WML::DES::IMGDOT(1)

NAME
wml::des::imgdot - 1pt Dot-Images for Webdesign

SYNOPSIS

 #use wml::des::imgdot
 <: $file = &imgdot($base, $x, $y, $c, $r, $g, $b, $transp, $format); :>
 <imgdot [attributes]>

DESCRIPTION
Currently (as of HTML 3.2 and 1997 ;_) webdesigners use two commonly known tricks for creating their layout on webpages: HTML tables and so-called 1pt Dot-Images. The first one is nicely supported by the WML tag <grid> (see wml::des::grid(3) for details), the latter is supported by this <imgdot> tag.

The usual purpose of this tag is to create a transparent PNG or GIF image with a physical size of 1x1 points and a corresponding <img> tag which includes this image with appropriate width and height attributes. The visual result is a invisible reserved space of size widthXheight. Alternatively this tag can create the image with the requested size instead of scaling the 1pt image (see the noscale attribute below). This approach is more safe (all browsers support this) but wastes bandwith and increases page load time.

ATTRIBUTES
Usually the created images are named imgdot-XxY-rrggbb.png where XxY is the dimension of the image and rrggbb the used color (or `transp' for transparent). When you use a base=foo attribute, then the resulting files are named foo.imgdot-XxY-rrggbb.gif. Actually you can even use a complete filename including a directory prefix, i.e. when you use base=../../common/foo attribute, then the PNG images are created as ../../common/foo.imgdot-XxY-rrggbb.png.

And for most flexibility when no base is specified and the variable IMGDOT_BASE is defined (usually from within a .wmlrc file via -DIMGDOT_BASE~path/to/imgdot/dir/base) it is used. Use this feature to redirect the created images to a particular directory.

You may also use the variable IMAGE_BASE which defines in a single line all base names for images generated by WML. By default, GIF images are generated. This attribute lets you use an alternate image format (actually only PNG and GIF are recognized). You may also change the default format with the variable IMAGE_FORMAT. Specifies the width (x-dimension) of the reserved space in pixel. Default is 1 pixel. Specifies the height (y-dimension) of the reserved space in pixel. Default is 1 pixel. Sets the color of the image. Default is transparent, i.e. no color. Sets the alignment of the image. Default is `bottom'. This alignment is used for the align attribute of the inserted <img> tag. Indicates if the image should be created with 1pt in size and scaled online by the browser (default) or should be created with the correct physical size (this option).

AUTHOR

 Ralf S. Engelschall
 rse@engelschall.com
 www.engelschall.com
 Denis Barbier
 barbier@imacs.polytechnique.fr

REQUIRES

 Internal: P1, P2, P3

SEEALSO
HTML <img> tag.