Issues with DHTML tooltip and ie8

[powerkor]

I am using this:
http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamici...tmltooltip.htm

I am currently designing it as part of a part information popup for building custom pcs:
http://www.pittdesign.com/customize

In IE8, when you hover over a link thats further down in the scroll window, IE8 scrolls that window to the top, making it hard to use the form. The tooltip works on parts that are first in the list because the scrollbar is already at the top. Works on every other browser I've tried: ie7, chrome, ff.

Can someone else try ie8 and confirm this behavior to make sure its just not the PC i was using.

Any idea why?

-Eric

[powerkor]

Still am working through this, but really havent found any solid reasoning for this behavior.

I fixed the positioning issue, however, and made it just find the middle of the page to generate the popup box too.

But the scrolling up issue is unexplainable at the moment. I hope someone out there can give me some advice.

Thanks!

[powerkor]

I found a work around for this, by using a meta tag that makes ie8 act like ie7 (which works)

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=7"/>

[djr33]

I'm sorry to not be able to offer a better idea, but I don't think that is a very good solution.

It may work as a temporary fix, and that is fine. However, you should continue to search for a better way because in the future that will not keep working. It may also behave strangely in other browsers (for example, what does Firefox do with IE-7 content?).
Relying on a fallback like that will probably be strange once IE9 or IE10 comes out.
But of course if you need the content at the moment that's better than nothing until you find a permanent solution.

[powerkor]

all other browsers continue to work flawlessly except for ie8. This includes ie6, ie7, FF, opera and chrome

[djr33]

Yes, I understand. My point is that you are using a cheap solution that will eventually fail at some point. That is: you have solved it assuming the web stays as it is forever. This is like relying on outdated code: it may still work, but with the next round of web browsers, it won't. If you don't believe me, try asking IE8 to parse a page as IE3 did. Now just wait until 5 versions of IE later and you'll find that your current page crashes.
Of course, as I said, this is a momentary fix and that is fine. But you should find a real solution for the future. You don't have to take my word for it, but it will end up being a problem, and if you solve the actual problem it will likely work in more browsers as well (browsers you have not tested for, and future versions of IE, etc.). Standards don't exist just so that code will work, but so that code will remain stable and reliable-- if you balance everything together like this there is no reason it can't work, but then it also won't be reliable.

[powerkor]

Well I am hoping when ie9 comes out that it will actually work, like all of the other browsers do. Its not a temporary fix because IE permanently sucks... slowly though, IE is hoping on the standards wagon... maybe with ie9 I can eventually remove the meta tag.