dropdown is not dropping down in ie

[esthera]

this works in firefox but in ie the dropdown doesn't dropdown

i'm using the following css

.sidebar {
	background:gray;
	padding:1em 2em;
	border-left:1px solid #ccc;
	border-right:1px solid #ccc;
}

.sidebar ul {
	padding:0.5em 0 1em 0;
	position: relative;
	 z-index: 597;
}

.sidebar ul:first-child {
	margin-bottom:3em;
}

.sidebar li {
	display:block;
	list-style:none;
	padding:0.2em 0;
	/*background:url(../images/arrow.png) 0 50% no-repeat;*/
	border-bottom:1px solid #ccc;
}

.sidebar ul li.hover,
.sidebar ul li:hover {
 	position: relative;
 	z-index: 599;
 	cursor: default;
}

.sidebar ul ul {
 	visibility: hidden;
 	position: absolute;
 	top: 0;
 	left: 100%;
 	z-index: 598;
 	width: 170px;
	background:#eee;
	border-left:1px solid #ccc;
	border-right:1px solid #ccc;
	padding:0;
	margin:0;
	/*padding:0.5em 1em 1em 1em;*/
 	/*padding:0.5em 0 0.7em 0;*/
}

.sidebar ul li:hover > ul {
 visibility: visible;
}

.sidebar ul ul li {
	margin:0 0.5em;
}

.sidebar ul div.ul_top {
	margin-top:-6px;
}

.sidebar ul div.ul_bottom {
	margin-bottom:-6px;
}



.sidebar a {
	display:block;
	padding:0 0 0 0.8em;
	color:#444;
	text-decoration:none;
	background:url(../images/arrow.png) 0 50% no-repeat;
}

.sidebar a:hover, .sidebar a:focus, .sidebar a:active {
	background:#ccc url(../images/arrow.png) 0 50% no-repeat;
}

[j4v3d]

can you post a link to the website so people can have a look and test it for you - there is not much to go on from the CSS you have posted.

I could guess and say maybe it has something to do with z-index but like i said post a link so we can give a more definitive solution to your problem.

[Excavator]

Hello esthera,
What version IE? I know earlier versions (IE6 and lower?) could not hover an li, had to hover an anchor.

If it's not working in any IE, you probably left out the DocType.

[esthera]

it was the doctype

thanks for your help