Animated NOT!

[YoJim]

Hi,
I use:

<IMG SRC="http://cybertrails.com/~yojim/images/email.gif" WIDTH=30 HEIGHT=30 alt="Send an email to Jim"></a>

in a htm file to display the animated email.gif file. The graphic appears, but is not animated. When I open a copy of the file on my local hard drive with IE it is animated. If I open the copy at http://cybertrails.com/~yojim/images/email.gif it is not animated.

Additionally I viewed this animated gif on a different computer using the same OS W2K, and it displayed in it's animated form. Now I'm really confused.

Can anyone suggest why I am experiencing this problem?

Thanks for listening.

[DaveSW]

You say you viewed it on a different pc. The original file or the online version? Some pc's for some strange and unknown reason (including my one) don't display animated gifs. It may be due to firewall restrictions etc.

Failing that, Have you taken the animated image through a graphics editor at all before uploading? This would cause it to lose all the frames except the first one.

dave

[pyro]

The image you linked to is animated for me. IE6, Win XP...

[YoJim]

Dave,
It was the online file I viewed (which worked) on the different PC. Negative on the graphic editor. I've used that ani gif file for years, and it remains unedited.

The animated gif worked:
1. The copy on my local machine (W2K OS) when opened with IE.
2. The copy online on another machine (W2K OS) via a web page.

The animated gif did not work:
1. The copy online with my machine.

Thanks Dave.

BTW could there be a setting in the IE6 options that is causing the gif not to animate?

[DaveSW]

I think it's probably more related to network settings. I've checked it in IE6 and and it doesn't work, whereas it does for Pyro. However, I've also checked it in Opera, which has a definite option in preferences to play gifs, which is checked, and it still didn't work!!

Do you have a firewall? Is your pc part of a larger office? I think this may be more of the direction to check. My pc does occasionally play gifs, but i'm not sure whether it's the weather that does it or the firewall. lol

dave

[YoJim]

Dave,

Do you have a firewall? Is your pc part of a larger office? I think this may be more of the direction to check. My pc does occasionally play gifs, but i'm not sure whether it's the weather that does it or the firewall. lol

No firewall, computing from a mobile home in a small town in AZ, so no network to consider.

I've no doubt that the http://cybertrails.com/~yojim/images/email.gif animates on some machines, and not others (I've already experienced this). The obvious question is Why?

It's fustrating to not having all the features of a Web page not work consistently, and not being able to identify the problem. Oh well, we've both been there, and done that before.

[Bullschmidt]

Looks animated to me with latest Netscape browser.

[KeshavaR]

Works in Animated fashion for me both ONLINE and OFFFLINE (after i saved it to my machine..)

No probs whatso ever..

Cheers,

- Keshav

[JackTheTripper]

Is it possible the first time you went to view the page the image didn't download compleatly and not the half loaded image is cached? Try clearing your cache and see if that works.

[YoJim]

Thanks for the suggestion Jack. I tried what you suggested to no avail. Besides I've tried using the Refresh option of IE, which reloads the page and any images on the page.

To reiterate the problem:

http://www.cybertrails.com/~yojim/paca/ contains a animated eMail gif at the bottom of the Home page.

Animinated gif files in Web pages on my local machine are displayed animated.

Those same gif files in the same Web pages when online at my ISP server are not displayed animated on my machine. I've viewed those same Web pages on another machine that runs the same OS I use (W2K), and the gifs appear animated.

This is driving me crazier than I already am.

[nkaisare]

Animated in IE5
Animated in NS7
Animated in Op7.10
unanimated in Op7.10 with "Enable Gif Animation" unchecked.

So, to me at least, there seems to be no problem.

[YoJim]

So, to me at least, there seems to be no problem.

That's because you're not the developer who when he views the page sees a animated gif that isn't animated, and is trying to figure out why. The fact is if it isn't animated on my machine, chances are there are other machines that it isn't animated on also, and I like to find out why.

[DaveSW]

Guess you just have to accept that some people will never see your page in it's full glory...

[YoJim]

Yeah Dave, I could give up, but it's just not my nature. Besides it's a challenge .

[jrlamar]

Jim,

The animation also runs fine on IE 5 on Macintosh. It's interesting that you mention this, though, because I've sometimes received animated GIFs as e-mail attachments from friends who are on Windows machines ... and, for some reason, they don't animate either. (Usually, it just shows what should be the first frame of the animation as a standard, static GIF.) I'm wondering if there's some sort of bug/fluke in Windows that translates certain animated GIF files as standard (static) GIF files.

As for the firewall theory, I don't buy it. From a hardware perspective, GIF animations are still just graphic files on the Net, so I seriously doubt there's a way for a firewall to distinguish between animated and static versions of the format. If it was a firewall issue, I'm guessing that none of the GIF files would get through ... animated or not.

Jason