OutPost: Creating Interactive Web Applications

When you are creating interactive web applications with AJAX (any AJAX framework), you need a solid understanding of the DOM and CSS in different browsers. DHTML can be a challenge for any developer - you have to test your application rigorously in different browsers. And browsers do change. You have to write the DHTML for your controls and you have to make it cross-browser compatible yourself. ATLAS lends the developer a hand by introducing its layers of DOM compatibility. The DOM is extended by adding methods to the document and window element (as I describe it in the article). And that is great if you need to write DHTML! But with OutPost you don't! You just have to use stardard ASP.NET controls that are able to output HTML for downlevel browsers. If the browser is up-level it outputs HTML+JavaScript, and if the browser is down-level is outputs HTML. If you installed the demo project, you can try this out by removing the clienttarget="downlevel" attribute in the Page directive of Validator7.aspx or Validator8.aspx. You'll then notice that with up-level browsers fewer XmlHttp-calls are now made, because the validation is done with JavaScript.