Suzanne — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 21:16:06 +0000

http://search.adobe.com/cgi-bin/query?mss=simple&pg=q&what=web&fmt=.&where=www_search_main&superq=svg&index=AdobeCom&q=svg&x=37&y=7

Oodles of links and information!

I don't know that you can use SVG for background-images, though, but it does look like it's coming along nicely. Totally viewable source. Nice!

Suzanne — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 21:12:18 +0000

SVG is in the middle of being declared a standard (non-proprietary). I'm not totally up to speed on that. Perhaps there is more information on this at adobe.com on what's happening.

No, you can't make an object a background-image in the CSS. Object is an html element, so can be styled using CSS (positioning, especially), but you can't embed an object in the CSS as it doesn't work that way.

The rules? I'm not sure what rules you mean. A plug-in is a proprietary format that the user agrees to use. It's often embedded into the document using the element of HTML, unlike, say, an image, which has its own element, or background-image which is its own attribute (though now in the CSS, not in the HTML).

Is that helpful or confusing?

MrByG — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 20:18:06 +0000

can you not make an object a background image using CSS?

What exactly are the rules with "plug-ins" ,"objects" and "background" images?

how about the Adobe format, SVG... is that the same?

Suzanne — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 20:07:20 +0000

As popular as Flash is, .fla will not ever be accepted as a background image, and .swf is not part of the standard. It's a plug-in, and as such, should be in an object only.

Would it be reasonable to have .wmf as a background file? .psd? No. Same with .swf or .fla -- they are proprietary formats.

MrByG — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 18:25:59 +0000

thanks for the responses... I will, once I find the time, do some test pages and let you all see the results no matter what they are.

It seems odd that there are limatations on what a background image can be. I know that it would have to be a "graphic" file but I thought that a FLA was one.

We'll see what happens.

Suzanne — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 14:27:36 +0000

You'll have issues as objects (Flash) need to have the z-index set, and it can be inconsistent. I've heard people asking about having drop-down menus that go over flash elements on a page, and it's always been problematic.

What I would recommend is setting up a demo page with any .swf you have kicking around. I'm pretty sure that .swf isn't supported as a background-image (only .gif, .jpg and .png).

Good luck, and let us see the results!

Jack Michaelson — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 10:32:37 +0000

I think a bg layer is the best option.

Busy — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 09:09:41 +0000

you could probably float it in a CSS background layer, but layers aren't fully supported so you'd be limited

nice layout, looks better in IE than Mozilla thou

Renegade — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 08:51:50 +0000

... hmm i'm not sure u can do that either :S but prove me wrong hehe

Mark Hensler — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 08:19:39 +0000

You're asking if you can have a SWF file as a background image?
I'm not sure. I don't think I've ever seen a site do that.