Message Window

Purchasing The Applet

This software is available as part of Web Effects (JavaWare and Gold Collections), for more information visit the Web Effects page or contact OpenCube at 207-947-1955

Notes Regarding Java

Note: Some versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape, depending on the platform, (primarily the Beta IE 4.0, IE 3.02 and Netscape 4.01) will not be able to view this and most other applets locally (usually image based or text file reading applets). If this is the case we recommend using IE 3.0 - 3.01, Netscape 2.0 - 3.01 or the Microsoft Applet Viewer which is included in the JDK. Note: This bug will not be present once the applet is located on the internet and will work under all browser / platform scenarios.

Required Class Files

This applet uses multiple class files (included with the download), the main class file: mwindow.class must be referenced by the applet tag. The other support class files must be located in the same folder as the main class file in order for the applet to run. The required class files are: mwindow.class, ocsb.class, ocjwkey.class

Applet Tag Template

• Template - Based on above sample

Online Documentation at www.opencube.com

• Applet Configuration FAQ
• Technical Document Index

Receiving Technical Support:

If you are having trouble customizing the applet or cannot get the applet to function appropriately please contact OpenCube by phone or e-mail at 207-947-1955, or support@opencube.com. When contacting support by e-mail please include any error messages you received and an explanation of the problem. If you have already customized your tag please e-mail the HTML document which includes the tag and any support files such as images that the applet uses and we will correct the problem and e-mail the working tag with your page back to you.

Information about the applet and its parameters

Required Parameters

Parameter 1 (the "notice" tag) must be included in the applet tag in order for the applet to work. Most of the parameters will default if you fail to define them, at a minimum you must include the notice tag and description parameters for you messages. Usually the easiest way to customize the applet is to cut and paste the applet tag information used in the sample and modify it to fit your web page.

Defining Colors

This applet uses a simple RGB or Hexadecimal color definition scheme. On most systems (depending on the software being used to choose a color) its easier to define a color using RGB, however since most web pages define colors using a HEX value we have allowed for both methods of color definition. To define a color using RGB use commas to separate the values such as 255,255,255 (White). To define a color using a hexadecimal value use a pound sign ('#') followed by a 6 digit hex value in the rage of 000000 - FFFFFF (e.g. #FFFFFF is equal to the color White).

Color Definition with RGB: To define a color in one of the color parameters using RGB choose a value between 0 - 255 for the red, green, and blue components separated by commas and typed out in the correct r,g,b order. Below is a sample of how a color parameter using RGB should look, the example specifies several different sample colors for the "bgcolor" parameter.

WHITE: <param name="bgcolor" value="255,255,255">
GREEN: <param name="bgcolor" value="0,255,0">
BLACK: <param name="bgcolor" value="0,0,0">
YELLOW: <param name="bgcolor" value="255,255,0">
OFF WHITE: <param name="bgcolor" value="240,239,234">

The best way to choose the exact color you are looking for without having to guess the numbers is to access your systems Color Picker. Color Pickers usually allow you to drag the mouse over a rainbow type color grid to select a color, and show you the appropriate RGB values. In windows the Color Picker is accessible through MS Paint as well as a majority of the popular Imaging and HTML Authoring Software.

Defining Multiple Attributes with the same parameter name

Parameters used to customize a specific message are indicated using a range, such as "desc0" - "descN". To define a parameter for a specific message (available when noted as above), use "textcolor0" to define, in this case, the text color for the first message - "textcolor3" would define the text color for the fourth message, etc., etc.

The Applet Parameters

The Applet

Parameter 1
Attribute: Copyright notice.
param name="Notice"
value="Message Window, (c) 1997, OpenCube Technologies, Unregistered"
Note: This must be included for the applet to work.

