JavaObjects.net User Documentation
Animated Shuffle Menu
Note : Graphics only available on on-line or Word document formats
http://www.javaobjects.net
(c) Fugazi Consulting Ltd 2003


Overview

A two level navigation menu system, which whizzes the selected main menu item to the top of the list and displays the sub menu items.  Can be as large or compact as you like, and really catches the users eye !
•	Infinite top level menus, up to 10 sub menu options per top level
•	Choose foreground, background and button color
•	Configurable for any size button and spacing between buttons
•	Curved edge or rectangular buttons
•	Set to any animation speed, slow or fast as you prefer


HTML Example

<applet code="jonetMenu3.class" width=200 height=130>
<param name="forecolor" value="000000">
<param name="foresubcolor" value="000000">
<param name="backcolor" value="FFFFFF">
<param name="buttoncolor" value="D6D3CE">

<param name="fontstyle" value="Helvetica">
<param name="fonttype" value="plain">
<param name="fontsize" value="10">
<param name="speed" value="12">

<param name="buttonheight" value="15">
<param name="buttonwidth" value="50">
<param name="buttonspace" value="3">
<param name="buttonradius" value="0">
<param name="buttontextleft" value="7">
<param name="buttontexttop" value="12">

<param name="menu_1" value="Menu 1">
<param name="menu_2" value="Menu 2">
<param name="menu_3" value="Menu 3">

<param name="menu_1_1" value="sub menu 1/1">
<param name="menu_1_2" value="sub menu 2/1">
<param name="menu_1_3" value="sub menu 3/1">
<param name="menu_1_4" value="sub menu 4/1">
<param name="url_1_1" value="http://www.javaobjects.net/">
<param name="url_1_2" value="http://www.javaobjects.net/">
<param name="url_1_3" value="http://www.javaobjects.net/">
<param name="url_1_4" value="http://www.javaobjects.net/">
<param name="target_1_1" value="_top">
<param name="target_1_2" value="_top">
<param name="target_1_3" value="_top">
<param name="target_1_4" value="_top">

<param name="menu_2_1" value="sub menu 1/2">
<param name="menu_2_2" value="sub menu 2/2">
<param name="url_2_1" value="http://www.javaobjects.net/">
<param name="url_2_2" value="http://www.javaobjects.net/">
<param name="target_2_1" value="_top">
<param name="target_2_2" value="_top">

<param name="menu_3_1" value="sub menu 1/3">
<param name="menu_3_2" value="sub menu 2/3">
<param name="menu_3_3" value="sub menu 3/3">
<param name="url_3_1" value="http://www.javaobjects.net/">
<param name="url_3_2" value="http://www.javaobjects.net/">
<param name="url_3_3" value="http://www.javaobjects.net/">
<param name="target_3_1" value="_top">
<param name="target_3_2" value="_top">
<param name="target_3_3" value="_top">

</applet>


Installation and Configuration

Download the class file.  Use the "Buy Now" button found on the website.

Copy the above code (in bold) into your HTML (note, not the content) of your web page, then copy the class file into the same directory.

You can customise your applet by changing the following parameters (some or all of which are optional, i.e. can be omitted) :

 
width 
height		Adjust to suit the size of applet you wish to appear on page

forecolor	The color of the main menu item text and button outlines. Defaults to black if omitted.

foresubcolor	The color of the sub menu item text.  Defaults to black if omitted.

backcolor	The background color to the applet.  Defaults to white.

buttoncolor	The background color of the buttons.  Defaults to white.

fontstyle	Helvetica, TimesRoman or Courier.  Defaults to Helvetica if parameter is omitted

fonttype	Plain, Bold, Italic.  Defaults to Bold if parameter is omitted

fontsize	The size of the menu text.  Defaults to 11 if omitted

speed		The speed of animation.  The higher the number, the faster the animation.

buttonheight	The height in pixels of each main menu button option.

buttonwidth	The width in pixels of each main menu button option.

buttonspace	Optional. Advanced User.  The space in pixels between each menu option. Defaults to 5.

buttonradius	The radius on the corner of each button.  0 will result in a perfect rectangle.  Defaults to 10

buttontextleft	Optional. Advanced User.  The space in pixels from the left edge of the button to the start of the text. Used for aligning the button text perfectly in the centre of the button.  Defaults to 14.

buttontexttop	Optional. Advanced User.  The space in pixels from the top edge of the button to the top of the text. Used for aligning the button text perfectly in the centre of the button.  Defaults to 14.

menu_n		The list of main menu texts, where 'n' starts at 1.  You must have at least two main menu texts (buttons). You can have any number of main menu texts (buttons)

menu_n_m	The list of sub menu texts, where 'm' starts at 1 (for the first sub menu) and 'n' relates to the main menu text above (menu_n).  You can have a maximum of 10 submenu items per main menu item (minimum 1).

url_n_m		The URL to go to if the user selects this sub menu option.  Values 'n' and 'm' relate to the values on menu_n_m.  For each menu_n_m you MUST have a corresponding url_n_m parameter.

target_n_m	The target window to open this URL in.  Valid values of _top _self _parent or _blank (see below).  Values 'n' and 'm' relate to the values on menu_n_m.  For each menu_n_m you MUST have a corresponding target_n_m parameter.


Further explanation of the menu_n parameters (an example) :

Say we want a menu with two main menus, where each main menu options has 3 sub menu options.  First we would have our main menu options as follows :

<param name="menu_1" value="My Menu 1">
<param name="menu_2" value="My Menu 2">

Now, we must list at least one sub menu for each of those main menu options ... we want three each, so that's fine.

