HTML/web question (about auto-refresh)

bongomania · #1 05-20-2009, 03:42 PM

If you create a page that auto-refreshes indefinitely, is it doing so only when somebody is viewing that page, or is it refreshing (and using bandwidth) nonstop regardless of whether anyone is viewing?

MakiSupaStar · #2 05-20-2009, 03:53 PM

Is this one of those if-the-tree-falls-in-the-forest-and-no-one-is-there-to-hear-it questions?

bongomania · #3 05-20-2009, 03:53 PM

No, it's a real practical question about bandwidth usage. I get it though.

MakiSupaStar · #4 05-20-2009, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

No, it's a real practical question about bandwidth usage. I get it though.

... Or do you?

But seriously, that command is meant for the browser viewing it. If there is no browser on it, there is nothing to refresh. As far as I know.

Rusty Chainsaw · #5 05-20-2009, 07:00 PM

If it's auto-refreshing, it's doing it one of two ways - either using a meta refresh tag, in which case it'll refresh indefinitely and in the background, or via AJAX, which will often be set to respond to some page event (for instance, mousing over the main container DIV of the page) - this is how Facebook does it and is the more bandwidth-friendly solution, since the page is only getting refreshed when it is in focus.