behavior Property (A, ABBR, ACRONYM, ...)

Gets or sets the location of the Dynamic HTML (DHTML) behavior.

Syntax

CSS	{ -ms-behavior : sBehavior }
Scripting	[ sBehavior = ] object.style.behavior

Possible Values

sBehavior

String that specifies or receives one of the following values. url(sLocation) Script implementation of a DHTML behavior, where sLocation is an absolute or relative URL. url(#objID) Binary implementation of a DHTML behavior, where objID is the ID attribute specified in an object tag. url(#default#behaviorName) The application's  default behavior, identified by its behaviorName.

The property is read/write for all objects except the following, for which it is read-only: currentStyle. The property has no default value. The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) attribute is not inherited.

DHTML expressions can be used in place of the preceding value(s). As of Internet Explorer 8, expressions are supported in IE7 Standards mode and IE5 (Quirks) mode only. For more information, see About Dynamic Properties and Defining Document Compatibility.

Remarks

You can apply multiple behaviors to an element by specifying a space-delimited list of URLs for the behavior attribute, as shown in the following syntax:

<element style="behavior:url(a1.htc) url(a2.htc) ..." >

In the following section, one example demonstrates how you can apply two behaviors to an element to achieve a combination of effects. Conflicts resulting from applying multiple behaviors to an element are resolved based on the order in which the behavior is applied to the element. Each succeeding behavior takes precedence over the previous behavior. For example, if multiple behaviors set the element's color, the prevailing color is the one set by the behavior last applied to the element. The same rule applies in resolving name conflicts, such as with property, method, or event names exposed by multiple behaviors.

Once the behavior property is defined for the element, the addBehavior method can be used to dynamically attach additional behaviors to the element.

Note  A behavior attached to an element by using the addBehavior method or by applying the proposed Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)  behavior attribute inline is not automatically detached from the element when the element is removed from the document hierarchy. However, a behavior attached using a style rule defined in the document is detached automatically as the element is removed from the document tree.

Windows Internet Explorer 8. The -ms-behavior attribute is an extension to CSS, and can be used as a synonym for behavior in IE8 Standards mode.

Examples

The following examples demonstrate various ways of applying the behavior property on a page.

This example implements an expanding and collapsing table of contents by applying the behavior as an inline style to the li element. In this case, two behaviors implemented as HTML Component (HTC) have been applied to the element to achieve a combination of mouseover highlighting and expanding/collapsing effect.

<ul>
  <li style="behavior:url(ul.htc) url(hilite.htc)">HTML</li>
  <ul>
      <li>Internet Explorer authoring tips</li>
	  :
  </ul>
</ul>

This example defines the behavior attribute in a separate style block.

<style>
   .CollapsingAndHiliting {behavior:url(ul.htc) url(hilite.htc)} 
</style>

<ul>
  <li class="CollapsingAndHiliting">HTML</li>
  <ul>
      <li>Internet Explorer authoring tips</li>
	  :
  </ul>
</ul>

This example sets the behavior property in script.

<script>
   function window.onload()
   {
      idTopic1.style.behavior = "url(ul.htc) url(hilite.htc)";
   }
</script>
 :
<ul>
  <li id=idTopic1>HTML Authoring</li>
  <ul>
      <li>Internet Explorer authoring tips</li>
	  :
  </ul>
</ul>

Code example: http://samples.msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/samples/components/htc/toc/toc.htm

If the expanding/collapsing example were to use a DHTML behavior implemented in C++ as an Microsoft ActiveX control, the code would look slightly different. In this example, the behavior attribute points to the id property of the object specified in the object element.

<style>
   .Collapsing { behavior:url(#myObject) }
</style>

<object id=myObject ... ></object>
<ul>
  <li class="Collapsing">HTML Authoring</li>
  <ul>
      <li>Internet Explorer authoring tips</li>
	  :
  </ul>
</ul>

Standards Information

This property is part of a proposed addition to CSS.

Applies To

A, ABBR, ACRONYM, ADDRESS, APPLET, AREA, B, BASE, BASEFONT, BGSOUND, BIG, BLOCKQUOTE, BODY, BUTTON, CAPTION, CENTER, CITE, CODE, COL, COLGROUP, COMMENT, CSSStyleDeclaration, currentStyle, CUSTOM, DD, defaults, DEL, DFN, DIR, DIV, DL, DT, EM, EMBED, FIELDSET, FONT, FORM, FRAME, FRAMESET, HEAD, hn, HR, HTML, I, IFRAME, IMG, INPUT type=button, INPUT type=checkbox, INPUT type=file, INPUT type=hidden, INPUT type=image, INPUT type=password, INPUT type=radio, INPUT type=reset, INPUT type=submit, INPUT type=text, INS, ISINDEX, KBD, LABEL, LEGEND, LI, LINK, LISTING, MAP, MARQUEE, MENU, nextID, NOBR, NOFRAMES, NOSCRIPT, OBJECT, OL, OPTION, P, PLAINTEXT, PRE, Q, RT, RUBY, runtimeStyle, S, SAMP, SCRIPT, SELECT, SMALL, SPAN, STRIKE, STRONG, style, SUB, SUP, TABLE, TBODY, TD, TEXTAREA, TFOOT, TH, THEAD, TITLE, TR, TT, U, UL, VAR, WBR, XML, XMP, CSSCurrentStyleDeclaration Constructor, CSSRuleStyleDeclaration Constructor, CSSStyleDeclaration Constructor

See Also

Behavioral Extensions to CSS, Using DHTML Behaviors