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arameter
Descriptions
Each of the
parameters for the WildViewApplet applet is described in detail in this
section.
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loadMsg
By default, when the WildView applet is initially being loaded a "Loading..."
text message is displayed in the center of the applet area.
If desired, the load message may either
be disabled, or it may be assigned different message text.
To prevent WildView from displaying a load message, set the loadMsg parameter
value to "false," as for example:
<PARAM NAME="loadMsg" VALUE="false">
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To assign the text that should be displayed in the load message, set the loadMsg parameter
value to the text to be displayed. For example:
<PARAM NAME="loadMsg" VALUE="Please wait while the applet is loaded...">
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warn
The WildView applet can log two different types of messages to the Java log (or
Java Console): error messages and warning messages.
Error messages are logged whenever the applet encounters a serious condition that affects WildView's display
or operation. Warning messages are logged whenever a condition is detected that
might indicate a problem.
Error messages and warning messages are invaluable when developing panel sets because they allow
errors or potential problems in a panel set to be detected. However, after the panel set has been
written and debugged, it is usually not necessary to log warning messages any longer.
To disable warning messages from being logged, the warn applet parameter should be assigned
a value of false. If the applet parameter is not specified, or if the parameter is assigned
a value of true, then all warning messages will be logged.
For information regarding how to use the Java Log or Java Console, please see the
Java Logging documentation.
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appletBg
This parameter specifies the background color for the applet.
The applet background color should not be confused with the WildView background color, which is
specified by the color applet parameter. The applet background color is the
"fill" color that is used when the applet display area needs to be re-drawn.
Suppose, for instance, that another window is covering the WildView applet display area and that the
window covering the applet is suddenly moved or closed. The first thing that Java will do when the applet area
becomes visible is to fill the applet area with the applet background color. After the applet area has been
filled with the background color, then the WildView applet will get a chance to redraw the display area.
This sequence of events also occurs when the page that contains the applet is scrolled. If you watch carefully, you
will notice that applet area is briefly filled with a solid color before WildView redraws the display area.
The appletBg parameter is provided to give you the capability of specifying a fill color in order to make
the background fill process less noticeable. Note that the background fill is not very noticeable if the WildView
applet is small, but it can be distracting if a large WildView applet is used.
The value for this parameter must be a RGB value in hexadecimal format. For instance, the color red
would be "FF0000", and a medium gray would be "888888".
If this parameter is not specified, then the applet background color will default to the color assigned as
the browser's background color.
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color
This parameter specifies the
background color of the WildView display (do not confuse this parameter with the
appletBg parameter which specifies the applet's
background color).
The value for this
parameter must be a RGB value in hexadecimal format. For instance, the color red
would be "FF0000", and a medium gray would be "888888".
Note that the WildView display area is filled with the background color
first, then the
background image (if specified) is drawn.
If this parameter is not specified, then the background color will
default to white.
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background
This is the file name of a GIF or
JPEG image file that is displayed as the WildView background.
If the image file name is specified without a path, then the applet will look
for the image file using the URL of the Java code (i.e., the applet will search
for the image file in the directory that contains the WildView Java
class files).
If a path to the image file is specified, then the path
root is based on the URL of the Java code. For instance, if the WildView
Java classes are in a directory called "Java", and if a
background image called "WildViewBkgnd.JPG" is in a
directory called "Images" which is in the "Java"
directory (i.e., "Java/Images/WildViewBkgnd.JPG"), then the
tag would be:
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<PARAM NAME="background" VALUE="Images/WildViewBkgnd.JPG">
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The background image can be the same size as the applet display area, or it can
be larger, or it can be smaller.
It is possible to position the
background image in the WildView background by using the
backgroundX and backgroundY
parameters.
If the background image is smaller than the applet display
area, the background image can be "tiled" by using the
tile parameter.
If this parameter is not specified, then the applet will fill the
background with the background color.
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backgroundX
This parameter is only used if the
background parameter is specified.
The
backgroundX parameter is used to position the background image horizontally on
the
WildView display.
The left edge of the WildView
display corresponds to a value of 0 (zero).
If the background image
does not fill the entire WildView display area, then the area not
covered by the background image will be filled with the background
color.
If a background image is specified but
the backgroundX parameter is not specified, then the value for backgroundX
defaults to zero (the background image is positioned starting at the left edge
of the display).
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backgroundY
This parameter is only used if the
background parameter is specified.
The
backgroundY parameter is used to position the background image vertically on the
WildView display.
The top edge of the WildView display
corresponds to a value of 0 (zero).
If the background image does not
fill the entire WildView display area, then the area not covered by the
background image will be filled with the background color.
If a background image is specified but the backgroundY parameter is not
specified, then the value for backgroundY defaults to zero (the background image
is positioned starting at the top edge of the display).
