Each of ChromeLink's parameters is explained below, with reference to the clickable example code in the left frame: you can click a parameter from the example code to jump to its explanation, or simply read this page from top to toe. As you read, click the red references to other parameters to jump to them.
Most of ChromeLink's parameters have a default setting which is mentioned below. If the default setting is the option you'd like to use in your own implementation, you can leave that parameter out of your HTML code.
The 'Archive' attribute & 'CabBase' parameter
JAR (Java ARchive) and CAB (cabinet) files are archives containing Java class files in compressed form, making them easier to handle and quicker to download. Most modern browsers are able to read one or other of these formats, and the Archive attribute and CabBase parameter tell the browser the name of the archive file to open. The .JAR, .CAB and .CLASS files must all be in the same directory, and the CODEBASE= attribute is used in the normal way, if required, specifying the absolute or relative location of this directory. Older browsers that are unable to read either the JAR or the CAB file will instead read the loose CLASS files.
Applet Width & Height
However you adjust the applet dimensions, ChromeLink will always fill the entire applet area, so there is no problem in slotting it seamlessly into a web-page's wallpaper. However, you'll need to ensure that the applet's dimensions at least match those of your chosen Image. Note that if your applet size exactly matches your image size, you won't see the ButtonBevel because the image is placed over the top of it.
Copyright
This parameter must be included or the applet will not run, whether registered or unregistered. To prevent mistakes we recommend that you copy/paste it into your code from the Getting Started page: it is case-sensitive, single-spaced throughout and should appear on a single line. If there's a problem with this parameter, you'll see a status-bar message that reads "Copyright parameter missing or incorrect" which should lead you to the problem.
Name
Specifies a unique name for an applet when used with the Cool Focus Satellites system. This name may be anything you like, but it should be the only applet currently running that has this name. If you're not using the Satellites system, you can ignore this parameter.
Satellites
A simple yes or no parameter that determines whether or not this applet should send mouse-move information to the Cool Focus satellites system. If you are using Satellites, include this parameter with a value of 'yes'. If you're not, either set the value to 'no', or leave out this parameter. Setting this parameter to 'yes' when no Satellite is being used will have the effect of making the applet respond to the mouse extremely sluggishly.
ButtonColor
Hex triplet for the color of the button. You could think of this as being the applet's background color, since your image will sit above it. It will only be visible around the edges of the image (if the applet is larger than the image) and in replacing the transparency in transparent GIFs. The default color is C0C0C0 (gray).
Image
The name (and location if necessary) of the GIF or JPEG image to be used. Only a single imagefile is required - ChromeLink will grayscale this automatically. The location is specified as an absolute or relative URL. If you prefer to use text only on the button, simply leave this parameter out of your HTML code.
HighlightColor
The color of the button-highlight (the two lighter edges), visible when the mouse moves over or clicks the button. The default is D6D6D6 (very light gray) which works with most background colors.
ShadowColor
The color of the button-shadow (the two darker edges), visible when the mouse moves over or clicks the button. The default is 737373 (dark gray) which also works well in most situations.
Text
The text you want to display on the button. Like the Image, text is optional: simply leave this parameter out of your code is you don't want to include a text label.
TextColor
The color of the button-text (as a hex triplet again) when the button is unfocussed. The default is 666666 (dark gray).
TextFocusColor
The color of the button-text when the mouse passes over, or clicks, the button. The default is 000000 (black).
TextVOffset
By default, the Text is placed just above the base of the button (adjusting its positioning according to your chosen ButtonBevel width). By including this parameter, you can specify any vertical position for the text in pixels, measured from the top of the applet.
You can also 'nudge' the text away from its default vertical position. By entering a plus or minus before the figure, the text label will be nudged upwards or downwards by the specified number of pixels. For example, entering a value of "-2" moves the text upwards 2 pixels from its preset position. This same feature can be applied to the ImageVOffset parameter as well.
An additional option for this parameter is simply to enter the word center (not case sensitive) as the value. The text label will then be vertically centered on the button automatically. This can be useful when creating 'text-only' buttons.
ImageVOffset
The Image is centered vertically and horizontally within the button by default. This parameter allows you to specify a precise vertical position for it instead, measured in pixels from the top of the applet.