Parameter 2
Attribute: Background Color
param name= "bgcolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: WHITE

Parameter 3
Attribute: Default Status Bar Text when mouse is over applet
param name = "onsbtext"
value="X", where X is the message to appear in the status bar when the mouse is over the applet but not over a URL link.
DEFAULT: "OpenCube - Message Window"

Parameter 4
Attribute: Default Status Bar Text when mouse is off applet
param name = "offsbtext"
value="X", where X is the message to appear in the status bar when the mouse is not over the applet.
DEFAULT: "Java by OpenCube"

The Scroll Bar

Parameter 5
Attribute: Scroll Bar Line Increment Value
param name= "barlinejump"
Value=X, Where X is the value to increment in screen pixels when the line increment buttons are pressed (up arrow or down arrow). Note: In Netscape this value also effects how smooth the the applet will scroll when dragging the bubble (page position indicator located between line increment buttons). The page up and page down values are automatically detected (used when the user presses between the bubble and a line increment button).
DEFAULT: 5

Parameter 6
Attribute: Scroll Bar Background Color
param name= "barbgcolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: Black

Parameter 7
Attribute: Scroll Bar Button Face Colors
param name= "barbuttoncolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: Light Gray

Parameter 8
Attribute: Scroll Bar Arrow Color
param name= "bararrowcolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: Black

Parameter 9
Attribute: Scroll Bar Arrow Highlight Color
param name= "bararrowhcolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors. The bar arrow highlight color is the arrow color that will appear as the mouse moves over an up or down button
DEFAULT: Yellow

Parameter 10
Attribute: Scroll Bar Slider Color
param name= "barslidecolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors. The slider is the colored bar between the top and bottom buttons.
DEFAULT: Black

Parameter 11
Attribute: Scroll Bar Slider Outline Color
param name= "barbgcolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: Black

Parameter 12
Attribute: Scroll Bar Slider Inset Value
param name= "barslideinset"
Value = X, Where X is the distance from the edges that the slide bar should be inset.
DEFAULT: 2

Parameter 13
Attribute: Scroll Bar Width
param name= "barwidth"
Value = X, Where X is the width of the scroll bar. Note the buttons and slider will automatically adjust to the set width.
DEFAULT: 14

Smooth Scrolling

Parameter 14
Attribute: Use Smooth Scrolling
param name= "smoothscrolling"
Value=true or false, true = yes turn smooth scrolling on, false = do not use smooth scrolling. Note: Smooth scrolling creates an animation scroll transition when the scrollbar moves the page to a new position. The relative speed of the transition can be manipulated with the "smoothjump" parameter. When set to false the page simple moves without any special effect to the new position.
DEFAULT: False

Parameter 15
Attribute: Smooth Scrolling Jump Value
param name= "smoothjump"
Value = X, Where X is the distance in screen pixels for each frame of the smooth scrolling animation effect. Note: The lowest possible number, 1, creates the smoothest animation, however takes the longest to transition, the higher the value the faster the effect, hence the choppier the scroll. Watch that this value does not exceed your "barlinejump" parameter value, exceeding this value may cause the page to scroll inappropriately when the line increment buttons are pressed.
DEFAULT: 2

The Scrolling Messages

Parameter 16
Attribute: Message
param name="desc0" - "descN"
value=X, where X is the message to be scrolled
Note: Messages longer than the width of the applet are automatically put in a multi-line format. To use a message as a blank line break break use a space character " ".

Parameter 17
Attribute: Default Text Color
param name= "textcolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: BLACK

Parameter 18
Attribute: Specific Text Color
param name= "textcolor0" - "textcolorN"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: BLACK

Parameter 19
Attribute: Default Message Font Size
param name="size"
value="X", where X is the default size of all message fonts.
DEFAULT: 14

Parameter 20
Attribute: Specific Message Font Size
param name="size0" - "sizeN"
value="X", where X is the specific size of a message font.

