Navigator 4.0 will support some very powerful new JavaScript
features that allow it to create dynamic documents. These
exciting new features are the subject of much speculation, but
unfortunately, the details are still not known outside of
Netscape, and the following descriptions must be somewhat vague.
- Navigator 4.0 should support a number of new JavaScript event
handlers, which will enable JavaScript programs to respond to
individual keystrokes, and to mouse-button press and release
events, rather than to a simple "on click" event.
- Navigator 4.0 will support a new
<LAYER> tag, will will allow HTML
text and objects to be positioned at absolute cordinates
within a window, and to be stacked on top of each other
(hence the name "Layer"). It is expected that this will mean
that many HTML objects in JavaScript will have
x and y coordinate
properties, and that JavaScript programs may even be able to
set layer coordinates to dynamically move "layers" within the
document.
- Navigator 4.0 will support style sheets and will also include
a feature known as "JavaScript Style Sheets." This is
expected to give JavaScript programs control over the style in
which documents are displayed. It
is worth noting that Microsoft is working on a competing
technology for dynamic HTML documents code-named "Trident."