Required Parameters

width
Change the width to indicate the size of the applet.

height
Change the height to indicate the size of the applet.

numberOfLines
This is the number of lines to display.

background
This is the background color of the applet. There are three different ways to specify this parameter: color name, by RGB color values, or by special multi-colored fade background name:

To use a single colored background, use one of the following colors below:
  • black
  • blue
  • cyan
  • darkGray
  • gray
  • green
  • lightGray
  • magenta
  • orange
  • pink
  • red
  • white
  • yellow
 

Or,  you can specify the red, green, and blue values for a unique RGB color: specify three number from 0 - 255 separated by commas.

For example code this for the color red:
<param name=background value="255,0,0">

scrollDelay
This controls the speed of the scroll. The lower the number, the faster it scrolls.

lineSpace
This controls how much space is between each line.

linkFrame
This controls which HTML frame to use when a hyperlink is clicked. Use this parameter like the HTML Target attribute. Standard HTML frame "rules" apply.

  _self - load in current frame.
  _parent - load in parent frame.
  _top - load in topmost frame.
  _blank - load in new unnamed top-level frame.
  <other> - show in new top-level window named <other>.

linkColor
This controls the color of the hyperlinked line when the mouse is placed over it. Colors supported are the same as background.

manualPause
This is the amount of time the scroll will pause when the applet is clicked on. To resume scrolling, click again. Entered in milliseconds - 5000 is 5 seconds.

linkClick
This is the number of times to click a hyperlinked line. Use either 1 or 2, for a single or double click.

copyright
The copyright parameter must be included or the scroller will not function properly. The value for this parameter must be:

ConsultScroll Vertical Text Scroller v2.0 Copyright (c) 1998, consulting.com Inc.


Required Default Parameters

sizeDefault
This is the default text size for each line.

lineDefault
This is the default text that is displayed for each line (usually the default is blank, and this is overriden).

colorDefault
This is the default color for each line. Colors supported are the same as background.

fontDefault
This is the default font for all lines. Use one of the following below:

styleDefault
This is the default font style for all lines. Use one of the following below:

linkDefault
This is the default URL for all lines (the default is usually blank). You may enter either a full url (http://www.consultcom.com/) or a relative url (../Home.html)

pauseValueDefault
This is the default pause value for all line (the default is usually zero).

lineOffsetDefault
This is the default starting position for all lines (starting at position zero).


Optional Parameters 

With the exception of the Text File Input parameters, these are basically the same as the default parameters. Just replace 'Default' with the line number, for example:

To change the default text for the first line, use the parameter 'line1':
<param name=line1 value="ConsultScroll Vertical Text Scroller">

Please keep in mind that if a line of text is too long to fit within the applet, it will always automatically wrap. Lines of text that come from the line parameters are not affected by the textFileWrap parameter. The textFileWrap parameter only applies to text file input.


Text File Input 

The following optional parameters are only needed if you want the text displayed by the scroller to come from a text file. To see an example of this, take a look at Demo2.htm

textFile
This parameter identifies the name of the text file. Make sure the text file name is spelled correctly, upper and lower case matter. Put the text file in the same directory as the class file: VertTextScroller.class.

For example, if your text file is named Demo3.txt, enter the following parameter:
<param name=textFile value="Demo3.txt">

insertTextFile
This parameter controls where the applet will place the lines read from the text file. There are two different ways to specify this parameter:

Fixed number of lines from a input file: Use this option if you want a fixed number of lines from the text file to be displayed in the scroller. You must use the numberOfLines parameter to tell the applet the total number of lines to display (the total number of lines is the sum of all the lines in the text file plus the lines inputted from HTML param tags). This option can merge a fixed number of lines from a text file with lines from the HTML param tags.

For example, if you want the lines in the text file to display at lines 2 through 7 of the scroller, enter the following parameter:
<param name=insertTextFile value="2-7"> (enter a number, a dash, then a number, no spaces)

Variable (unlimited) number of lines from a input file: This option will display all the lines from the text file in the scroller, regardless of how many lines are in the text file. Enter a number that tells the applet where the lines will be placed in the scroller. Because the text file can have a variable number of lines, the numberOfLines parameter is not used, and will be ignored. With this option, you can also input lines using the HTML param tags, but these lines must display ABOVE the lines from the text file (for example, the first line can come from a HTML param tag, and all the rest from the text file).

For example, if you want the lines in the text file to display starting at line 1 of the scroller, enter the following parameter:
<param name=insertTextFile value="1"> (enter just a line number)

textFileWrap
Set this parameter to yes to have the scroller automatically wrap the text from the text file. When auto-wrapping the scroller's text, use the HTML <BR> tag in the text file to skip lines.

When this parameter is set to no the text will be displayed in the scroller exactly the way it appears in the text file.


Important: The applet uses the default parameters (sizeDefault, lineDefault...) to control how the text file will display, and auto-wrap. If the applet does not display or wrap the lines as you wish, please make sure the default parameters are set up properly.
Helpful Tip
When using the auto-wrap feature of the scroller, there is no way of knowing exactly how many lines of text will be displayed. However, you may still want to pause the scrolling text after showing every X number of lines.

Lets assume your text file will display news articles of any length. Also assume your scroller will display 10 lines at a time. Simply use the pauseValue to pause the text every ten lines like so:

<param name=pauseValue1 value="2500">
<param name=pauseValue11 value="2500">
<param name=pauseValue21 value="2500">
<param name=pauseValue31 value="2500">
<param name=pauseValue41 value="2500">
...
<param name=pauseValue151 value="2500">
<param name=pauseValue161 value="2500">
<param name=pauseValue171 value="2500">
<param name=pauseValue181 value="2500">
<param name=pauseValue191 value="2500">
<param name=pauseValue201 value="2500">

Even if your article does not have 201 lines, the scroller will work as you intended. The trick is to use this parameter for more line numbers than you will ever need.