About Clients and ISMAP

Joe Germuska (germuska@casbah.acns.nwu.edu)
Mon, 10 Jan 1994 12:29:27 -0600 (CST)


As I continue work on mapping, I think more and more that it would work
better if clients retrieved the config file from the server and cached it
rather than repeatedly asking the server what it should do:

1) If the client had the config file, it could preview the destination URL
of each "hotspot", like many clients do with text-links now.

2) If the client had the config file, it could better cache and retrieve
URL's since it would know if adjacent pixels are mapped to the same URL.

3) If the client had the config file, it could better handle relative URL's
-- this may be only a quirk of the MacMosaic implementation, but a relative
URL tries to cycle back through the image map! It would be much nicer if
the client labeled the current document by the URL listed in the config
file than by the URL the client created based on the ISMAP click. (i.e.
http://www.acns.nwu.edu/jazz/styles/world-music.html
not
http://www.acns.nwu.edu/cgi-bin/imagemap/jzstyle?457,214

(Similar "translation" would be useful for directory index files -- the
client should use the URL of the document the server provides, which may be
equivalent to, but not identical to the URL the client requested.)

Comments?

Joe

-- 
joe germuska * j-germuska@nwu.edu * www * res hall net * instruct tech
      academic computing & network services * northwestern univ
A monk told Joshu: "I have just entered the monastery.  Please
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