Web Glossary

February 19, 1999


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Data Access Components
See Microsoft Data Access Components
Data binding
Data binding is the process by which a data source is linked to a Web page. You can present, manipulate, and update data on the client by linking data to HTML tags. Data binding is based on a component architecture consisting of four major pieces: data source objects (DSOs), data consumers, the binding agent, and the table repetition agent. The DSO provides the data to the page, data-consuming HTML elements display the data, and the binding and table repetition agents ensure that both the provider and the consumer are synchronized. Data binding, combined with HTML 4.0 and the Document Object Model, is one of the contributing technologies to DHTML.
Because the data binding is done on the client side, the data displayed on the Web page is kept separate from the HTML that displays the data. Data binding does this by treating HTML in a Web page as a template for data supplied by a data source object. Then, using the Dynamic HTML support of Internet Explorer 4.0 or later, the data supplied by data objects is merged with the HTML template on the client producing a complete HTML page.
Data Source Object (DSO)
A DSO provides data, embedded via data binding into an HTML page, that users can then sort and filter as they would a database, without needing to return to the server. DSOs supply data asynchronously to the page, similar to the way GIF images are displayed incrementally as they are transmitted.
DSOs can be written as Java applets using Java and a JavaBeans interface, or as ActiveX controls using Visual C++.
Design-time control
Design-time controls are visual authoring components written in ActiveX that help a developer construct dynamic Web applications by automatically generating standard HTML and/or scripting code at design time, instead of at run time.
DHTML
See Dynamic HTML (DHTML)
DHTML behaviors
See Dynamic HTML behaviors
DHTML scriptlet
See Dynamic HTML scriptlet
Direct3D
A component of DirectX, Direct3D builds and animates 3-D environments.
DirectAnimation
DirectAnimation, a component of DirectX, provides animation features, and integrates compact 2-D and 3-D elements with Dynamic HTML Web pages. Four multimedia ActiveX controls comprise DirectAnimation: Structured Graphics, Sprite, Path, and Sequencer.
DirectDraw
A component of DirectX, DirectDraw creates full-screen, page-turn effects and applies textures, including video, to a 3-D surface.
DirectShow
A component of DirectX, DirectShow adds streaming audio and video to Web pages. (See also: DirectShow ActiveMovie Control)
DirectShow ActiveMovie Control
The DirectShow ActiveMovie Control is an easy-to-use-programming interface that uses the control's properties, methods, and events to manage multimedia. It supports a variety of media types, including MPEG audio and video, AVI, WAV, MIDI, and Apple QuickTime video. The DirectShow SDK provides samples and examples that illustrate how to write programs that use the control with either Microsoft Visual Basic or Microsoft Visual C++.
DirectSound
A component of DirectX, DirectSound enables sounds to be synchronized with online events.
DirectX
DirectX is a group of technologies designed by Microsoft for running and displaying, on the Windows platform, applications and interactive Internet-based content rich in multimedia elements, such as full-color graphics, video, 3-D animation, and surround sound. Through DirectX, developers are given a common set of instructions, components, and tools that simplify the creation and playback of multimedia content, while at the same time making it easier to integrate a wide range of multimedia elements.
The DirectX technologies included when users install Internet Explorer 4.0 are Direct3D, DirectAnimation, DirectDraw, DirectShow, and DirectSound.
Distributed COM (DCOM)
DCOM is a protocol that enables software components to communicate directly over a network in a reliable, secure, and efficient manner. Based on the Open Software Foundation's DCE-RPC specification, DCOM deploys across heterogeneous platforms and works with both Java applets and ActiveX components.
Document Objects
See Active Document
Document Type Definition (DTD)
A DTD is a set of syntax rules for mark-up tags and their interpretation. Within an HTML (or XML) document, a DTD provides specific information on what tags are used in the document (and in what order those tags should appear), which tags can appear inside other ones, which tags have attributes, and so forth. Originally developed for use with Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), DTD defines the relationships between document elements.
DSO
See Data Source Object (DSO)
DTD
See Document Type Definition (DTD)
Dynamic HTML (DHTML)
DHTML is a technology that enables Web authors to create interactive HTML documents that do not rely on server-side programs or complicated sets of HTML pages to achieve special effects. DHTML achieves these effects by modifying the current document and automatically reformatting and redisplaying the changes, employing the user's computer to calculate and carry out those changes, instead of reloading a document or loading a new document. Because every element of the Web page is changeable in real time on the client side, content can be changed on the fly—freeing the user from having to wait for text and data to make a round-trip to and from the server.
DHTML is made up of HTML 4.0, data binding, the Document Object Model, and Cascading Style Sheets.
Dynamic HTML (DHTML) behaviors
DHTML behaviors, a new feature in Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0, are simple, lightweight components that encapsulate specific functionality or behavior on a page. When applied to a standard HTML element on a page, a behavior enhances that element's default behavior. A DHTML behavior component can be written in any scripting language, such as JScript or Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition.
As encapsulated components, behaviors provide easy separation of script from content. This not only makes it easy to reuse code across multiple pages, but also contributes to the improved manageability of the page. In addition, the simple declarative syntax Internet Explorer provides makes applying a behavior to an element as easy as attaching a style to an element on a page through the proposed new Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) behavior attribute.
Dynamic HTML (DHTML) scriptlet
A DHTML scriptlet is a Web component that is written using HTML and scripting, and that utilizes DHTML capabilities. A DHTML scriptlet is a Web page that is embedded into another Web page, or into any Windows application that can host an ActiveX control (e.g., Visual Basic, Visual J++, Visual C++, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel).
Lightweight and quick to download, DHTML scriptlets can be created once and reused in multiple Web pages. Based on Win32 Component Object Model (COM), DHTML scriptlets can interact with other applications that support COM. On a standard platform, a DHTML scriptlet is just a Web page created with HTML; however, on a Win32 platform, a DHTML scriptlet becomes a COM object as well. DHTML scriptlets are supported in Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. (See also: Dynamic HTML behaviors)
Dynamic Link Library (DLL)
A Dynamic Link Library (DLL) is a file of code containing functions that can be called from other executable code (either an application or another DLL). Programmers use DLLs to provide code that they can reuse and to parcel out distinct jobs. Unlike an executable (EXE) file, a DLL cannot be directly run. DLLs must be called from other code that is already executing.
Dynamic style
Dynamic style is a key feature of Dynamic HTML. Using styles and style sheets, Web authors can quickly change the appearance and formatting of the elements within a document without adding or removing elements. Relying on script-based programming (i.e., VBScript, JScript, or JavaScript) to change any Cascading Style Sheet text attribute, document files are kept small because the script makes the change.

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