Parameter 21
Attribute: Default Message Font Name
param name="fontface"
value="X", where X is the name of a standard Java Font (Dialog, Helvetica, TimesRoman, Courier, Symbol)
DEFAULT: "Helvetical"

Parameter 22
Attribute: Specific Message Font Name
param name="fontface"
value="X", where X is the name of a standard Java Font (Dialog, Helvetica, TimesRoman, Courier, Symbol)

Parameter 23
Attribute: Default Font Style
param name="style"
value= bold, italic, bolditalic, plain
DEFAULT: plain

Parameter 24
Attribute: Specific Font Style
param name="style0" - "styleN"
value= bold, italic, bolditalic, plain

Parameter 25
Attribute: Default Center Text
param name="centertext"
Value = true or false. true = yes center text, false = no left justify text
DEFAULT: false

Parameter 26
Attribute: Specific Center Text
param name="centertext0" - "centertextN"
Value = true or false. true = yes center the specific line or lines of text, false = no left justify the specific line or lines of text.

Parameter 27
Attribute: Left and Right Margin Width
param name="lrmargins"
Value = X, Where X is the width of the right and left margins.

Parameter 28
Attribute: Automatically Size the Starting Position of the following Message.
param name="autosize0" - "autosizeN"
Value=0 or 1 or 2: 0 = do nothing, this is the default value, 1 = Identifies a message as the starting message to be automatically sized to fit applet area, 2 = Identifies the ending message to be sized. To automatically size messages that span multiple description tags, simply set the starting message to 1 and the ending message to 2 with this parameter. For example if you wanted your desc0 and desc1 tags fit within the height of the applet area and your desc2 tag to sit just out of view, ready to be displayed as soon as the user scrolls the page down you would simply identify the desc0 as a start sizing message by setting "sizepuase0" = 1 and define desc1 as the end sizing message with "autosize1" = 2. To size only one message to fit the applet height only identify that message as a ending message and do not define a starting message (e.g. "autosize0" = 2, forces the desc0 message to be the only visible message on the screen, desc1 would sit directly off screen just out of view.)

Messages that act as URL Links

Parameter 29
Attribute: Destination URL Link
param name="desturl0" - "desturlN"
Value = X, Where X is the location of the document to load relative to the location of the HTML document containing the applet (e.g. if the HTML page containing the applet was located at http://www.opencube.com and the document to load was located at http://www.opencube.com/myhtml/mydoc.htm then the desturlN value would be "myhtml/mydoc.htm"). Note: The desturlN tags directly correspond to the descN tags, setting desturl0 will add a link to the first message description identified in desc0, desturl1 uses a link with desc1, etc.

Parameter 30
Attribute: Default Load Destination URL Link Where? (Frame Targeting)
param name="loadwhere"
The "loadwhere" tag specifies where the document specified in the "URL" value should be loaded. The default is "_self". A value equal to the name (case sensitive) of a frame will load the document in that frame. Setting this value to applet forces the document to load within the applet itself

"_parent" show in the parent frame
"_top" show in the top-most frame
"_self" show in the current frame
"_blank" show in a new unnamed top-level window
"name" show in a new top-level window named name
"frame name" show in the frame named frame name

Note: When targeting a frame location with the name of the frame make certain that the case and names are typed identically. If the applet cannot find the frame the document will be loaded in a new window.

Parameter 31
Attribute: Specific Load Destination URL Link Where? (Frame Targeting)
param name="loadwhere0" - "loadwhereN"
The "loadwhere" tag specifies where the document specified in the "URL" value should be loaded. The default is "_self". A value equal to the name (case sensitive) of a frame will load the document in that frame. Setting this value to applet forces the document to load within the applet itself

"_parent" show in the parent frame
"_top" show in the top-most frame
"_self" show in the current frame
"_blank" show in a new unnamed top-level window
"name" show in a new top-level window named name
"frame name" show in the frame named frame name

Note: When targeting a frame location with the name of the frame make certain that the case and names are typed identically. If the applet cannot find the frame the document will be loaded in a new window.

Parameter 32
Attribute: Highlight Color
param name= "hlcolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: Blue

Message Window, © 1997, OpenCube Technologies

This software may be used for evaluation purposes only. For more information regarding the use of this evaluation software see the End User Agreement Document.