TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Forms in Netscape From:Larry Hoffenberg <softwareconsultant -at- HOME -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 9 Jul 1999 07:15:54 -0600
Thanks Dick,
I did look at the page on a couple of other boxes and they all display the
form differently! I tried tweaking the font size preferences, and it helped,
but it still doesn't correct the problem, it only makes it less severe.
Thanks for your help.
Larry Hoffenberg
softwareconsultant -at- home -dot- com
eFax 978-428-8597
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Technical Writers List; for all Technical Communication issues
> [mailto:TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU]On Behalf Of Dick Margulis
> Sent: Thursday, July 08, 1999 4:10 AM
> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject: Re: Forms in Netscape
>
>
> Larry,
>
> I looked at your form and did not see the effect you described. Here's
> what I think is happening.
>
> Netscape calculates the physical size of a text box based on the Fixed
> Width Font specification in the user's browser preference settings
> (Preferences | Appearance | Fonts). In other words, it looks at the
> point size specified there and the width in pixels of a character in
> that font at that size at the current screen resolution, and multiplies
> by the number of characters specified for the box, then adds a little
> extra cushion.
>
> Thus the box width in Netscape varies from user to user, independent of
> any font specifications you provide.
>
> Try changing your fixed width font preference to a dramatically smaller
> point size, then exiting Netscape, restarting your computer, and firing
> it up again. I think you'll see that the box is smaller.
>
> FWIW my settings are "Monotype.com" (nice-looking fixed-width font
> available from Microsoft), 12 pt, on a screen resolution of 1024 x 768.
>
> Good luck,
>
> Dick
>
> Larry Hoffenberg wrote:
> >
> > I've got a forms page that displays properly in IE4.0/5.0 but in
> Netscape
> > 4.5, all the form field text boxes are displayed way too
> large. For example,
> > there is a month field that I've set to 2 characters in width
> (It's also
> > validated with a max and min length of 2.) When viewed in
> Netscape, the
> > field box shows enough space for about 6 characters. The
> validation rule
> > does work because you can only enter 2 characters in the box.
> The problem is
> > that it looks awful and awkward because of all that extra
> dead white space
> > in the box.
> >
> > If you want to check it out, the page is at
> > http://209.35.104.110/reservationform.htm
> >
> > The form fields are in a table (for alignment purposes)
> within the form, and
> > I'm using FP2K (so far so good :-) ), if any of this matters.
> >
> > Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks,
> >
> > Larry Hoffenberg
> > softwareconsultant -at- home -dot- com
> > eFax 978-428-8597
> >
> > ------=_NextPart_000_0001_01BEC8CB.774FFE40
> > Content-Type: text/html;
> > charset="iso-8859-1"
> > Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
> >
> > <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
> > <HTML><HEAD>
> > <META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
> > http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
> > <META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=3DGENERATOR></HEAD>
> > <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
> > <DIV><FONT face=3DTahoma size=3D2><SPAN
> class=3D500413604-08071999>Hi =
> > all,=20
> > </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
> > <DIV><FONT face=3DTahoma size=3D2><SPAN=20
> > class=3D500413604-08071999></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
> > <DIV><FONT face=3DTahoma size=3D2><SPAN =
> > class=3D500413604-08071999>Anyone seen=20
> > anything like this?:</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
> > <DIV><FONT face=3DTahoma size=3D2><SPAN=20
> > class=3D500413604-08071999></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
> > <DIV><FONT face=3DTahoma size=3D2><SPAN
> class=3D500413604-08071999>I've =
> > got a forms=20
> > page that displays properly in IE4.0/5.0 but in Netscape 4.5,
> all the =
> > form field=20
> > text boxes are displayed way too large. For example, there is=20
> > a month field that I've set to 2 characters in width =
> > (It's also=20
> > validated with a max and min length of 2.) When viewed in
> Netscape, the =
> > field=20
> > box shows enough space for about 6 characters. The validation
> rule does =
> > work=20
> > because you can only enter 2 characters in the box. The
> problem is that =
> > it looks=20
> > awful and awkward because of all that extra dead white space in the=20
> > box.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
> > <DIV><FONT face=3DTahoma size=3D2><SPAN=20
> > class=3D500413604-08071999></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
> > <DIV><FONT face=3DTahoma size=3D2><SPAN
> class=3D500413604-08071999>If =
> > you want to=20
> > check it out, the page is at <A=20
> >
> href=3D"http://209.35.104.110/reservationform.htm";>http://209.35
> .104.110/=
> > reservationform.htm</A></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
> > <DIV><FONT face=3DTahoma size=3D2><SPAN =
> > class=3D500413604-08071999></SPAN></FONT><FONT=20
> > face=3DTahoma size=3D2><SPAN =
> > class=3D500413604-08071999></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
> > <DIV><FONT face=3DTahoma size=3D2><SPAN
> class=3D500413604-08071999>The =
> > form fields are=20
> > in a table (for alignment purposes) within the form, and I'm
> using FP2K =
> > (so far=20
> > so good :-) ), if any of this matters.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
> > <DIV><FONT face=3DTahoma size=3D2><SPAN=20
> > class=3D500413604-08071999></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
> > <DIV><FONT face=3DTahoma size=3D2><SPAN
> class=3D500413604-08071999>Any =
> > ideas would be=20
> > appreciated. </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=3DTahoma size=3D2><SPAN=20
> > class=3D500413604-08071999>Thanks,</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
> > <DIV><FONT face=3DTahoma size=3D2><SPAN =
> > class=3D500413604-08071999></SPAN></FONT><FONT=20
> > size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> >
> href=3D"mailto:softwareconsultant -at- home -dot- com">softwareconsultant -at- h
> ome.com</=
> > A><BR><SPAN=20
> > class=3D500413604-08071999></SPAN>eFax=20
> >
> > ------=_NextPart_000_0001_01BEC8CB.774FFE40--
> >
> >
> ================================================================
> ===========
> > Send commands to listserv -at- listserv -dot- okstate -dot- edu (e.g., SIGNOFF
> TECHWR-L)
>
>
> ================================================================
> ===========
>
>
