"Well, it's hardly hyperActiveMenu is it?"

Nope. Uh-uh. This has been sitting around awhile, so I decided to shove some stuffing up its backside and see if it would cook. It cooked okay, but I've still got to call it a turkey. It does a bit more than you'd expect though - click here for examples.

If you want to grab a copy, go ahead. No fancy zip-archive and documentation with this one - just click the link below to grab the class file, and save the source of this frame to your disk. All the parameter details are below.

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    "Perhaps 'class' isn't the right word, but I'll have a copy anyway!"

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    Rob Young

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    Parameter Time!


  • The global parameters...

    bgcolor
    The applet's background color (usually the same as your page's background). The default is 000000 (black).
    repeat
    Specifies whether the applet should cycle repeatedly through the text entries(value of 1) or stop after going through once (value of 0). The default is to repeat endlessly (1).
    speed
    The speed at which the applet should scroll through entries. The default is 50. Lower numbers are faster. (Numbers close to zero might take their toll on anything else your processor is trying to do though!)
    repeat_pause
    If repeat is set to 1, this sets the length of time the applet should wait before starting to cycle through the entries again. The default is 50, but you can set this to zero quite safely.
    entries
    The number of text-strings to be scrolled. The maximum value is 10, the minimum is 1. The default is 5.


    The optional URL parameters...

    link_URL
    This is a fundamental parameter. If this exists (with a valid absolute or relative URL as its value) the applet becomes a hyperlink. (If no link_URL parameter exists, the remaining link_ parameters are ignored and the applet responds to clicks by pausing/resuming.)
    link_target
    The target frame or window in which to open the document referenced in the previous parameter. The default is _top.
    link_text
    When the applet is clicked, a single text-string tells the user that the page is being downloaded. This is where you enter that text-string. The default is Opening page...
    link_font
    Following the rules for fonts given below, this is where you enter a font name, style & size for the link_text string. The default is the same as that for the text-strings below.
    link_color
    The color of the link_text string. The default is FFFF00 (yellow).
    link_docname
    An optional short message to appear in the status-bar when the mouse moves over the applet. This will appear beside my own copyright message (hence 'short'!). By default the message will read Click to open followed by the value for link_URL. If your URL is long, or you'd rather say something else, this parameter lets you do it.


    The text parameters...

    text1, text2 ... text10
    Up to ten text-strings that the applet will display. (Make sure your value for WIDTH in the APPLET tag is sufficient to display long strings.)
    fgcolor1, fgcolor2 ... fgcolor10
    The color in which to display the corresponding text-string. The default (for all strings) is FFFF00, yellow.
    delay1, delay2 ... delay10
    The period of time that the applet should 'hold' the corresponding text before scrolling it up and displaying the next. The default is 10. Again, a setting of 0 is fine and the string will scroll continuously without pausing.
    font1, font2 ... font10
    The font to use for the corresponding text-string. The three necessary elements should be in the form "name,style,size". Name will be something like TimesRoman, Dialog, Helvetica or Courier. Style will be an integer as follows:
  • 0 - Normal type
  • 1 - Bold Type
  • 2 - Italic type
  • 3 - Bold & Italic type
  • Size will be an integer denoting point-size. The commas between each element are vital, and there must be no spaces. The default font is Helvetica, Normal, 24-point, so if you find yourself entering "Helvetica,0,24" for a string, don't bother!


    A few notes...

    After downloading, make sure that the file-extension is class not cla before use!

    As you probably noticed in the applet code at the top of the page, you can leave slots blank by giving text? an empty value ("").

    Remember to add a codebase= value to the APPLET tag if you place the class file in a different directory from that containing your HTML document.