Map

Map Support Key: [2\|3\|*3.2\|4] [X1\|X1.1] [IE1\|M2.1\|N2\|O2.1*]	What is it? Attributes Tag Example	Parent/Content Model Tips & Tricks Browser Peculiarities
= Index DOT Html by Brian Wilson =

Quick Statistics
End Tag:		Required
Standards Details:		In all HTML 4.x and XHTML DTDs
XHTML Modules:		Client Side Image Map
CSS 'display' Type:		NA/"inline" (Depending on content model)
CSS Mapping:		NA
Default Rendering:		NA
Official Docs:		HTML 4.x, XHTML 1.1

What is it?: The MAP element was first introduced in the Client Side Image Map proposal (an HTML Working Draft from Spry.) It was very quickly adopted in browsers and then in the HTML 3.2 recommendation. MAP is the containing element of a grouping of shape-link identification pairs (the AREA element) used to identify image map linking destinations with geometric regions on an image. This is accomplished via an HTML encoding system, rather than the older, more time consuming ISMAP method which requires an extra HTTP request and server-side processing map file.

The Client-side image map model can be made backward compatible with the old ISMAP model by specifying the USEMAP attribute in the IMG element where an ISMAP attribute is also present. The USEMAP attribute takes as its value the URL of a Client Side Map specification. The URL specified can either be in the current or an external file.

Common Attributes
%Core%: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4|M|N6B1|O5]
%Accessibility%: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4|M|N6|O5]
%Events%: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4|M|N6B1|O5]
%Language%: [2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE4|M|N6B1|O]
Specific Attributes
Name
[2|3|3.2|4] [X1|X1.1] [IE1|M2.1|N2|O2.1]: Standards Details: In all HTML 4.x/XHTML 1.0 DTDs. Dropped from XHTML 1.1; Required? No; Description:
This attribute behaves the same as the A NAME attribute in defining a destination within a document. It specifies the map location within a file for reference by the IMG USEMAP attribute. They are referenced in the IMG USEMAP attribute as either "#mapname" [map is in the current file] or "file/name#mapname" [map location is in an external file] as appropriate.; Values: CDATA.

Example: <map name="clientsidemap">
   <area shape="rect" coords="0,0,100,100" href="http://www.foo.com/test.htm" />
   <area shape="circle" coords="95,105,5" href="http://www.foo.com/test2.htm" />
   <area shape="poly" coords="5,100,10,110,0,110" nohref />
</map>

<a href="cgi-bin/serverside.map"> <img src="image.gif" ismap usemap="#clientsidemap" /> </a>

Tips & Tricks

DTD Note: The content model listed above is valid as of HTML 4.01; in HTML 4.0 and previous standards, the only content allowed in a MAP element was an AREA element. Luckily, most browsers already support this new DTD content model.
It is usually a good idea to include an ISMAP as an alternative to Client Side Image maps, but authors sometimes may not have access to set up map files on their host machines. In this case especially, and in general, a THIRD alternative should be authored to allow navigation via text links for users that do not have image capability.
HTML 4.x+ recommends that authors use the ID attribute instead of the NAME attribute wherever possible. ID is the accepted method moving forward and NAME is actually removed as of XHTML 1.1.

Browser Peculiarities

[Test] Netscape has never supported external IDs/URLs in the USEMAP attribute to the IMG element as per the specification (only internal anchors can be used.) Internet Explorer supports external IDs/URLs from version 1.0 to 3.0, now it does not support them. Opera has supported external IDs/URLs since version 3.0.
[Test] Netscape 6 betas 1 and 2 did not allow any displayable content inside the MAP element. All other browsers have allowed this, and Netscape 6 beta 3+ does as well.