[WEB4LIB] Re: Creating an empty table cell

[Keith Higgs]

At 09:48 AM 3/15/2002, you wrote:
>On Fri, Mar 15, 2002 at 06:33:32AM -0800, Keith Higgs remarked:
> > Occasionally I will use a single pixel transparent gif.  That's a 1*1
> > bitonal gif in which that one pixel is the transparent color.
> >
> > D. Keith Higgs. Email: dkh2 at po.cwru.edu, dkhiggs at yahoo.com
>
>But is this a better solution?  Why would it ever be necessary
>to use graphics in such an instance?

Net necessarily better, I agree.  However, there sometimes are layout 
considerations that make this a preferred option.

I'm using a 43 byte gif to accomplish what (in most instances) can be 
accomplished with a 6 byte (" ") text string.  Additionally, there's 
the character overhead of the tagging ("<img src=x.gif alt=' '>" at the 
very least to be ADA compliant, or "<img src=x.gif alt=' ' height=1 
width=1>" to speed rendering in the event the browser can't find the image.)

With that acknowledged, there are instances when that nbsp will throw your 
layout off, especially when you're dealing with particularly fine 
tolerances on a very visual site.

The point here is, in those rare instances when the most efficient method 
munges your layout you can find options that work in under 100 bytes, have 
no reliance on scripting, and are completely cross browser compatible.

Keith

Approximate download time ==
         (total-file-size [bytes] * 8) / (connection-speed [bits per second])
Every byte counts!

D. Keith Higgs. Email: dkh2 at po.cwru.edu, dkhiggs at yahoo.com
Case Western Reserve University, Webmaster - University Library
More Info: http://www.cwru.edu/UL/pershomepages/K_Higgs.html
"'C' is for Cookie, that's good enough for me."