Getting Started

Code of PopupNavigator applet is stored in several .class files. These files can be uncompressed or compressed in JAR archive (which is recommended method). If uncompressed, .class files must reside in directory with name "PopupNavigator" - this is implementation detail of Java.

Note to FrontPage users: If you use any applet (including PopupNavigator) in shared border, you might be forced to to use uncompressed .class files. This is because FrontPage incorrectly handles ARCHIVE attribute of APPLET tag. This behavior is encountered in FrontPage 2000, but probably occurs in other versions too.

Applet Tag

To embed the applet into your HTML page, you need to be familiar with syntax of APPLET tag.

<applet
  width=...
  height=...
  hspace =...
  vspace =...
  align =...
  code=...
  codebase=...
  archive=...>
<param name=... value=...>
<param name=... value=...>
.
.
.
<param name=... value=...>
Text for browsers without Java support.
</applet>

Here is a rough explanation of what is what:

• width and height - dimensions of the applet.
• hspace, vspace - horizontal and vertical space between surrounding elements and applet.
• align - alignment of the applet. Can be: LEFT, RIGHT, TOP, TEXTTOP, MIDDLE, ABSMIDDLE, BASELINE, BOTTOM,  ABSBOTTOM, CENTER.
• code - full name of the .class file containing applet. For PopupNavigator, this is always "PopupNavigator/PopupNavigatorApplet.class" no matter if .class files are uncompressed and stored in PopupNavigator directory or compressed and stored in PopupNavigator.jar archive.
• codebase - a URL where applet should be found. This is typically relative or absolute URL to the directory containing PopupNavigator/*.class or PopupNavigator.jar. If HTML page resides in the same directory as PopupNavigator/*.class or PopupNavigator.jar, then codebase can can be omitted or set to "./".
• archive - relative or absolute URL to the directory containing PopupNavigator.jar. Present only if using JAR archive. Typically archive="PopupNavigator.jar".
• param tags - parameters. Each parameter has name and value. Through parameters you can customize various aspects of the applet (e.g. button label and image, menu placement...) and define menu itself. Name should be unique, otherwise only one (usually last) parameter in set of parameters with same name will be applied. Name is not case sensitive. Most of values are also case insensitive for PopupNavigatorApplet.

First example (below is corresponding HTML code)

PopupNavigator Java Applet - JDK 1.1.3 needed

<applet
  width="128"
  height="24"
  code="PopupNavigator/PopupNavigatorApplet.class"
  codebase="./"
  archive="PopupNavigator.jar">
<param name="0" value="BEPP;http://bepp.8m.com">
<param name="1" value="Test Page 1;test1.htm">
<param name="2" value="Test Page 2;test2.htm">
PopupNavigator Java Applet - JDK 1.1.3 needed
</applet>

You should pay attention to the names of parameters: 0, 1 and 2. Every parameter that is a menu item has a number (index) that corresponds to it's position within menu.

The value of parameter is divided by semicolon in two so-called sub-parameters. First sub-parameter is display label of menu item. Second sub-parameter is absolute or relative URL of target page (or mail address).

Defining sub-menus

PopupNavigator Java Applet - JDK 1.1.3 needed

<applet
  width="128"
  height="24" code="PopupNavigator/PopupNavigatorApplet.class"
  codebase="./"
  archive="PopupNavigator.jar">
<param name="0" value="BEPP;http://bepp.8m.com">
<param name="1" value="Test Page 1;test1.htm">
<param name="2" value="Test Page 2;test2.htm">
<param name="3" value="Other Test Pages">
<param name="3;0" value="Test Page 3;test3.htm">
<param name="3;1" value="Test Page 4;test4.htm">
PopupNavigator Java Applet - JDK 1.1.3 needed
</applet>

As you see, name of sub-menu item contains name of parent menu item, semicolon and index within sub-menu. You can define sub-menu of sub-menu etc... there is no real constraint on how much levels you can make (currently there is a limit to 10 levels, but this is a matter of changing one constant within source code).

For more details see Defining Menu.

Customizing button label

PopupNavigator Java Applet - JDK 1.1.3 needed

<applet
  width="128"
  height="24"
  code="PopupNavigator/PopupNavigatorApplet.class"
  codebase="./"
  archive="PopupNavigator.jar">
<param name="Label" value="Navigate My Website">
<param name="0" value="BEPP;http://bepp.8m.com">
<param name="1" value="Test Page 1;test1.htm">
<param name="2" value="Test Page 2;test2.htm">
<param name="3" value="Other Test Pages">
<param name="3;0" value="Test Page 3;test3.htm">
<param name="3;1" value="Test Page 4;test4.htm">
PopupNavigator Java Applet - JDK 1.1.3 needed
</applet>

As you see, button label is customized through Label parameter. Label parameter is actually more complex then you can see in this example - its value can contain sub-parameters for font and foreground and background colors. For more details, see Label and MouseoverLabel reference.

Adding image to the button

PopupNavigator Java Applet - JDK 1.1.3 needed

<applet
  width="160"
  height="24"
  code="PopupNavigator/PopupNavigatorApplet.class"
  codebase="./"
  archive="PopupNavigator.jar">
<param name="Label" value="Navigate My Website">
<param name="Image" value="down_arrow1.gif">
<param name="ImagePosition" value="LEFT;4">
<param name="0" value="BEPP;http://bepp.8m.com">
<param name="1" value="Test Page 1;test1.htm">
<param name="2" value="Test Page 2;test2.htm">
<param name="3" value="Other Test Pages">
<param name="3;0" value="Test Page 3;test3.htm">
<param name="3;1" value="Test Page 4;test4.htm">
PopupNavigator Java Applet - JDK 1.1.3 needed
</applet>

Use Image parameter to specify URL to GIF or JPEG file. Use ImagePosition to specify where the image should appear (in this case, image is displayed 4 pixels left from label).

If you want to find out how to add "hover" or "click" image, see Image and MouseoverImage reference. To find out how to align image to the label, center it or place it on some absolute coordinates, see ImagePosition reference.

This is enough to get you started building your own navigation system. As you advance, you'll feel the need to customize more subtle details... you can return to table of contents and have a deeper look at parameters and sub-parameters.

PopupNavigator Reference Home