Message Flipper

Message Flipper

Purchasing the Applet

This software is available as part of Web Effects (Presentation and Gold Collections), for more information use the links below or contact OpenCube at 207-947-1955

Note: The unregistered version of this applet may be completely customized and used for evaluation purposes on a single computer and viewed locally. The purchased version includes the necessary security key class file and license to display multiple copies of the software on one web site.

Applet Documentation

The Status Bar Message

Note: The status bar message which indicates the name of the applet and "Java by OpenCube" in the sample implementation above is customizable using the "onsbtext" and "offsbtext" parameters. See the parameter list below for more information on customizing the Status Bar Text.

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 when the class files, images, or html are NOT located in the same folder (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.

Required Class Files

This applet uses multiple class files (included with the download), the main class file: mflip.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: mflip.class, occcolor.class, ocfontc.class and preskey.class

Applet Tag Template

Template - Based on above sample

Online Documentation at www.opencube.com

Receiving Technical Support:

If you are having trouble customizing the applet or cannot get the applet to function you may 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 description parameters for you messages. Usually the easiest way to customize the applet is to cut and paste the applet tag information used in the sample and modify it to fit your web page.

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, showing 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 "msg0" - "msgN". 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.

The Applet Parameters

General Settings

Parameter 1
Attribute: Copyright notice.
param name="Notice"
value="Message Flipper, Copyright (c) 1998, OpenCube Inc."
Note: This must be included for the applet to work.

Parameter 2
Attribute: Background Color
param name="bgcolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: WHITE

Parameter 3
Attribute: Default Status Bar Text when mouse is over applet
param name = "onsbtext"
value="X", where X is the message to appear in the status bar when the mouse is over the applet but not over a URL link.
DEFAULT: Java by OpenCube

Parameter 4
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: Message Flipper

Parameter 5
Attribute: Message Scroll Jump
param name = "jumpsize"
value="X", where X is the distance in screen pixels to jump between frames. Note: The minimum value is one. The higher the value the faster the animation will run and the choppier the effect. Message pausing is not allowed with values larger than one.
DEFAULT: 2

Parameter 6
Attribute: Start Showing
param name = "startshowing"
Value = "True or False", True = yes, show the headline and message when the applet initially loads. False = no, do not show the headline and message when the applet initially loads.
DEFAULT: True

Parameter 7
Attribute: Mouse Pause Delay
param name = "mousepausetime"
value="X", Where X is the pause time in milliseconds (1000 = 1 second) for a message to remain paused after removing the mouse from the applet space.
DEFAULT: 1000

Parameter 8
Attribute: Vertical Offset
param name= "yoffset"
Value = X, Where X is the vertical offset in pixels from center for both the headline and message text.

Parameter 9
Attribute: Highlight Underline
param name = "hlunderline"
Value = "True or False", True = yes, underline link text on mouseover. False = no, do not underline link text on mouseover.
DEFAULT: True

Border Settings

Parameter 10
Attribute: Border Color
param name= "bordercolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: BLACK

Parameter 11
Attribute: Border Size
param name="bordersize"
Value=X, where X is the default thickness of the border for all messages.
DEFAULT: 0

Parameter 12
Attribute: Border Highlight Color
param name= "borderhlcolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: YELLOW

Heading Settings

Parameter 13
Attribute: Heading
param name = "heading0" - "headingN"
value="X", where X is the heading to be displayed.
NOTE: The width of the heading box, unless specified, is automatically sized to the longest heading. The parameter used to specify heading width is "hdwidth".

Parameter 14
Attribute: Heading Width
param name= "hdwidth"
Value = X, Where X is the width in pixles of the headline space.
DEFAULT: AUTO SIZE

Parameter 15
Attribute: Heading Highlight Color
param name= "hdhlcolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: BLUE

Parameter 16
Attribute: Heading Background Color
param name= "hdbgcolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: BRICK RED (RGB 153,0,0)

Parameter 17
Attribute: Specific Heading Background Color
param name = "hdbgcolor0" - "hdbgcolorN"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: BRICK RED (RGB 153,0,0) Unless specified by the general parameter "hdbgcolor".

