1st JAVA Navigator - Applet Tips, Trouble Shooting and Known Issues

Tips, Troubleshooting and Known Issues

Known
Issues

Applet generation
It is NOT possible to use inverted commas ( " ) in any titles or descriptions for either the Tabs or the Trees - use the single comma ( ` ) instead if one is really required.

Also, it is not possible at this stage to make alterations to alternative navigation methods. An easy work-around is to simply make your changes via the applet method and re-generate the alternate system that you wanted again.

The ability to alter properties will be included by our technicians in a future upgrade.

Drop-down box (JavaScript) generation
A space as an indent symbol is not possible at this stage.

Tree view (JavaScript) generation
Fonts for the Tree outline will be shown in the default font of the browser that is being used.

The ability to set the font properties will be included by our technicians in a future upgrade.

Tab mouse-over color
A color for the Tab mouse-over event is not yet possible.

Our technicians are working on a solution for this and will include it in a future upgrade.

Tab mouse-over sound
A sound effect for the Tab mouse-over event is not yet possible.

Our technicians are working on a solution for this and will include it in a future upgrade.

The last node is not shown
This behavior is caused by a problem in the Virtual Java Machine (VJM) of some browsers, notably some of the later ones from Netscape (4.5 and later).

Unfortunately, because the VJMs are included in, and controlled by the browsers themselves, this is an area that is totally out of the realm of Auscomp's control.

However, Auscomp suggests that a solution is to add an extra node or two (with no links) to the bottom of the tree. This node could have text such as "Copyright 1999", so that it is innocuous if seen, and also not so important if it is not.

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Trouble Shooting

Registered version seems inactive and 'hangs'

Problem
The registered version (5.0.233) appears to 'hang' and not do anything after starting.
Solution
Please, simply download the LATEST evaluation version from Auscomp's web site which will resolve this problem and automatically register itself with the license that you selected.

Error message: "Java.lang.FormatException"
No % values are possible with the Internet Explorer (IE) browsers.

Problem
MS Internet Explorer (IE) does NOT accept % values so will set a ZERO "0" value instead. This causes the error message "Java.lang.FormatException Error" to arise.
Solution
Auscomp's 1st JAVA Navigator therefore automatically assigns a DEFAULT value of 200, 250 which will be applied if a % value is accidentally used for any IE browsers.

Error message: "The class file directory could not be found so it was reset to the default."
This message means that the class files will now be placed in the same directory as the HTML file (unless the location is changed again by the user).

Problem
The class files have been either relocated or deleted, so the Commander cannot locate them.
Solution
As the message indicates, the class file location had been altered (by the user) so the Commander could not find them. It therefore, re-set to the default values (unless the location is changed again by the user).

Themes and Icons
If a themes is chosen that does NOT have icons (only lines or toggle symbols) then you BEFORE you decide to add any icons, go to the Tree Style tab, and enable the icons button. If this is not done first then you may well have troubles and need to start again.

E-Mail Windows
If you tried to open an e-mail window and it did not work properly.

Images not showing
Always make sure that the image directory is in the SAME directory as (or in a sub- directory of) the class files.

Importing previous files
Almost any file created using any previous version of Auscomp's 1st JAVA Navigator may be imported into the current version.

Problem
If however, some problems are experienced with importing, the HTML code may need to be corrected by hand (using either WordPad or Notepad).
Solution
Simply remove any of the double backslashes ( ..\\) or double forward slashes ( ..//).

Importing any files
If you experience any problems importing an HTML file that includes one of the three applets, then it is usually because:

Problem
The applet parameters were written or altered by hand, without using the Commander, so the syntax is now incorrect.
Solution
Check through the syntax for any spelling errors (typos), missing semi colons ( ; ) etc and ENSURE that the correct case was used.
(REMEMBER: UNIX servers are CASE-SENSITIVE, Windows servers are NOT!)

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Tips

Evaluation and Registered Versions

For the Tree only:
- Limited to 3,000 nodes.
- If it's too long it will take too long to load.
For the Tab only:
- The Tab number is unlimited.
- The scroll bar will show if it is larger than the frame.
- It is not possible to have multiple rows of Tabs (only single)
For the Tab & Tree combination:
- The Tab number is unlimited.
- The Tree is limited to 1,000 nodes.

Speed enhancement
It is worth always remembering two points:

Java is usually always the LAST item to be loaded onto a page by the Virtual Java Machine (VJM) of each browser.
Java re-loads each time a page is accessed (unlike ActiveX that loads once only - but the beauty of Java is it's versatility and the fact that it is accessible to more visitor's because it works with most browsers - unlike ActiveX that ONLY works with IE browsers)

So, to help speed up Java applet loading time:

Try not to use too many animated pictures.
They often take quite some time to load and your visitor may well go away because they can't navigate through your site.

Try not to use too many background images.
These too can sometimes take a while to load.

Set the default icons or use no icons at all.
This ensures that your applet has the minimum number of images, to load.

When creating your 1st JAVA Navigation system, select "Within applet code" as your choice as this will load more quickly.

Java is totally reliant upon:

The browser's ability to run Java applets.
The Virtual Java Machines (VJM's) that are contained within each browser.

Therefore, when designing your navigation system, it is always good practice to provide your visitors with an alternative to Java (such as Auscomp has on their own web site) for all visitors that:

Do not have a Java capable browser
Do not have their browser Java enabled
That are having troubles with a corrupted VJM, etc.

JavaScript
JavaScript is a TOTALLY different technology to Java Applets.

Executing a JavaScript from the 1st JAVA Navigator will only work with Netscape's Browser 3x or later.

This is because they support the required "MAYSCRIPT" tag which permits the applet to access JavaScript:

eg: <APPLET CODEBASE="JCLASS" CODE="JAVATab.class" Width="215" Height="300" MAYSCRIPT>

This attribute was included in Microsoft's 11th August 1997 document for MS IE 4.0 - but not in the one for 9th December 1997.

Because different browser's have different support capabilities for JavaScript, Auscomp is NOT able to provide support the use of JavaScript when it is used in combination with their Java Applets (1st JAVA Navigator).

Uploading
Remember

Upload as BINARY (NOT as ASCII files); and
UNIX servers are CASE-SENSITIVE whereas Windows servers are NOT (so remember to correct any Typos etc or it will not be able to locate the file!)

Tab Background
To make the Tab background appear transparent, set the background to the same as that used on the HTML page itself.

Add even more great images from Auscomp's Background Images & Sounds

Icons
You may add your own icons, but they must be a valid gif format (16 x 16 pixels).

Add even more great images from Auscomp's FREE 3D Icon Library - compliments of Auscomp - World Wide.

Fonts
There are a limited list of fonts which are compatible with Java.

Auscomp recommends using any of the following:
(Dialog, Courier, Helvetica, Symbol or TimesNewRoman)

Mouse-over color
To disable the Mouse-over color, set the Mouse-over color and save it as the node text color instead.

Latest news
For all the latest issues on the 1st JAVA Navigator, refer to Auscomp's web site.

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