Each of Gemini'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.

Many of Gemini'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 topmost and bottommost images are direct links - defined by the fact that they have HeaderURL parameters. When either of these is clicked, its URL will be opened into the correspondly-numbered HeaderTarget frame or window.

The middle two images are not direct links. Therefore, when either is clicked, the headers below will drop down to display this header's Text links. These are intially displayed in LinkColor, and respond to the mouse passing over them or clicking by changing to LinkFocusColor or LinkPressColor respectively. If you prefer, you can display images for these links rather than text by using the UseImages parameter.

Although the URLs in the example point to non-existent files, you may wish to copy this code, paste it into an HTML page, and experiment with the parameters as you read on.

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
Replace the two sets of question-marks in the <APPLET> tag with the desired width and height of the applet. The width should match that of your HeadImages. Enter a large height setting (such as 450) while setting up the applet. When you have the applet laid out as you want it, open the page in Netscape Navigator and use the Testmode feature to determine the best size for the applet.

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.

BgColor
The applet's background color as a hex triplet. For best results, set this to the same value as your page's body-background so that the text displayed by the applet appears to be part of the page's own text. The default is FFFFFF (white).

LinkColor
The color of the text to be used for text-links, if you opt to use Gemini's tree capability. The default is 000000 (black).

LinkFocusColor
If you use Gemini's tree capabilities, this parameter sets the color of a text-link when focused (the mouse is over it). The default is 0000C0 (blue).

LinkPressColor
When using Gemini's tree capabilities, this is the color of a text-link when clicked. The default is C00000 (red).

SelectorColor
If you've chosen anything but 'none' in the Selectors parameter, this parameter specifies the color of the selectors displayed. The default color is 0000C0 (blue).

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 13, which would be written as Helvetica,plain,13. 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.

DefaultTarget
When using any menu applet you need to be able to choose different frame names for each link. This normally means that for every entry on the menu you need a URL and a Target parameter. However you'll want most of these links to open in one particular frame, meaning that almost all of these Target parameters would be identical. The DefaultTarget parameter gives you a way to leave out all those identical Target parameters. Simply enter the name of the frame or window into which most (or all) of the links should open; this frame-name will then be used by default for any link that doesn't have its own Target or HeaderTarget parameter.

The default value for this parameter is _top. Therefore, if this parameter is missing, any clicked link that doesn't have a matching Target or HeaderTarget parameter will use "_top" as its target.

Sound
A simple yes or no parameter, and the values are not case-sensitive. If you want Gemini to accompany mouse-actions with sounds, choose 'yes'. If not, choose 'no'. The default is yes. This is simply an on/off switch for sounds - to actually hear anything, make sure you enter values in one or more of the following three parameters!

OpenSound
The path (if required) and name of a sound to play when a header is clicked that contains text-links, and that header is not already open. The value for this parameter can be a filename, relative URL or absolute URL. See the note about Using Sounds, below.

CloseSound
The sound file to use when a header is clicked that contains text-links and which is currently open. Clicking an open header will close it, and this sound will be played. Once again, the value may be a filename, absolute or relative URL. See the note about Using Sounds, below.

LinkSound
This sound is played whenever an item is clicked that is acting as a link. The 'item' in question may be a header or it may be a text-link. As usual, the value will be a filename, relative URL or absolute URL. See the note about Using Sounds, below.

NOTE - Using Sounds: Gemini is very forgiving in its sound support. If Sound is set to 'yes' but the three parameters above are missing (or they exist but the files themselves are missing), Gemini will continue unfazed, but silent. Therefore, if you want only LinkSounds (for example), just remove the OpenSound and CloseSound parameters. Note that these sound files must be Sun/NeXT format .au files.

StickyHeaders
Another yes or no parameter, whose default value is yes. With StickyHeaders switched on, a clicked header will stay clicked (displaying the 'pressed' image from its HeaderImage file) until another header is clicked. If the header is a direct link (it has a HeaderURL parameter), clicking it a second time will leave it in the pressed state (since this opens the same link again). If the header contains links, a second click will close it and it will cease to be 'sticky'. Since only one header can be open (or selected) at a time, this is of aesthetic value rather than of real navigational use.

Selectors
This parameter offers a choice of 4 non-case-sensitive values to specify whether - and how - selector bars are displayed. The options are:

none:  No selectors will be displayed.

lines:  The selector will be a single-line rectangle drawn around the outside of the current entry's area.

bars:  The selector will be a filled rectangle, as in Windows-style menus.

3dbars:  The selector will be a filled rectangle again, but will have a 3D border that changes when the item is clicked.

If you choose 'none', only the width of the text will react to mouse movement. For the other options, the full applet width will become mouse-reactive. The default value is bars.

This parameter has no effect if UseImages is set to 'yes'.

Centered
Yet another yes or no parameter, once again with a default value of yes. If centering is switched on, all images and text-links will be horizontally centered within the applet area. If centering is switched off, images and text-links will all be aligned with the left edge of the applet. (Mouse reactivity is equally tight whichever alignment you choose.)