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tile
This parameter is only used if the
background parameter is specified.
If the
background image is smaller than the WildView display area, then setting
the value of the tile parameter to "true" results in the background
image being tiled on the
WildView background.
Tiling can be used as an efficient way to
apply a texture to the background of the WildView display. Instead of
using a large image file with dimensions equal to the dimensions of the display
area, a very small image file can instead be used and tiled on the background.
Using the smaller image will usually will result in a faster initialization time
since the applet does not have to transfer as much image data.
If the
tile parameter is used in conjunction with the backgroundX
and/or the backgroundY parameter, then partial
tiling can be achieved. For instance, if the WildView display is 200
pixels wide, a backgroundX value of 100 used in conjunction with tiling will
result in the left half of the display area being filled with the background
color, and the right half of the display area be filled
with the tiled background image.
Valid values for this parameter are "true"
(tile background image) and "false" (do not tile background image).
If this parameter is not specified, then the tile value will default to "false".
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usePaint
In some situations, setting this
parameter to "false" might result in better quality animation or in
better performance. Most of the time, you will probably want to ignore this
parameter. A technical explanation of this parameter follows below.
The Java programming language provides two primary methods of drawing, or "painting"
to the display. One method uses a "repaint" mechanism where requests
to paint a frame of animation are scheduled and Java decides when, or in some
cases if, to paint the frame of animation. The other method to paint a frame of
animation involves telling Java to paint the frame right away, rather then
scheduling the request.
While the repaint method of painting is more
efficient than the paint method, it was found in testing WildView that
the paint method generally provides higher quality animation than does the
repaint method.
Ultimately, the choice of which method to use is yours. Ideally, it
would be best to try both methods on each platform where your WildView
display will be used. If it is not possible to test all platforms, then it is
suggested that you do not specify this parameter in your applet tag (it defaults
to "true").
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useCache
When a browser reads data over a network, it usually caches the data (i.e., saves it locally)
in case that same data is needed again. This technique is useful, for instance, to reduce the time
required to load and display a web page because the the browser can load the data from its cache
instead of loading the data from over the network.
One of WildView's features is its ability to dynamically update a display when a panel set
changes. If the browser is caching panel sets, however, it may never realize that a panel set has
changed on the host because it reads the panel set only once from the network
(after the panel set has been read, a browser using caching will read the panel set
from its local cache). The useCache parameter allows you
to disable caching panel sets so that the browser will always read panel sets from over the network.
The valid values for the useCache parameter are:
- true - use the browser cache when possible
- false - do not use the browser cache
If you do not specify the useCache parameter in your HTML, then WildView will allow the browser
to cache panel sets (i.e., the parameter value defaults to true).
Note that the effect of this parameter is browser dependent -- it might not function the same way
for all browsers.
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readColor
If you specify a color for this
parameter, then whenever WildView reads a layout file that has not
changed since the last time that it was read, a frame with the specified color
will be drawn and briefly displayed around the WildView applet.
This functionality is useful if you are implementing a WildView display
that checks periodically for updates, and if you want a visual notification each
time that a check is made but no update is found.
Note that for a
read notification to occur, only a single panel set can
be used.
The value for this parameter must be a RGB value in
hexadecimal format. For instance, the color red would be "FF0000",
and a medium gray would be "888888".
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updateColor
If you specify a color for this
parameter, then whenever WildView reads a layout file that is different
from the last layout file read, a frame with the specified color will be drawn
and briefly displayed around the WildView applet.
This
functionality is useful if you which to receive a visual indication that a new
panel set has been read and that the WildView display will be updated.
The value for this parameter must be a RGB value in hexadecimal format. For
instance, the color red would be "FF0000", and a medium gray
would be "888888".
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readSound
If you specify an "AU"
audio clip file for this parameter, then whenever WildView reads a
layout file that has not changed since the last time that it was read, the audio
clip will be played.
This functionality is useful if you are
implementing a WildView display that checks periodically for updates,
and if you want an audible notification each time that a check is made but no
update is found.
If the "AU" audio clip file name
is specified without a path, then the applet will look for the file using the
URL of the Java code (i.e., the applet will search for the "AU"
audio clip file in the directory that contains the WildView Java class
files).
If a path to the "AU" audio clip file is
specified, then the path root is based on the URL of the Java code. For
instance, if the WildView Java classes are in a directory called "Java",
and if an "AU" audio clip called "ReadSound.au"
is in a directory called "Audio" which is in the "Java"
directory (i.e., "Java/Audio/ReadSound.au"), then the tag
would be:
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<PARAM NAME="readSound" VALUE="Audio/ReadSound.au">
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Note that for a read notification to occur, only a single panel
set can be used.
Also, be aware that the applet supports only audio files in "AU"
format: it does not support WAV or other audio file formats.
