Webmaps are also called imagemaps or clickable pictures. When the user clicks in the picture, he is linked to different pages depending on where in the picture he clicked. A map isn't written in the same way as an HTML file.
Webmaps consists of two files, a gif picture and the map file. They are written in a special file, and must be supported by the server. Talk to the administrator to find out if the server supports maps. If it does, it can either be in CERN format, NCSA format, or both. CERN is the company which originally developed the WWW, and NCSA has created, for example, Mosaic. Maps use a cgi-script (like a program) to run, but you can define the map within the HTML file if the user has a newer browser such like Netscape 2.0. These maps are called Client Side Image maps.
A much easier way to create those webmaps is to use my program Mapper which works like an editor where you don't need to learn either how to write the code or the locations of the objects. Mapper can be downloaded from http://www.calles.pp.se/nisseb/mapper.html.
NCSA format
In the NCSA format, all objects are separated with return characters. The list of objects starts with the objects ordered from the front to the back. It ends with the default url.
# text
Defines a comment, not used by the browser.
rect url x,y x,y
Defines a rectangle.
circle url x,y x,y
Defines a circle. x,y is the center point and the edge point.
oval url x,y x,y
Defines an oval. x,y x,y is the rectangle of the oval.
poly url x,y...x,y
Defines a polugon. Each 'x,y' specifies a point.
point url x,y
Defines a point at x,y.
default url
Defines the default URL (locations where no other objects are defined. Must be after the objects.
url is always the URL (address) to the page which will be linked.
CERN format
In the CERN format, all objects are separated with return characters. The list of objects starts with the default url, followed by the objects ordered from the back to the front.
# text
Defines a comment, not used by the browser.
default url
Defines the default URL (locations where no other objects are defined. Must be before the objects.
rect (x,y) (x,y) url
Defines a rectangle.
circle (x,y) rad url
Defines a circle specified by it's center point and radius.
poly (x,y)...(x,y) url
Defines a new polygon specified by a number of (x,y)'s.
url is always the URL (address) to the page which will be linked.
Client Side map format
Each object is separated by a linebreak (return). The objects is stored in order from the back to the front. If the user clicks in an area which is not specified as an object, there will be no action. See the 'picture' chapter for more about how to call and use these maps.
<MAP NAME="text">
Start tag of the map definition. Must end with </MAP>. NAME is the anchor, used by the IMG tag to locate the map
Indicates a map object. If SHAPE is not given, RECT will be used. HREF is the url to which a click in the object will point. NOHREF will make no action. COORDS is the coordinates for the object. With the shape RECT, it's written as "left,top,right,bottom". With the shape CIRCLE, use "center_x,center_y,radius" and with the shape POLYGON, use "x1,y1,x2,y2...". ALT is the text to be showed if the browser can't display the picture, the same as ALT in IMG. TARGET is a Netscape extension which opens the link in a (new) window or frame named "text". If text is "_blank", the window will be unamed. If it is "_self", the current window or frame will be used.
