PRB: No Filter Applied to <SPAN>,<DIV> If Attributes Unspecified

• Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming) versions 4.0, 5.0

SYMPTOMS

When a Visual Filter such as an Alpha or Blur filter is defined for a <DIV> or <SPAN> element, the filter is not applied and no visual effect is displayed.

Alternatively, when a filter defined for a <SPAN> or <DIV> element is scripted, the following scripting error is generated

'elementID.filters.item(...)' is not an object

CAUSE

Visual filters can be applied to DIV and SPAN elements only if they have the following style attributes explicitly defined: width, height, or absolute position.

RESOLUTION

When using a <SPAN> or a <DIV>, be sure to specify at least one of the three required cascading style sheets (CSS) attributes:

• height,



• width



• position (absolute or relative)

<DIV style="position:absolute;
            top:60;
            left:20;
            color:red;
            filter: alpha(opacity=50)">
  <P style="font-size:14pt">Item #1</P>
  <UL>
    <LI>Bullet #1
    <LI>Bullet #2
  </UL>
</DIV> 

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Visual filters can be applied only to HTML elements that are controls. A control element defines a rectangular space within a browser window when the browser renders the Web document. Controls cannot be windowed, such as an IFRAME. Here are the valid HTML controls:

• BODY



• BUTTON



• DIV (with a defined height, width, or absolute positioning)



• IMG



• INPUT



• MARQUEE



• SPAN (with a defined height, width, or absolute positioning)



• TABLE



• TD



• TEXTAREA



• TFOOT



• TH



• THEAD



• TR

REFERENCES

For more information, please see the MSDN Web Workshop:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/default.asp

Additional query words: span div transition filter

Keywords          : kbIE400 kbIE500 AXSDKIEScripting AXSDKScripting 
Version           : WINDOWS:4.0
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb 

Last Reviewed: April 30, 1999