CHAPTER 6: Basic Web Concepts

Web Browsers and Basic HTML


Which Browsers Support Animation?
Netscape Navigator, Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Apple's Cyberdog all support animations of some kind. They all can view animated GIFs. With appropiate Browser add-ons, they will support Sizzler Sprite Files and QuickTime. Many will also support Java applets.

Basic HTML

The following is a basic structure of an HTML document.
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE></TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>or<Body bg color><body background><body text>
Body of the document
(all the text, images, links, etc)
</BODY>
</HTML>

Note: HTML is not case sensitive. The tag <HTML> can be written <html>.
Always save an HTML document in text only mode (ASCII) with the extension .html or .htm at the end.

The unique component of HTML is called the tag e.g. <TITLE>. Each tag allows the user to do certain operations to the layout of the Web page. For example, the text tag <strong></strong> will make the text bold. The best way to understand HTML codes is to get a reference that has the common tags' information and then explore the HTML source that is readily available from any Web site.

In addition, there are many Web Page Authoring Tools available that simplify the process of writing HTML.


Data Transfer Mechanism on the Web


What are MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Types?
When a server recieves a request to obtain a file that it is not immediately familiar with, the server responds by sending the contents of the file indicated along with the MIME type. The MIME type indicates the kind of data that the server is sending in response to the request for a certain URL. The server determines the MIME type to send based on the file name extension. The MIME type for Sprite files is "application/x-sprite".

Configuring a Server
In order to publish Sprite files on a Web server you must configure the server to recognise Sprite files. Once configured, the server will recognize the "spritte" or "spr" file name extension and translate this into a MIME type of "application/x-sprite". If you are a System Administrator you can do this yourself, otherwise you will need to contact your System Administrator or WebMaster and supply them with the information on configuring a server to accept "Sprite" files.

MIME type can simply be set under the option menu on the client system. For example, in Netscape Navigator 2.0, selecting "helpers" under the "General Preferences" item of the Options menu will show you the MIME types. You may edit the existing type or create a new type. For configuration setting on the Web server, consult your server manual for details.



[Chapter 1: Installing]-[Chapter 2: Tutorial]-[Chapter 3: Tools, Palettes & Documents]
[Chapter 4: Menus]-[Chapter 5: Document Settings]-[Chapter 6: Basic Web Concepts]
[Appendix]