<param name="menu_1_1" value="sub menu 1 of 3">
<param name="menu_1_2" value="sub menu 2 of 3">
<param name="menu_1_3" value="sub menu 3 of 3">
<param name="url_1_1" value="http://www.yoururl.com/">
<param name="url_1_2" value="http://www.yoururl2.com/">
<param name="url_1_3" value="http://www.yoururl3.com/">
<param name="target_1_1" value="_top">
<param name="target_1_2" value="_top">
<param name="target_1_3" value="_blank">

Note that the _1_ in all the above parameters refers to the 1 in menu_1 (i.e. the first main menu button).     Our second menu options would look the same, but with a _2_ as follows :

<param name="menu_2_1" value="sub menu 1 of 3">
<param name="menu_2_2" value="sub menu 2 of 3">
<param name="menu_2_3" value="sub menu 3 of 3">
<param name="url_2_1" value="http://www.another.com/">
<param name="url_2_2" value="http://www.another2.com/">
<param name="url_2_3" value="http://www.another3.com/">
<param name="target_2_1" value="_blank">
<param name="target_2_2" value="_top">
<param name="target_2_3" value="_top">

Note, each sub menu option has it's own URL to go to, has it's own text value, and it's own target window to open the URL into.

We recommend you group together the menu options as shown in the example above in HTML Example for clarity of reading, however that's not totally necessary for the applet to work.

Note, the number of sub menus can vary from main menu button to main menu button .... button 1 can have three sub menus, but button 2 may have 8, and so on.


Support

Remember, if you are struggling to set up your applet, or are having problems, we are here to help.  Our support team can be contacted on support@javaobjects.net.  

Please supply as much information about your problem as possible, including the applet name you are having problems with, the HTML code you are using, and if relevant the URL of the site where the applet is being used.


URL Targets

URL Target Window parameters specify which browser window the destination URL will open up in, when the user clicks on a menu option or graphic (depending on the applet in question).

Valid values : 

_blank – open in a brand new window, leaving this window still open 

_top – open in the current window, whole page

_self – open in the current frame.  Only really used when using frames on your page.

_parent -  open in the parent window.

The most commonly used options will be _blank (new window) and _top (same window) which should cater for most scenarios.



Color Hexadecimal Values :

Color values used on HTML pages and Java applets are represented as six character hexadecimal values, where “000000” is pure black, “FFFFFF” is pure white, and ever other possible color combination can be found in between.

The six digits in each colour value can be split into three 2 character Red, Green and Blue values.  So, a value of “112233” means a Red value of 11, a Green value of 22 and a Blue value of 33.

A note on Hexadecimal representation :

As humans with, generally speaking, 10 fingers and 10 toes, we are used to the decimal number system, that is, a ten digit number system starting at 0 and going up to 9.  When we reach 9, we “roll over” back to zero again and, of course, add a 1 to the left hand side to give 10.

Whereas decimal has ten values per digit, hexadecimal has sixteen values per digit.  The standard ten from 0 to 9, but then of course we run out of occidental numbers.  So, we start using letters …. A for value 10, B for 11, C for 12, D for 13, E for 14 and F for 15.  Once we reach ‘15’ (or F) we “roll over” back to zero again, and add that one to the left, giving 10 (which is the equivalent of value 16 in decimal)

Here are a few example of hexadecimal (or “hex”) values and decimal values :

Hex 1 = Decimal 1
Hex 9 = Decimal 9
Hex A = Decimal 10
Hex 10 = Decimal 16
Hex 1F = Decimal 31
Hex FF = Decimal 255

So, how do we turn “slightly light blue” into a series of 6 hexadecimal characters ?

Well, the easiest way to do this, if you have a Windows operating system, is using the Paint package.   Open up Paint, then choose the menu options Colors / Edit Colors.  Click on the Define Custom Colors button to bring the color wheel up like this :

 <<graphic only available online / Word document>>

Choose the desired color you are after using the large color area, and chose the shade using the slider on the right.  Here we have chosen that light blue colour we love so much.

On the bottom right hand side you can see that there are three values – Red, Green and Blue.  But these values are represented in decimal (not hex) which is no use for web work.   We know our RGB values, we just need to convert them to hex !

The easiest way to do this is as follows.  Let’s take the Red value, 84.  Divide 84 by 16 to get 5.25.  At this point all we are bothered about is the integer part of this result, i.e. the 5.  That’s our first digit.   Take the 5 and times that by 16 to give 80.  Take 80 from the original number (84) to give a remainder of 4.  That’s our second digit.  So, the two characters which represent Red in hexadecimal is “54”.

Carry on and do the same for Green and Blue.  Let’s work through Green first.  175 / 16 = 10.9375.  Forget the .9375 and concentrate on 10.  We already know that in hex the value 10 is represented by the letter A so ‘A’ is our first digit.  10 * 16 = 160.  175 – 160 equals a remainder of 15.  15 we know is F in hex.  So, our Green value is ‘AF’

Finally blue.  203 / 16 = 12.6875.  Drop the .6875 to give 12, which is ‘C’.  12 * 16 = 192.  203 – 192 = 11 (or ‘B’).  So, our Green value is ‘CB’

Put the three values together, and we arrive at a color value for “slightly light blue” of “54AFCB” ….. result !

If this seems a little long winded or complicated, don’t worry.  Try this a few times, and pretty soon this will become second nature.

Examples :

 			Black			000000
 			White			FFFFFF
 			Light Gray		B0B0B0
 			Dark Gray		808080
 			Red			FF0000
 			Green			008000
 			Blue			0000FF
 			Dark Blue		000080
 			Bright Green		00FF00
 			Purple			800080
 			Light Purple		FF00FF
 			Brown			800000
 			Cyan			00FFFF
 			Yellow			FFFF00


 
License Information

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