Graphic files or only code in modern browsers?

[gcellison]

Hi everyone! I’m new to this forum, but I’m not new to Xara Web Designer. I started using it in 2014 for our boutique hotel website (it took me about four months to learn WDP10 from scratch, get the website designed, and get it on-line). I’ve revised our site every year and a half or so. And now is the time to start again 😉.

I’m looking to understand how the websites produced by Xara are handled by web browsers.

Xara generates HTML5 code that produces many of the basic shapes, like rectangles, rounded rectangles, certain shadows, gradients, and transparencies, etc., directly from the code. At the same time, Xara generates graphic versions (e.g., png and jpeg) of the same objects that are stored in the index_htm_files folder. If I am not mistaken, these are specifically for Internet Explorer browsers from 8 and earlier, which cannot produce the shapes from code and must insert the graphic image, obviously requiring a great deal of bandwidth to download. You can see in the code how Xara directs the browser to the appropriate method in the <!--[if lt IE 9]> and <!--[if gte IE 9]> pairings.

My question is, if someone happens to know: In the case of a modern browser, like Chrome or even IE10, that generate the shapes via code, are the graphic versions of the objects downloaded onto the user’s computer, even if they will not be utilized in generating the page? Or are those image files accessed only when specifically directed by the code (e.g., if lt IE9)?

I appreciate any input.

[gwpriester]

Welcome to TalkGraphics

I haven't the foggiest idea. But I am sure that some of the members will have the long (and more helpful) answer. Check back.

[Egg Bramhill]

My question is, if someone happens to know: In the case of a modern browser, like Chrome or even IE10, that generate the shapes via code, are the graphic versions of the objects downloaded onto the user’s computer, even if they will not be utilized in generating the page?

Hi gcellison and welcome to TG.

Xara does do as you state, creating an image if the browser requires it. As a quick experiment I created a simple test file containing a linear filled rectangle and the default bitmap (attached) If you go File / Export Website to your local drive you can open the index_htm_files folder and see that it does indeed contain a very thin bitmap for the linear fill.

However if you open the index.htm file in a modern browser, I used FireFox , Click over the default bitmap and select View image info it displays all the images within the browser. The linear fill bitmap has not been loaded. So I think you can safely say that the graphics version is not downloaded.

[Acorn]

Egg is correct. What the Xara developers have done is use conditional comments with a conditional expression so that the image fetch is never executed (actually, anything between the pair of double hyphens) when not needed and similar when it is.The statements are effectively either ors.
Version checking is a very powerful tool when covering browsers that don't understand conditional comments: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/pre...ectedfrom=MSDN.

Acorn

[gcellison]

Thanks gwpriester, Egg, and Acorn! It seemed logical that those large graphics files would not be downloaded in the modern browsers since they aren't necessary. Nevertheless, I wanted to be sure. It will help me choose which types of graphic elements I will tend toward in my redesign. Cheers!

[Egg Bramhill]

Thanks Acorn. I may have been correct but I could never have expressed it so succinctly as you did