Working with DHTML and the DHTML Object Model

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This content is no longer actively maintained. It is provided as is, for anyone who may still be using these technologies, with no warranties or claims of accuracy with regard to the most recent product version or service release.

DHTML is based on the document object model developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and is designed to give developers a way to create dynamic Web pages. A dynamic Web page is one where the page's structure, style, or content can be changed after the page is loaded in the browser without having to request a new page from a Web server. By using DHTML, you can create a page that can interact with the user without using additional controls and without requiring multiple trips to a server to update the page.

DHTML uses standard HTML tags to render and manipulate content on a page. It also includes a comprehensive object model that exposes every element on a page as an object that can be manipulated by calling its methods or setting its properties. In other words, everything you see (and many things you cannot see) when you look at a page in a browser is an object that can be manipulated by using script. To see the complete DHTML object model, see the Object Model Guide.

DHTML and Scripting Documentation

The material presented in these Help topics are intended to give you an overview of DHTML and scripting from a Microsoft® Office developer's perspective. You can find complete documentation for DHTML, the DHTML object model, Microsoft® Visual Basic® Scripting Edition (VBScript), and Microsoft® JScript® in the following subfolder on your machine after you install Microsoft Office XP: c:\program files\Microsoft office\office10\1033).

The DHTML and DHTML object model references are in the Htmlref.chm Help file, the complete VBScript reference is in the Vbscript5.chm Help file, and the complete JScript reference is in the Jscript5.chm Help file.

In This Section

  • Working with Scriptlets
    The document object model supports a data-binding architecture that makes it possible for you to programmatically sort or filter data displayed on the page without requiring additional trips to the server.
  • Working with DHTML Objects and Collections
    In HTML code, an element is the portion of a page represented by an HTML tag. A page contains an object for each HTML tag or tag pair.