January 1999
Extra Strength Style Sheets
What's New In CSS2?
By Eric Meyer
Just when you thought you'd gotten a handle on style sheets, the W3C proposes the next level of style-sheet specification, Cascading Style Sheets, Level 2 (CSS2). But CSS1 isn't even fully implemented yet. Confused? Eric offers assistance.
The Extensible Style Language
By Norman Walsh
XML offers Web developers the ultimate in flexibility--the ability to write your own tags. But how can you be sure your custom tags will be interpreted properly? Enter XSL, the style language for XML. Norm leads a tour of the salient points.
C O L U M N S :
Webmaster's Domain
Need to move a large document from one server to another and convert its old-style icons to new ones? Lincoln D. Stein borrows Ralf Engelschall's mod_rewrite module for Apache to translate .xbm files into like-named .gif files.
Visual Designer
While the concept of Cascading Style Sheets is promising, CSS implementation in current browsers hasn't delivered. Lynda Weinman takes a look at the way things are, and things to come.
Database Developer
New database products and technologies have recently emerged from beta testing including MDX and SQLJ. Ken North shows you how to add these solutions to your bag of tricks.
Programming with Perl
Do you take too many pictures? Randal L. Schwartz does, and found that even his thumbnail program from the September 1998 issue couldn't keep up. The solution? A CGI-based picture album.
Java@Work
For those who need a phone book on the go, Al Williams offers a simple applet that displays names and phone numbers from the Web or a local server. As a bonus, you can download the same class file and use it as an application.
Beyond HTML
While we wait for XML to take shape, Michael Floyd uses HTML/OS, an extensible development environment, to create a searchable catalog of XML tools on his Web site.
D E P A R T M E N T S :
Script Junkie
XML is fast gaining currency as the industry standard for Web-based data transmission. But how will XML documents be viewed by all those non-XML browsers? Alexander Hildyard provides a workaround: server-side conversion of XML documents to JavaScript code.
Lab Note
With the latest development tools, database chores can be handled in a visual environment, with relatively little coding. Nonprogrammers can create sites that take advantage of dynamic data-driven Web pages, along with the latest 4.0 browser technology. Scott R. Garrigus takes Drumbeat through its paces.
The Home Page
Editor-in-Chief Bob Kaehms talks about the sting of browser incompatibility.
News & Notes
Laying out Mozilla; Bookmark exchange and Packed in ICE.
The Last Page
Editorial Director Dale Dougherty talks about how "With every solution there is a problem."
