Preserved Topic: Problem with div-layer in Netscape (Page 1 of 1)

I have quite a confusing problem:

My page consists mainly of a form with many text-fields and some buttons. Additionally I want to show and hide some layers declared by <div id=...> on this form. Hiding and showing is no problem with style-property 'visibility', except for this: if I show the layer in netscape 4, it is always behind the form elements, such as text-fields and buttons. Setting the z-index-property didn't change anything. In IE this works fine, but in netscape it's horrible.

I would be <b>very</b> pleased, if someone could help me.

Hi DreamiX, always nice to see another fellow inmate from Berlin!

I don't think that I really understand your problem... Are you trying to show and hide form elements or texts / graphics on top of other form elements? That's impossible. But you said that it's working in IE, so I suppose you're talking about something different. Maybe there's someone else around here who has an answer for you, or you post a link to the page in question and I'll have a look at it and see if things get clearer then.

kuckus (cell #282)

Yes, in general, since form elements are handled by something other than the browser (specifically, the operating system), the browser just gives control of that part of the page to the operating system to draw the form control on. The operating system doesn't know about other absolutely positioned elements, so it just draws right over them. This also happens with things like Java applets and Flash objects.

There's no real workaround except to avoid overlapping layers with controls, or to set the visibility of the controls to hidden when they're overlapped.

Well, to make it a bit more clear: I'm trying to show/hide layers containing pure text and links above forms-elements (text-fields, buttons). There is no way to make the layer appear somewhere away from forms-elements, since the page itself mainly consists of forms-elements, as i mentioned.
Furthermore: in IE it is possible to control by z-index which is on top - the layer with text or the forms-elements. In Netscape the forms-elements are always on top and i see the layer only "between" them. You see, I still need your help.

P.S. Sorry for cross-posting, I wasn't sure which forum to choose.

Unfortunately, I can't give you a link, since this will become an JSP-intranet-solution, but I have constructed a sample code right here:

<form style="z-index:1;" name="testform" action="" method="" target="">
<input style="z-index:1;" type="Text" name="1" value="" size="50" maxlength="">
<input style="z-index:1;" type="Text" name="2" value="" size="50" maxlength="">
<input style="z-index:1;" type="Text" name="3" value="" size="50" maxlength="">
<input style="z-index:1;" type="Text" name="4" value="" size="50" maxlength="">
</form>

<div id="test" style="z-index:3;position:absolute;top:10px;background:#ffffff;background-color:#cccccc;layer-background-color:#cccccc;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;border-color:#000066;"&gt ;Hello, just a test!<br>with a layer!<br>and more text<br>the story continues...<br>i think that's enough</div>

Try that and you'll see - in IE 5 it works fine, but in Netscape 4 it's ugly.

Even in IE you can't position layers over *all* form elements (try to position layer over <SELECT> form element and you'll see). To put it simple, that's how web browsers work, some will allow you to place layers over OS controls, applets, plug-ins and some will not. And there's no general solution...

More information: http://webreference.com/dhtml/diner/seethru/index.html

Tag Jan,
wie ich shon sagte, die Leute hier haben es bezüglich Webdesign richtig drauf. Ich hoffe die Informationen waren nützlich.

Sorry for changing the language. I just said hello to my friend. He asked me the problem on the phone, but i couldn't give a solution. So i gave him the link to the Asylum.

Ahhh...noch ein Deutsch sprecher...schön...willkommen zu den Asylum...geniess dein aufenhalt...

Yuppers, there are more of us that can speak German here...hehe...

Hi Danilo!

Ja, danke, ist nicht schlecht hier, aber anscheinend ist das, was ich möchte, nicht möglich.
Na ja, dann müssen meine Benutzer jetzt den IE verwenden.

Okay, dann mach's mal gut, man sieht sich.



[This message has been edited by DreamiX (edited 06-26-2002).]