'X' was implemeted in DHTML libraries well before Garrett coined the AJAX buzz word. Nanowork (talk) 00:59, 7 February 2009 (UTC)== DHTML = Javascript + DOM. ==

This article should merged with DOM scripting. There is NO difference between the two. Dynamic HTML is not a technology, it's a marketing term invented by Microsoft. It described that the javascript in their latest browser had better access to the document than in their previous browser. All browsers have been progressively getting better at this from release to release.

Here's a quote from the article:

"[...] DHTML scripts often tended to not work well between various web browsers. Newer techniques, such as unobtrusive JavaScript coding (DOM Scripting), [...are better]"

This is just wrong. There is no distinction between the two. Could someone please tell me how you could look at a piece of javascript and tell if its DHTML or not? You can't!

-Lars


 * See . — Ti89TProgrammer (talk) 17:16, 6 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Right. DHTML does not equal the DOM. The fact remains, DHTML is at best a super set of HTML, JS, CSS and the DOM. Its an old term, thats fallen out of use mainly because its horribly unspecific. The term is also misleading, as it sounds like a specific technology, which it's not. -Lars —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.202.217.56 (talk) 12:31, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Tables
You can mention of use of tables as well.

Microsoft and DHTML
I would be interested in seeing Microsoft's claim that they invented DHTML addressed in this article. Often, specific names of Microsoft employees are mentioned as the inventors. If true, these facts deserve mention in the article. I'll dive into this some other day, but would like to hear what others have to say about it, too. --Dan 22:55, 26 March 2006 (UTC)


 * DHTML was first introduced by Microsoft in IE 4.0, to then be followed-up by Netscape in version 4.0 of their own browser. Scott Isaacs (still with MS -- Developer of all of their technologies they have followed the trend and labeled Ajax - Live.com, MS Atlas, etc... are the work of Scott) developed the original specification, calling it Active HTML before deciding to change this to Dynamic HTML due to the problems they were having with the exploitation of ActiveX security holes -- See:, , and  for more info. --Xmlhacker 20:42, 25 May 2006 (UTC)


 * This looks great. Now we just need to add the above to the article. Any volunteers? I don't have time ATM --Dan 01:38, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Netscape was earlier with DHTML support than Internet Explorer. Netscape 4, with DHTML support was released in June 1997 Source. Internet Explorer with DHTML was released in October 1997 Source.Edwinm (talk) 14:24, 26 May 2017 (UTC) Developer of all of their technologies they have foll — Preceding unsigned comment added by 103.91.130.126 (talk) 11:07, 19 July 2022 (UTC)

Important note
innerHTML attribute should not be used. It's not a part of the standard, just a firefox extension. Needs rewriting. countryhacker 23:03, 7 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Hmmm...I think innerHTML is now standard. In fact, I think it was IE that did it first, see this article on innerHTML for IE 4.0 (way back when) http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/dhtml/reference/properties/innerhtml.asp --Dan 00:48, 9 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Yeah i'm pretty sure its a de-facto standard originating from MS and copied by mozilla/netscape. Anyone care to check out konquror or safari? Plugwash 00:53, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Demo Site
Try this site it was on a previsious revision, Interactive DOM scripting

Unobtrusive Javascript??
What's the difference between "unobtrusive javascript" and DHTML? Some explanation would be nice!

Gwinkless 10:41, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

The sample code on this page
The "Structure of a web page" section seems a bit unclear; what exactly is it supposed to show? That script tags can be placed in both the head and body, and that external scripts can be used? Those familiar with JavaScript already know this, and those who don't may have difficulty understanding the mostly unannotated code. Also, I question the use of XHTML doctypes on this page's examples. “DHTML” is a rather old term which is probably most often used to describe HTML pages, and besides, the examples are invalid XHTML (they contain inline scripts not enclosed in CDATA sections). BuilderQ 22:20, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

server-side scripting incorrect
"server-side scripting (such as PHP, Perl, JSP or ASP.NET)" Where it says Perl it really means CGI as the server-side scripting mechanism, and then under CGI virtually any programming language whatsoever can be used. To just say "Perl" by itself is grossly misleading. Perhaps it should just say "CGI" (in place of "Perl"), with a link to a WikiPedia page that describes CGI and tells a complete list for which CGI applications have been demonstrated. For the several I demonstrated myself (sh, Perl, Python, Common Lisp, C, C++, Flaming Thunder, Java awk, Fortran 77), see www.rawbw.com/~rem/HelloPlus/hellos.html 198.144.192.45 (talk) 06:59, 18 January 2011 (UTC) Twitter.Com/CalRobert (Robert Maas)
 * perhaps it just means perl, whether used through CGI or mod_perl

Entire concept is obsolete
I wonder if it would be OK to rewrite this article to talk about how DHTML is a term no longer used but used to refer to the amazing revolutionary idea of manipulating the DOM via JavaScript in 2006. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.172.164.160 (talk) 17:52, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

That's a sentence, not a rewrite. It wasn't used in 2006 either, more like 1996.


 * Agree. Since the concept is no longer used (pretty much almost all HTML5 pages are "dynamic" now) and page literally has no third-party sources I propose this page is converted into a redirect to HTML5. Anton.bersh (talk) 10:29, 4 March 2021 (UTC)

Delete this article
I propose we delete this article since:
 * 1. This term is not (and probably never was) notable -- there are literally no sources in the article which mention the term;
 * 2. This article has no sources and reads more like a guide
 * 3. This term is obsolete, so most likely there will be no new sources which could be used for this article

Anton.bersh (talk) 14:33, 4 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Yes, it is not even remotely accurate to how the term was used. DHTML according to Uppsala University is when a compiled binary on the server generates the files dynamically, so that no JavaScript is necessary. DHTML is the technique that banks use today, where you have to load a new page to see updates from the database and send any request input through text in the URL. 2A00:801:408:78ED:4D47:6480:549A:F439 (talk) 09:33, 22 April 2023 (UTC)