lofton.net

Working on a recent layout, I was finally confronted with the need to have an IE CSS hack. I hate hacks, because they often break with browser updates and aren’t easily remembered. So I avoid them as much as possible. However, I finally succumbed to having to use a hack… except the method I use is not a hack so much as relying on IE functionality. My designs typically can be made to work in Opera, Mozilla/Firefox and Safari browsers very easily, and then occasionally take some head pounding to get to work for IE (first windows then mac). While some might suggest designing for IE first, that is not desirable as I use a mac to develop on, although I do use a PC at work. Also, when resolving a design for IE first, it is tempting to not check the others, as IE is still the browser of the masses. Working with Safari, Mozilla first gets the less numerous browsers out of the way. The additional nightmare of IE is that you have to deal with the subversions, 5.0 does not work the same as 5.5, which is not the same as 6.x (don’t mention 4.x browsers).

read more

I am on the look out for another editor or hoping an update to jEdit will come soon. I had been really happy with jEdit for a while except some really annoying patterns have emerged in my use of it. The first problem is there seems to be a problem connecting via ftp. When I go to save a file it will fail giving a nondescript error. If I try several times it will eventually save the file. This can take 10 or more attempts at times.

The other problem I am having is it seems to add a character to the beginning of a file when you have certain options set. This character is used as a flag or indicator of the setting. Unfortunately, on Unix systems this causes script files to have problems. You will see an odd character display on a web page at the very top. This would not be a problem so much if you opened the file and could see that character and delete it… but when you open the file, there is no indication that this character exists. I think it adds this when you set the UTF-16 option, which is sometimes needed for foreign language character display. Or when you set the save location… or something. I am just guessing as I have no clue, if anyone knows what is going on with that, let me know. The only way to see the character is to telnet and use vi. Then you can delete the character.

Really the first problem is what is bothering me most. As I changed the settings for the characters and save pointer location or some such, and that seemed to go away. But I am going back to DreamWeaver for my code editor, at least part of the time, until I can find a solution for the FTP problem. I really like jEdit, but the FTP problem is too annoying to continue to deal with. However, I will also look at some other editors and see if there is anything new out there.