DHTML Global Style Sheet

Style sheets are gaining importance in many websites and online applications. Because of its ability to provide real time data with little to no effort, it has become a very powerful tool by developers who wanted interactive online applications.

As long as CSS is properly implemented, developers and users can expect a powerful application with highly efficient data retrieval capability. But aside from client side programming languages, developers could also opt to implement CSS in non-interactive websites. Even HTML based websites can use CSS so that it could update users on the data they need in their website.

In Ajax based websites, CSS could be used in two forms – through external style sheet and global style sheet. As the name suggests, the former is used to tag data outside the website as it makes use of other sources such as another website. The global style sheet on the other hand provides data directly to the website from internal sources such as the server.

Working with global style sheets could be possible with the use of DHTML. This highly dynamic version of HTML eases the resource requirement in implementing CSS in the Ajax based application.

By itself, CSS could be very intrusive in the application since it will impose its data on the entire application. If they are not properly manipulated, developers will have deal with CSS which slow down the application in the user’s end. With the help of DHTML, CSS could be implemented in select areas of the application.

But being a global style sheet, this form of CSS cannot just be placed anywhere. Global style sheet codes and parameters have to be placed in the header of the application. The term “Global” means it should be available in the website without any problem.

Because of the addition of global style sheet on the header of the application, an advantage and disadvantage could be realized. The advantage of global style sheets when placed on header is in ease of activating the data needed. Since it is already on the header, developers would just have to tap the data and let it stream without too much coding.

On the other hand, using the global style sheet could limit data retrieval capabilities of the application since the CSS will take over the entire application. If the developer does not include the data needed in global style sheet, then the application will lack the data it will need for the application.

But that does not mean global style sheet will not be useful in some context. Remember that there is still the external style sheet which offers an alternative to global style sheet. If they are use together, developers would have endless possibilities on how to work with the application.

With the help of DHTML, CSS could be properly implemented. An Ajax based application with streaming data is always a possibility with the use of CSS in DHTML. Developers do not even have to do much work in coding as CSS could basically be coded in the application once and implemented anywhere.