DHTML is really not a new pattern of HTML, but quite a new way of looking at it and controlling the standard HTML commands and codes.
When you’re thinking of DHTML, you should remember the qualities of the standard HTML and it should be remembered especially when once a page is loaded from a server and it will not be changed until and unless another request comes to that server. DHTML will give you additional control over the standard elements of HTML and also allows the user to change it any time even without returning to the main Web server.
There are actually 4 parts to DHTML:
Scripts
XHTML
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
DOM (Document Object Model)
DOM
Document Object Module (DOM) is the one that allows you to get the access for any part of the Webpage and to change the Webpage using the DHTML. By DOM, all the parts of the Webpage are specified and you can even access and also change their properties by using its consistent naming conventions.
Scripts
Scripts that are written in either ActiveX or JavaScript are the two common writing or scripting languages that are used to activate DHTML. In order to control the objects that are specified in the DOM, these scripting language are used.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
Cascading Style Sheets are used in Dynamic HTML in order to control the feel and look of the Web page. These Style sheets will define the fonts and colors of the text, the images and background colors and also the placement of objects in the page. Using DOM and the scripting, you can even change the style of different elements.
XHTML
XHTML4.x or XHTML is used in order to create page for itself and also to build some of the elements for the DOM and CSS to work with. About XHTML for DHTML there is nothing more special– it is even more important to have a valid HTML, because there are more things to be worked on from it just more than the browser.
The Features that are included in DHTML
Actually there are 4 primary features of DHTML:
Data binding (Internet Explorer)
Changing the properties and tags
Dynamic fonts (Netscape Communicator)
Real time positioning
Changing the properties and tags
Changing the properties and tags are the most common uses of DHTML. DHTML will allow you to change the HTML qualities of tag depends on the outside event of the browser. You can even use DHTML to preload information into a page, and not to display the information until and unless the reader clicks on that specific link with the intention of clicking.
Real-time positioning
This DHTML will also allow you to play some of the games that are interactive with your readers or else animate some portions of your system screen.
Dynamic Fonts
Along with some dynamic fonts, the fonts can be encoded or downloaded with the page, so the page looks so stylish.
Data binding
This is a feature used in IE only. Data binding was developed by Microsoft in order to allow getting the databases from Web sites.