What's that??
You want more details?? Well, ok. If you insist...
Here's a list
of what you'll need before you start:
- The lake.class file. This is the magical code file that David
Griffiths invented. To download it now, right click lake.class
and save it to your hard disk. In Netscape I believe you hit right
click, then "save link as" and in IE, right click and "save target
as." Don't save lake.class as a text file - use "class document"
or "all files." If your system gives you trouble saving the
lake.class - for example, it only allows a 3 digit extension of
lake.cla instead of the full lake.class - you'll need to down load
the lake.zip file instead. Click this lake.zip
and try saving that. The lake.zip file contains the lake.class
file and the sample graphic (swans3.jpg). You'll then need to
unzip (extract) the files somewhere on your hard drive and then
upload it to your web page server. Upload the file into the same
directory as the html file that the applet will be placed on.
Example: You have a directory called applets and you want to put
an applet on a page in that directory called applets1.html. You
should upload the lake.class file into that applets directory for
the applet to work. If you cannot do that, or if you have an
Angelfire or Homestead site (Angelfire automatically puts html
files in one directory and all others - including lake.class -
into the IMAGES directory, with Homestead placing the files in the
FILES directory), then you will need to use code-base, which I
will explain a little later.
- You'll need a graphic. Any graphic with a jpg or gif format
should work, and I am supplying one for you to use. It's the one
used for this tutorial and feel free to use it on your own home
page. You can save it by clicking swans3.jpg.
The lake.zip
file will also contain the graphic in addition to the lake.class
file.
- For this tutorial it won't be necessary, but if you plan on
making your own applets, you'll need a viewer program that lets
you view the width and height of the graphic that you are using.
Netscape gives the dimensions of graphics in the title bar when
they are displayed in a window. Also, many free viewer programs
are available and a good place to check out is Tucows.com.
- And last of course is the few lines of code to paste onto your
page. Here it is again:
<table
border="5"><tr><td>
<applet code="lake.class"
width="300" height="256">
<param name="image"
value="swans3.jpg">
</applet></td></tr></table>
Ok, let's pick apart this sucker and
make some sense of it.
The first line:
<table
border="5"><tr><td>, and the last line </td></tr></table> are table codes that are used for making the
frame border around the applet. This isn't necessary for the applet
to work, so if you decide that you don't want a border, either
delete the tags or change the table border="5" to "0."
The second line:
<applet code="lake.class" width="300"
height="256"> All you need
to be concerned with are the width and height tags. Applet code="lake.class"
just tells the computer that
you want to run that code. Width="300" is the
actual width of the graphic that you are using, and it's a good idea
to always use the exact width in that part of the code or it could
cause some distortion. Now the height is just a tad different. The
general rule of thumb with lake applets is to take the height of the
graphic, double that, and then subract 10 to 20 pixels from that for
the "height" to be used in the code. The swans3.jpg is 138 pixels
high, so double that is 276 and subtract 20 gives you a height of
256 to be used in the code. The number you subtract can vary but
should be at least 10 pixels or you'll see an ugly gap at the
bottom.
The third line:
<param name="image" value="swans3.jpg">
All you need to worry about is
the "swans3.jpg"
part. If you use another image
instead of swans3.jpg, simply substitute swans3.jpg with that image
file name. Normally your images will be in the same directory as
your html files, but if by chance you have your images in a separate
directory, such as "photos" you'll need to include that directory
name. It would then look like this: <param name="image"
value="photos/swans3.jpg">.
The fourth line:
</applet> This
is the closing tag for the applet.
</td></tr></table>
These are the closing tags for
the table which makes the frame border. Note: placing
</applet></td></tr></table> on the same line
eliminates the small gap that may appear at the right or on the
bottom between the applet and the frame border. (Thanks Gus!)
Well, that's about it. Think ya can do it? I know you can. {:-).
Once you get through the first couple, they are a piece of cake and
a lot of fun to do. You can also experiment with different looks by
adjusting the table borders and cellspacing, and adjusting the
height in the code to suit your needs.
Ok, let's summarize, then I will briefly talk about codebase for
Angelfire sites.
- Download the lake.class file and upload it to your server into
the directory that will be holding the html file of the applet.
- Make sure the lake.class gets renamed exactly to lake.class if
your uploading changes it.
- Use the graphic here or a jpg or gif of your own. Get the
width and height.
- Type in the code. Using your graphic, change the swans3.jpg to
whatever you called it.
- Using your own graphic, adjust the width, height, and file
name accordingly. Make the height in the code twice the height of
the graphic minus 10-20 pixels.
SIT BACK AND ENJOY YOUR LAKE APPLET. CONGRATULATIONS!
Special note to Geocities site owners: When using the Geo Editor
and you try to preview your applet, it will not display. You'll
probably get a message something like "cannot find lake.class."
That's a Geo quirk, but if you uploaded the lake.class file
properly, you should see your applet after you save the file and
then view it. Thanks to Shelley for reminding me about that.
{:-)
*Angelfire
UPDATE*
Angelfire has
changed their policy of placing all image files into the "images"
directory, including the lake.class. You should now be able to
create lake applets using the above tutorial. I will leave the
"special" tutorial in place below for other web hosts that this may
apply to.
Angelfire site owners... you still here? Your situation is a tad
different. Angelfire does not give you a choice where to put your
files. All html files go in the main directory and every other file,
including lake.class, will automatically go into the images
directory. To get around that, you need to use codebase in your
code. Here is the code again for the above tutorial:
<table
border="5"><tr><td>
<applet code="lake.class"
width="300" height="256">
<param name="image"
value="swans3.jpg">
</applet></td></tr></table>
Below is an example of the code
including codebase:
<table
border="5"><tr><td>
<applet codebase="images/"
code="lake.class" width="300" height="256">
<param
name="image"
value="images/swans3.jpg">
</applet></td></tr></table>
See the differences? Note the changes
in lines 2 and 3 and apply them to your site.
*HOMESTEAD
USERS*
Follow the above
Angelfire instructions EXCEPT substitute IMAGES with FILES. An
example of a Homestead lake applet would look like this:
<table
border="5"><tr><td>
<applet codebase="files/"
code="lake.class" width="300" height="256">
<param
name="image"
value="files/swans3.jpg">
</applet></td></tr></table>
WHEWWWWWW..... I think that's it!
I hope this little class helps you out. It is really not as
complicated as it may appear, but I tried to cover all aspects of
the code so you would know what the hey you are typing into your
page. If you need further help,
visit our Lake Applet Forum where our
experts are awating your questions.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please re-read
this page carefully before emailing me. Also, be specific. Make sure
you include the page address you are trying to put the lake applet
on. Sending me a "It doesn't work" message with no page address or
specifics kind of makes it tough to see what you did wrong. Click Here to send me an email.
Thanks
This tutorial is entirely in my words (can't ya tell by my
babble? haha), but if you like this, feel free to copy it and use it
on your page to help your visitors, or if you wish, link this page
on your site. There are no obligations at all. I do hope though that
once you get your lake applets on your page that you will consider
joining my Web Ring, "The Ring of Lake Applets."
If you "graduated" from Lake Applets and feel creative, take
my Lake
Applets Overlay course and learn how to create lakes using the very
cool 3-D overlay effect.
Want another opinion or wanna learn even more? Click HERE
to visit the Lake
Applet Tutorials and Tips Page, brought to you by the members of
"The Ring of Lake Applets." |
