Every version of Web browser is different. Every brand of Web browser is different. They differ in the way that they are used, as well as the commands that they support. One of the more interesting tasks when setting up a Web site is to add visually appealing and functional pages while ensuring that your browser will display them as intended.

The IMVS Web site makes use of both frames and JavaScript. This combination restricts the site to being viewed by more recent browsers, but the added functionality allows the site to be more easily navigated. Netscape began support for both with version 2.02 of it's browser (although version 3 or later is recommended because of other deficiencies) and Microsoft support was added with Internet Explorer version 3.

Every page in the site can also be displayed in a non-frames browser. If your browser does not support frames, you will have been notified of this when you entered the IMVS Web site, and a link would be displayed to show a non-frames version of the home page.

Each page have a link on the left navigation menu to either 'Switch to Non-frames' or 'Switch to Frames'. This is a toggle that you can use if your browser supports frames to display our site according to your own preference.

Please send an email to our Webmaster if you think something does not appear as it should.

Frames

Normal non-framed Web pages are made up of a single document that contain pointers to images and other documents. When scrolling a non-framed page, the entire contents scroll together similar in the way a word processor document scrolls.

A framed Web page is made up of mulitple documents. The IMVS Web site layout is made up of four separate files:

• The main document frame, which in turn loads the other documents.
• The top frame, which contains the blue bar with text at the top of the page.
• The side navigational bar, which contains the logo and quick links to the main sections of the site.
• The main text area, which is what you are currently reading.

Frames add an additional level of complexity both in management and use, but do have advantages. The main ones being that when scrolling, parts of the screen will remain fixed (useful for navigational links) and that when displaying a new page items in the fixed frame do not need to be reloaded (reducing load times),

JavaScript

JavaScript is a 'client-side' scripting language. This simply means that the client (i.e. your browser) runs the script as opposed to the Web server. JavaScript enables some automation and dynamic abilities on a page. This site uses JavaScript extensively to allow us to use the same page for both the framed and non-framed versions of the site.

JavaScript is not the only client scripting available, but is probably the most widely supported. There are three versions of JavaScript (1.0, 1.1 and 1.2). To support the widest range of browsers, this site uses the original version 1.0 commands only.