Isolating a page element for print

[npish]

I'm wondering if it's possible to achieve the following via css-- ie. with a
style sheet for printing-- or via javascript:

I've constructed a table-based site-- for compatibility with older browsers--
that basically contains a header, footer, left-hand navigation pane and a
content/body pane. I'm wondering if it's possible to code the site in such a
way that when a user opts to print any given page, ONLY the content/body
section appears on the printed page, thereby "stripping" this section of the
other page elements to become the sole printed element. My reasoning is that
unless the page is fitted to the printing window/page (as in Firefox), part of
the content pane will be cut off (as in IE 6, which of course has pathetic
printing functionality) when attempting to print.

Another option, if such a 'direct-to-print' concept is not possible, is to
create a "Print this page" link, that would effectively isolate the content
section in a pop-up window that could then be printed. I would imagine that
this would be achieved by JavaScript, but I would need direction with this as
well.

Any assistance and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated;

Thanks.

[Murray *ACE*]

> I've constructed a table-based site-- for compatibility with older

> browsers--

What older browsers are you worried about, specifically.

> ONLY the content/body
> section appears on the printed page, thereby "stripping" this section of
> the
> other page elements to become the sole printed element.

Of course. Design your tables so that the content/body is in a single,
non-nested table. Use a Print stylesheet to make all of the other tables on
the page 'display:none;'. For details, see this -
[url]http://www.alistapart.com/articles/goingtoprint/[/url]

> My reasoning is that
> unless the page is fitted to the printing window/page (as in Firefox),
> part of
> the content pane will be cut off (as in IE 6, which of course has pathetic
> printing functionality) when attempting to print.

The trick is to keep everything either narrower than the printed page, or
100% width.

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
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"npish" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:eb64qs$5de$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> I'm wondering if it's possible to achieve the following via css-- ie. with
> a
> style sheet for printing-- or via javascript:
>
> I've constructed a table-based site-- for compatibility with older
> browsers--
> that basically contains a header, footer, left-hand navigation pane and a
> content/body pane. I'm wondering if it's possible to code the site in
> such a
> way that when a user opts to print any given page, ONLY the content/body
> section appears on the printed page, thereby "stripping" this section of
> the
> other page elements to become the sole printed element. My reasoning is
> that
> unless the page is fitted to the printing window/page (as in Firefox),
> part of
> the content pane will be cut off (as in IE 6, which of course has pathetic
> printing functionality) when attempting to print.
>
> Another option, if such a 'direct-to-print' concept is not possible, is to
> create a "Print this page" link, that would effectively isolate the
> content
> section in a pop-up window that could then be printed. I would imagine
> that
> this would be achieved by JavaScript, but I would need direction with this
> as
> well.
>
> Any assistance and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated;
>
> Thanks.
>

[npish]

what if the content section is in a nested-table?

[Murray *ACE*]

You must break it out of the nested table in your page design. If you make
the parent table display:none, I don't believe you have any options to make
the inner table display:block.

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
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"npish" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:eb66fi$73a$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> what if the content section is in a nested-table?

[npish]

hi Murray; thanks for your responses; as for your initial question about my compatibility concerns, I was under the impression that 4.0 browsers cannot render DIVs, is this incorrect?

[Murray *ACE*]

Is it incorrect? Yes.

Which 4.0 browsers are you concerned about? NN4x? I usually build my pages
so that all 5+ browsers get the stylesheet, and NN4x does not, and receives
a completely unstyled page. It's still functional, but just not so
attractive.

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
==================
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"npish" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:eb8oma$d0j$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> hi Murray; thanks for your responses; as for your initial question about
> my compatibility concerns, I was under the impression that 4.0 browsers
> cannot render DIVs, is this incorrect?

[npish]

yeah, I guess I'm particularly concerned about NN4 and IE4; in a nutshell, how
do you structure the div layout so that it's still "functional", albeit less
attractive, for those older browsers? for a site with a complete div layout,
won't the older browsers just stack one layout block on top of the other?

[Murray *ACE*]

> yeah, I guess I'm particularly concerned about NN4 and IE4;

Why? Added together these two consume about 0.5% of the total *general* use
population. Are you dealing with a specialty demographic?

> in a nutshell, how
> do you structure the div layout so that it's still "functional", albeit
> less
> attractive, for those older browsers? for a site with a complete div
> layout,
> won't the older browsers just stack one layout block on top of the other?

Yes - that's what they get. The site is functional - heck, it's even
presented in a logical order on the screen, but it's unstyled. For NN4, you
can get this simply by using the @import stylesheet link. I'm not sure
about IE4, but you may be able to use an IE Conditional Comment to load a
bland stylesheet for it, so that it supercedes the previously imported one.

--
Murray --- ICQ 71997575
Adobe Community Expert
(If you *MUST* email me, don't LAUGH when you do so!)
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"npish" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:ebc7kk$n03$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> yeah, I guess I'm particularly concerned about NN4 and IE4; in a nutshell,
> how
> do you structure the div layout so that it's still "functional", albeit
> less
> attractive, for those older browsers? for a site with a complete div
> layout,
> won't the older browsers just stack one layout block on top of the other?
>