It is suggested that you create an "AU" audio file by using an
8,000 Hz, 16-bit mono sample, then saving the sample in mu-Law 8-bit "AU" file format.
There are a number of utilities that are available that can be used to create audio files in the
"AU" audio file format, or that can be used to
convert other audio file formats to the "AU" audio file format.
One program that is recommended for Win95/NT users is
Cool Edit.
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updateSound
If you specify an "AU"
audio clip file for this parameter, then whenever WildView reads a
layout file that is different from the last layout file read, the audio clip
will be played.
This functionality is useful if you want an audible
notification each time that a new panel set has been read and that the WildView
display will be updated.
If the "AU" audio clip
file name is specified without a path, then the applet will look for the file
using the URL of the Java code (i.e., the applet will search for the "AU"
audio clip file in the directory that contains the WildView Java class
files).
If a path to the "AU" audio clip file is
specified, then the path root is based on the URL of the Java code. For
instance, if the WildView Java classes are in a directory called "Java",
and if an "AU" audio clip called "UpdateSound.au"
is in a directory called "Audio" which is in the "Java"
directory (i.e., "Java/Audio/UpdateSound.au"), then the tag
would be:
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<PARAM NAME="readSound" VALUE="Audio/UpdateSound.au">
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Note that the applet supports only audio files in "AU"
format: it does not support WAV or other audio file formats.
It is suggested that you create an "AU" audio file by using an
8,000 Hz, 16-bit mono sample, then saving the sample in mu-Law 8-bit "AU" file format.
There are a number of utilities that are available that can be used to create audio files in the
"AU" audio file format, or that can be used to
convert other audio file formats to the "AU" audio file format.
One program that is recommended for Win95/NT users is
Cool Edit.
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tagDelimit
WildView defaults to using
the characters "<" and ">" to
delimit tags in WildView layout files (these are the same characters
that are used in HTML for tags).
The tagDelimit parameter allows you
to assign two characters of your own choosing to serve as tag delimiting
characters.
If, for instance, you which to use square brackets at the
tag delimiting characters, you would specify the tagDelimit parameter as
follows:
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<PARAM NAME="tagDelimit" VALUE="[]">
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Remember that if you use this parameter, you must specify the opening tag
delimiter first, and the closing tag delimiter second. Also, both delimiters
must be specified, even if you only wish to change one of the delimiting
characters.
Finally, make sure that the characters you choose for
delimiters do not appear in the layout file text (unless they are found inside
of quotation marks). The use of the letter "a" as a delimiter, for
instance, would not be a particularly good idea.
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maxSizeKB
This parameter defines the amount of
memory allocated internally for reading WildView panel set layout files.
WildView by default allocates 16KB of memory to hold the panel set
layout files that it reads. If one or more of your layout files is larger than
16KB, then you should set this parameter to a value greater than the size of
your largest layout file size.
For example, suppose that your WildView
display uses three panel set layout files: the first file is 12KB in size, the
second file is 18KB, and the third file is 24KB. You should specify a maxSizeKB
parameter with a value of at least 25KB. The parameter specification would look
like:
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<PARAM NAME="maxSizeKB" VALUE="25">
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Note that you can also use this parameter to reduce the memory allocation if all
of your panel set layout files are less than 16KB.
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panelSetXX
This parameter defines the file name
of a panel set file (also referred to as a "layout file") that WildView
can use to create a WildView display.
As WildView
supports the use of multiple panel sets, the XX
portion of the panelSetXX parameter is used to
number the panel set files available to WildView.
If your WildView
display uses only one panel set, then you would specify a single parameter with
a name of "panelSet1". If your WildView display uses two panel
sets, then you would specify a "panelSet1" parameter and a "panelSet2"
parameter.
Note that the XX portion of
the panelSetXX parameter is always
replaced with a number -- you should never have a parameter literally
called "panelSetXX" or "panelSet".
An example of
the panelSetXX parameter for a WildView
display that uses two panel sets is:
<PARAM NAME="panelSet1" VALUE="FirstFile.TXT">
<PARAM NAME="panelSet2" VALUE="SecondFile.TXT">
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If a panel set file name is specified without a path, then the applet will look
for the panel set file using the URL of the Java code (i.e., the applet will
search for the panel set file in the directory that contains the WildView
Java class files).
If a path to panel set file is specified, then the
path root is based on the URL of the Java code. For instance, if the WildView
Java classes are in a directory called "Java", and if a
panel set file called "FirstFile.TXT" is in a directory
called "PanelSets" which is in the "Java"
directory (i.e., "Java/PanelSets/FirstFile.TXT"), then the
tag would be:
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<PARAM NAME="panelSet1" VALUE="PanelSets/FirstFile.TXT">
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