From: "Aaron Gray" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

>>        http://angray.members.beeb.net/Examples/CSS/test.html
>>
>
>I have used extra div's instead of using padding for positioning and now 
>believe have a working cross browser solution.
>
>It would be good to know why the above example had the extra line space 
>though.

As was previously explained, the lack of a doctype on your page puts ALL 
browsers into quirks mode, which can cause quite a variety of different 
renderings. For IE6, it means, for one thing, that it uses the old, broken box 
model of its even older relatives, IE5 and IE5.5 [1]. 

The /real/ box model says you should add borders and padding to the outside of 
the content width and height. So, for example, if you have a div with a height 
of 40px, and a top and bottom border of 5px and top and bottom padding of 5px, 
you have the following addition problem that the browsers are supposed to 
perform. 40px (declared height) + 10px (top and bottom borders) + 10px (top and 
bottom padding) = 60px (total height of the div) This can also be shown as 
5+5+40+5+5=60 (note: this is just a height example, but width works the same 
way). 

When IE6 is in quirks mode (which it is with your page because it has no 
doctype [2]) and for IE5 and IE5.5, the borders and padding are computed INSIDE 
the content height. So, if you set the height of your div to 40px, then the 
borders and padding will stay within this confined space (essentially, as long 
as your content doesn't make it expand).

It is your choice to use a doctype or not on your pages. Just as a caution, 
however, as you progress with building your page. As I stated before, without a 
doctype, ALL browsers use their quirks rendering mode, and you will likely find 
that there are even more differences as you add elements to the page than just 
what you have found so far. 

Most people recommend using a valid, standard-compliance-mode-rendering doctype 
to be placed on page to make most browsers render things in a similar way. If 
you decide to keep IE6 in quirks mode for your page, you can place a comment, 
or an XML declaration above  the doctype (if you use XHTML) to make that 
browser behave like its relatives, IE5 and IE5.5. There will still be many 
differences you will have to account for with the IEs this way, as compared to 
better browsers. Some people do this all the time (you know who you are...) and 
some, perhaps most people don't, chosing instead to keep IE6 in 
standard-compliance mode. 

I hope that helps clear things up a little for you.

~holly 

[1] http://www.communitymx.com/abstract.cfm?cid=E0989953B6F20B41
[2] http://www.communitymx.com/abstract.cfm?cid=E2F258C46D285FEE 
 
                   
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