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RealText Creation

With RealText you can create streaming text presentations, combining text as needed with other types of media such as audio or video. You simply create a RealText file with mark-up similar to HTML to describe how and when the text displays. RealServer can then stream the text to RealPlayer or Web browsers.

Because RealServer can also broadcast RealText live, RealText an ideal solution for delivering live stock market information or breaking news, for example. Because it is a true streaming server, RealServer streams the data as it comes in, instead of downloading blocks of data to users' computer for later display.

Choosing Window Types

RealText provides a number of window styles that you can choose depending on how you want to display text. If you have installed RealPlayer, click the link to see an example of each of these window types:

Using RealText Mark-Up

The RealText mark-up language is similar to HTML. If you are familiar with HTML, you will pick up RealText quickly. The mark-up has some important differences from HTML, though. Keep the following points in mind when writing a RealText file.

Creating a RealText Presentation

The following steps describe how to create a static RealText file. The rest of this manual describes the RealText mark-up in detail.

To Create a RealText File:

  1. Open a new text document in a text editor or XML editor. At the top of the file, add the <window> tag with any necessary options. Add the </window> end tag at the bottom:
    
    <window options...>
    ...All Other Mark-up Goes Between These Tags...
    </window>

    Additional Information
    See "<window> Tag Attributes".

  2. Between the <window> and </window> tags, add the text that will display in RealPlayer. Format the text with the text tags:
    
    <window>
    Mary had a little lamb,
    <br/><time begin="3"/>little lamb,
    <br/><time begin="6"/>little lamb,
    <br/><time begin="9"/>Mary had a little lamb
    <br/><time begin="12"/>whose fleece was white as snow.
    </window>

    Additional Information
    See "Text Tags".

  3. Save the file as plain text, using the .rt extension to mark the file as a RealText document. On your local machine, open the RealText file with RealPlayer to test the presentation.

    Note
    Playing a RealText file on your local machine indicates whether the RealText mark-up is correct. However, it does not guarantee that the file will stream across a network well. Be sure to test that the presentation streams correctly from RealServer.

  4. To combine RealText with another file, create a SMIL file that controls the overall presentation. For example, the SMIL file can list a RealText file and video file to be played together:
    
    <smil>
    <body>
    <par>
    <textstream src="rtsp://realserver.company.com/mary.rt"/>
    <video src="rtsp://realserver.company.com/mary.rm"/>
    </par>
    </body>
    </smil>

    Additional Information
    See RealMedia Production Guide available at http:// www.real.com for information about creating a SMIL file.

  5. Move your files to RealServer. If you are using an Internet Service Provider, for example, contact the ISP's RealServer administrator for instructions on doing this.

  6. In your Web page, add a hypertext link to the SMIL file. Or if the RealText file is the only file in your presentation, simply link to that file.

    Additional Information
    RealMedia Production Guide available at http:// www.real.com explains the options for linking your Web page to your presentation. It also explains how to play your RealText presentation in your Web page rather than in RealPlayer.

  7. Test the presentation by clicking the hyperlink in your Web page. This launches RealPlayer, which displays the streaming text with the properties you defined through the RealText mark-up.

Broadcasting RealText Live

To broadcast RealText live, you do not create a RealText file. Instead, you build a broadcast application to add RealText mark-up to the live text. Your application then feeds the text to the broadcast library on RealServer. The documentation for the RealMedia Software Development Kit (SDK) explains how to create a broadcast application and integrate it with RealServer. You can get the SDK at http://www.real.com.

Notes on Text Streaming


Copyright © 1998 RealNetworks
For technical support on RealNetworks products, visit http://service.real.com/.
Comments on this document? Contact techpubs@real.com.
This file last updated on 05/20/98 at 16:39:40.
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