Sliding Billboards

Sliding Billboards

Purchasing the Applet
Note: The unregistered version of this applet may be completely customized and used for evaluation purposes on a single computer and viewed locally.

This software is available for purchase as part of Web Effects (Navigation and Gold Collections), for more information use the links below 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.

Note: Due to a bug in Netscape and IE, Gif Images can sometimes be rendered inappropriately depending on the the platform and browser being used. Netscape typically displays the gif image with a spotty effect. This applet does use special code to work around the bug, however cannot guarantee to resolve the problem 100% of the time. Jpg images will work under all browsers and platforms and may be necessary if gif images are producing an undesirable effect.

Required Class Files

This applet uses multiple class files (included with the download), the main class file: slideb.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: slideb.class, occcolor.class, ocjwkey.class

Online Documentation at www.opencube.com

Applet Tag Templates

Template - Based on above sample

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 billboard images.

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.

Applet Parameters

General Settings

Parameter 1
Attribute: Copyright notice.
param name="Notice"
value="Sliding Billboards, (c) 1997, OpenCube Technologies, Unregistered"
Note: This must be included for the applet to work. The text must appear as one continuous line of text without a line break or the applet will not recognize the string, the appropriate capitalization must be used as well.

Parameter 2
Attribute: Applet Background Color
param name = "bgcolor"
Value = R,G,B, Where R,G,B are the red, green, and blue components of the applets background color.
DEFAULT: Black

Parameter 3
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

Parameter 4
Attribute: Stall Billboards On Mouse Over
param name = "stallmover"
Value = true or false, true = yes, stall the billboard when the mouse is located over the image, false = no, transition the billboards regardless of where the mouse is.
DEFAULT: true

Parameter 5
Attribute: Mouse Off Billboard Delay if Time Expired
param name = "offdelay"
Value = X where x is the amount of time in seconds to transpire before switching to the next billboard once the mouse moves off the image,
DEFAULT: 2

The Image Files

Parameter 6
Attribute: Image File Names and Locations
param name = "imagefile0" - "imagefileN"
value="X", where X is the name and location of the image files to display in the applet relative to the location of the html document containing the applet.

Parameter 7
Attribute: Default Delay Timing
param name = "delay"
value="X", where X is the default time to display each billboard image in seconds.
DEFAULT: 3

Parameter 8
Attribute: Specific Delay Timing
param name = "delay0" - "delayN"
value="X", where X is the amount of time in seconds to display a specific billboard image.

Animation Effects

Parameter 9
Attribute: Default Animation Delay
param name = "movedelay"
value="X", where X is the default time in milliseconds that all animation's delay for between frames.
DEFAULT: 0

Parameter 10
Attribute: Animation Jump Size
param name = "jump"
value="X", where X is jump size for all animation's, increase the jump size to speed up the animation.
DEFAULT: 1

Parameter 11
Attribute: Default Animation Overlap Status
param name = "overlap"
value=true or false, true - the default animation for new billboard transitions is to overlap the existing message. false - the default transition is to push the existing message aside.
DEFAULT: true

Parameter 12
Attribute: Specific Animation Overlap Status
param name = "overlap0" - "overlapN"
value=true or false, true - the specific animation for new billboard transition is to overlap the existing message. false - the specific transition is to push the existing message aside.

Parameter 13
Attribute: Specific Animation Transition
param name = "heading0" - "headingN"
value={0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}, The following values define the specific transition direction. Note: if a specific transition is not defined then a random transition between the value of 0 and 7 is used.

0 Upper Left Corner
1 Top
2 Upper Right Corner
3 Right
4 Lower Right Corner
5 Bottom
6 Lower Left Corner
7 Left
8 No Transition

Loading Images Message

Parameter 14
Attribute: Load Description
param name = "loaddesc"
value="X", Where X is message to appear when the applet is loading the images.
DEFAULT: "Loading Billboard Images..."

Parameter 15
Attribute: Font Size
param name = "fontsize"
value="X", Where X is the size of the font for the loading message.
DEFAULT: 12

Parameter 16
Attribute: Text Color
param name = "textcolor"
Value = R,G,B, Where R,G,B are the red, green, and blue components of the text color for the loading message.
DEFAULT: White

URL Links

Parameter 17
Attribute: Image URL Links
param name = "desturl0" - desturlN"
value=X, where X is the link for the specific image. URL's can be defined relative to the HTML document containing the applet or fully qualified.

Parameter 18
Attribute: URL Link Descriptions
param name = "desc0" - descN"
value=X, where X is the description for the url link which appears in the status bar for each image.
DEFAULT: URL location

Parameter 19
Attribute: Default Load Destination Image URL Where?
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.

"_self" show in the current frame
"_parent" show in the parent frame
"_top" show in the top-most 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 20
Attribute: Specific Load Destination Image URL Where?
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.

"_self" show in the current frame
"_parent" show in the parent frame_top" show in the top-most 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

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.