On 10/26/06, Patrick Spence <patrick / pkspence.com> wrote:
> Alex LeDonne wrote:
> > On 10/26/06, Patrick Spence <patrick / pkspence.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> Thanks!
> > I don't think this is a well-defined problem. The order in which
> > fields appear on screen is not deterministic with respect to the
> > source document; it can be affected by CSS and even by the user agent
> > (it's possible to have field A below field B in Firefox, but above in
> > Internet Explorer). Considering tables & columns, even "before" and
> > "after" become ambiguous... how would you order the fields in the
> > following HTML table, with respect to screen layout?
> <snip>
> If you're referring to my question, I thought it the problem was defined
> quite clearly; here's what I have, here's what I need, how do I get
> there?
>
> As to CSS affecting the layout, you're absolutely correct. The more I
> think about this, I believe my "alternative" approach would be a better
> solution.  Even though it will involve someone going thru each page of
> the app and clicking on the controls *in the proper order*. However,
> this will only have to be done once as the "click order", or "taborder",
> will be written to a SQL Server table upon each mouse click. This sounds
> like a really interesting project!

Sorry if I was unlear; your description was well-stated, I was saying
that your core question, "Is there a way to collect a list of all the
controls on a page _in the order they appear on the screen_?" is not
well-defined, because the order in which controls appear on the screen
is not well-defined given a source document.

Your "record-the-order" plan sounds like a good one.

Good luck!

-A