The nudge feature built into the TextVOffset parameter works in just the same way for this parameter too, allowing you to move the image slightly higher or lower than its default position rather than going through the trial and error involved in finding a good absolute position for it. The 'center' option available for the TextVOffset parameter cannot be used with this parameter (the image is vertically centered by default anyway).
ButtonBevel
The size of the button bevel, created using your chosen HighlightColor and ShadowColor. The default is 1. A setting of 0 will remove the bevel. Larger bevels are useful for larger applets/images to make the button effect more noticeable.
Sound
Specifies whether or not you'd like the applet to play sounds in response to mouse clicks. A value of yes turns the sound option on, a value of no turns it off. Neither is case-sensitive. The default value is no, which means that you can also leave the Sound parameter out if you don't want to use sounds. The inclusion of this yes/no option allows you to use sounds on one instance of the applet without having to use it on all if you have several ChromeLinks on a page. With this parameter set to 'yes', you'll need to specify which sounds to use, via the two following parameters.
SoundButtonDown
Specifies the path (if necessary) and name of the Sun/NeXT format (.au) audio file to be played when the ChromeLink is clicked. The location of the file is treated exactly as a URL: you might enter only a filename (if the file is in the current directory), a relative location (such as ../sounds/daftsound.au) or an absolute location (such as http://www.server.com/folder/subfolder/daftsound.au). See the note about Using Sounds, below.
SoundButtonUp
Specifies the path (if necessary) and name of the audio file to be played when the ChromeLink is released. The same details apply to this parameter as apply to SoundButtonDown, of course. See the note about Using Sounds, below.
NOTE - Using Sounds: Chromelink is forgiving in its sound-support. If you set the Sound parameter to 'yes', and then forget to include one or more of the four parameters above (or forget to upload the audio files!), Chromelink will continue quite happily (but silently). This means that if you choose to use fewer than the four possible sounds, you can simply remove their parameters and Chromelink will play sounds only for the events that have a parameter.
Font
A comma-delimited string giving the name, style and size of the font you want to use for the Text. The default settings are Helvetica, in plain, at size 12, which would be written as Helvetica,plain,12. Two important things to note: first, there must be no spaces in this entry; second, the three items must appear in the order name,style,size. Note that the style part of this setting can be plain, bold, italic or bolditalic, and these are not case-sensitive.
UseHandCursor
A yes or no parameter that determines whether or not a typical 'web-style' hand cursor is used when the mouse moves over the button. The default value is yes, so you need include this parameter only if you want to set it to 'no' and stick to the default pointer. This feature is applied only when an applet is running in a Java 1.1-compatible browser (Internet Explorer 4x or higher, Netscape Navigator 4.07 or higher). In other browsers, this parameter is ignored and the default pointer will be used.
Message
A text-string you want displayed in the browser's status-bar when the mouse passes over the button, usually giving some clue to the linked page. The message animates automatically. The default is blank (no message displayed).
URL1, URL2, URL3, URL4
The URL(s) of up to 4 Web pages or other resources you want the applet to fetch when clicked. Any of these may be absolute URLs (http://www.doctors.co/operate) or relative URLs (../../MyPage.htm). If you wish to link to fewer than the maximum 4 files, simply leave out the unnecessary URL parameters and their corresponding Target parameters.
When using more than a single URL parameter, bear in mind that these parameters are processed in numerical order. In most cases, this will make no difference. However, it does become important if you wish to change the contents of the frame containing the button: this must be the last URL to be processed! If, for example, you were using all four parameters, and trying to load something over the ChromeLink frame in URL2, the files referenced by URL3 and URL4 would not be loaded because ChromeLink would have been stopped before these parameters could be processed.
Note that although Java does support #name anchors appended to URLs (to link to particular parts of a page), not all browsers will react correctly to it, so its use is generally best avoided.
As an aid to color, image and sound testing, you can prefix or replace your URL parameters' values with the dollar sign $ to prevent ChromeLink linking anywhere when clicked.
Target1, Target2, Target3, Target4
A text-string specifying the name of the frame or window in which you want the correspondingly-numbered URL to be opened. The default is _top. Remember that frame/window names are case-sensitive. If you specify a name that doesn't match that of a current frame or window, a new window will be opened and assigned this new name.
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