Parameter 18
Attribute: Heading Underline
param name = "hdunderline"
Value = "True or False", True = yes, underline headline text. False = no, do not underline headline text.
DEFAULT: Fasle

Parameter 19
Attribute: Heading Left, Right Margin
param name = "hdmargin"
value="X", Where X is the width of the right and left margins.
DEFAULT: 5

Parameter 20
Attribute: Heading Text Color
param name= "hdtextcolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: BLACK

Parameter 21
Attribute: Specific Heading Text Color
param name= "hdtextcolor0" - "hdtextcolorN"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: BLACK

Parameter 22
Attribute: Heading Font
param name = "hdfont"
Value = "Font Face, Style, Size", Each value must be separated by a comma and appear in the correct order (font face, style, and size) The Allowable font Java face values are Helvetica, TimesRoman, Courier, Dialog, or DialogInput. The allowable style options are plain, bold, or italic.
DEFAULT: Helvetica, 0, 11

Message Settings

Parameter 23
Attribute: Message
param name="msg0" - "msgN"
value=X, where X is the message to be displayed

Parameter 24
Attribute: Message Background Color
param name="msgbgcolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: WHITE

Parameter 25
Attribute: Specific Message Background Color
param name="msgbgcolor0" - "msgbgcolorN"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: WHITE

Parameter 26
Attribute: Left, Right Message Margin
param name = "msgmargin"
value="X", Where X is the width of the right and left margins.
DEFAULT: 10

Parameter 27
Attribute: Message Highlight Color
param name= "msghlcolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: BLUE

Parameter 28
Attribute: Message Underline
param name = "msgunderline"
Value = "True or False", True = yes, underline message text. False = no, do not underline message text.
DEFAULT: Fasle

Parameter 29
Attribute: Message Font
param name = "msgfont"
Value = "Font Face, Style, Size", Each value must be separated by a comma and appear in the correct order (font face, style, and size) The Allowable font Java face values are Helvetica, TimesRoman, Courier, Dialog, or DialogInput. The allowable style options are plain, bold, or italic.
DEFAULT: Helvetica, 0, 11

Parameter 30
Attribute: Specific Message Text Color
param name= "msgtextcolor0" - "msgtextcolorN"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: BLACK

Parameter 31
Attribute: Message Text Color
param name= "msgtextcolor"
Value=r,g,b or #000000 - #FFFFFF - See above for more information on defining colors.
DEFAULT: BLACK

URL Links

Parameter 32
Attribute: Default Load Destination URL Link Where? (Frame Targeting)
param name="loadwhere"
The "loadwhere" tag specifies where the document specified in the "hddesturlN" and "msgdesturl" tags should be loaded. The default is "_self"

"_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

Parameter 33
Attribute: Heading Destination URL Link
param name = "hddesturl0" - "headingN"
Value = X, Where X is the location of the document to load relative to the location of the HTML document containing the applet (e.g. if the HTML page containing the applet is located at http://www.opencube.com and the document to load is located at http://www.opencube.com/myhtml/mydoc.htm then the hddesturlN value would be "myhtml/mydoc.htm"). Note: The hddesturlN tags directly correspond to the headingN tags, setting hddesturl0 will add a link to the first heading description identified in heading0, hddesturl1 uses a link with heading1, etc.

Parameter 34
Attribute: Specific Heading Load Destination URL Link Where? (Frame Targeting)
param name = "hdloadwhere0" - "hdloadwhereN"
The "hdloadwhere" tag specifies where the document specified in the "hddesturlN" tag should be loaded. The default is specific with the default loadwhere tag described above "_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 .

Parameter 35
Attribute: Message Destination URL Link
param name = "msgdesturl0" - "msgdesturl0"
Value = X, Where X is the name and location of the document to load relative to the location of the HTML document containing the applet (e.g. if the HTML page containing the applet is located at http://www.opencube.com and the document to load is located at http://www.opencube.com/myhtml/mydoc.htm then the msgdesturlN value would be "myhtml/mydoc.htm"). Note: The msgdesturlN tags directly correspond to the msgN tags, setting msgdesturl0 will add a link to the first heading description identified in msg0, msgdesturl1 uses a link with msg1, etc.

Parameter 36
Attribute: Specific Message Load Destination URL Link Where? (Frame Targeting)
param name="msgloadwhere0" - "msgloadwhereN"
The "loadwhere" tag specifies where the document specified in the "msgN" tag should be loaded. The default is specific with the default loadwhere tag described above

"_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

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.

This software may not be redistributed under any circumstances and remains the intellectual and copyrighten property of OpenCube Technologies at all times.
For license and warranty information see the End User Agreement.