UseImages
In previous versions, when you clicked a HeaderImage and the 'tree' dropped down, you saw a column of text links. Gemini 2.0 lets you place images here instead. The contents of the Entry parameters contain either the text you want to display or the name and location of the image. The UseImages parameter tells Gemini whether to interpret those Entry parameters as text or as image locations. This is a yes/no parameter, so set the value to yes if you want to display images, or set it to no (or leave it out entirely) to display text.

UseHandCursor
Unlike other Cool Focus applets that support the hand cursor, in Gemini this parameter gives a choice of three values: yes, no and all. The default is yes. In default mode, the hand cursor will be shown over any linking entry, and over any header that does not contain links. When set to 'no', the hand cursor will never be used. When set to 'all', the hand cursor will appear over any link, including headers that are acting as both a link and a container for links. A yes or no parameter that determines whether or not a typical 'web-style' hand cursor is used when the mouse moves over a linking entry on the menu. 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.

Testmode
One more yes or no parameter, taking a default of 'no'. Our unique Testmode feature makes judging the best size for the applet simple. When you've added all your text and/or images to Gemini and the page is ready to publish, set this parameter to 'yes' and open the page in Netscape Navigator. Move the mouse over the menu and you'll see the minimum width and height for the applet displayed in the browser status bar. Set your applet dimensions to match these suggestions, and then set Testmode back to 'no'.

HeaderImagen
The path (if required) and name of the image file to use for the n^th header. The value for this parameter may be a filename, a relative URL or an absolute URL. Gemini can display an unlimited number of HeaderImages, allowing infinite scope for your menu. The file you use here will contain 3 equally-sized images placed side by side. The leftmost image is the one that will be displayed when the mouse is not over that header. The middle image is displayed when the mouse does move over that header. The right-hand image is displayed when the mouse is clicked over that header - the 'pressed' state. What happens when the mouse is released depends on your setting for the StickyHeaders parameter.

IMPORTANT NOTE #1: Gemini determines how many buttons you want to display by reading the numerical suffixes from the HeaderImage parameters in your HTML document. With no HeaderImage parameters, therefore, there's no applet! Similarly, if a number suffix is missing, Gemini will ignore any HeaderImage parameters with higher numbers.

IMPORTANT NOTE #2: Gemini expects all images used to be the same width and height as the very first HeaderImage.

IMPORTANT NOTE #3: If you set UseImages to 'yes' in order to display images within sections of the dropped-down 'tree', those images must be no wider than your HeaderImages. They can be taller or shorter, however, and they can be narrower.

HeaderURLn
An optional relative or absolute URL to which the correspondly-numbered header should link when clicked. A header can acts as a link whilst still acting as a button to reveal or hide a column of links. In this case, the link will be fetched when the header is first clicked to reveal the column of links. If the same header is clicked a second time (to hide the links) the URL is not fetched again.

If you wish to prevent a header from linking anywhere while setting up and testing Gemini, prefix its value between the quote marks with the dollar sign ("$"). Don't forget to remove it again when you're done though!

HeaderTargetn
If a header is a link (ie. it has a HeaderURL parameter), this parameter sets the frame or window name to be used when opening its URL. If a HeaderTarget parameter is missing, the DefaultTarget parameter's value will be used instead.

HeaderMessagen
An optional text message to be displayed in the browser's statusbar when the mouse passes over a header. The default is blank (no message).

h-Entryn
This parameter, along with the three below, set up the submenu of entries revealed when a header is clicked. This parameter determines what clickable text or image should appear to form the link, where h corresponds with the header number below which the text should appear, and n corresponds to its position in this submenu of links. As you can see in the example opposite, header 2 has four links (2-Entry1, 2-Entry2, 2-Entry3, 2-Entry4), as does header 3.

This set of Entry parameters can be used in either of two ways. The value for the UseImages parameter specifies which way it will be used:

1.  If UseImages is set to 'no', the entries will display text, and you'll use these Entry parameters to specify the text to display.

2.  If UseImages is set to 'yes', each entry will be a mouse-reactive image like the HeaderImages. In this case, you'll type the name (and location if necessary) of the image to use in these Entry parameters. Just like the HeaderImages, too, these image files will contain 3 images placed side by side, corresponding to the plain, focused and pressed states of the entry-button respectively.

h-URLn
A relative or absolute URL to which the correspondly-numbered entry should link when clicked, where h corresponds with the header number containing this entry, and n is its position within the submenu of entries.

If you wish to prevent an entry from linking anywhere while setting up and testing Gemini, prefix or replace the URL parameter's value between the quote marks with the dollar sign ("$"). Don't forget to change it back again when you're done though!

h-Targetn
Specifies the frame or window name into which the corresponding URL should be opened. If this parameter is not included, this link will be opened into the frame name specified in the DefaultTarget parameter instead. In the example to the left, the Target parameters for header 2 and header 3 all point to the same frame name as the Default Target, and could therefore be removed.

h-Messagesn
An optional message to be displayed in the browser's statusbar when the mouse passes over the corresponding Entry. The default is no message.


































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