EasyScroller 1.0
                 by Clark S. Lindsey
                   HobbySpace.com
                 java@hobbyspace.com
          
                    July 12, 2001
            
EasyScroller is a free Java scroller applet for displaying
a list of messages. The messages can be matched with web
page addresses so that clicking on a message sends the user
to a given page.

EasyScroll offers the following features and options:

- A given message can consist of text,an icon or both. 
- Clicking on a message can open a given browser page.
- User selected fonts for the text.
- Different background colors can be chosen for each message.
- The scrolling can be paused with double clicking.
- The scroll direction can be changed by dragging the mouse 
  in the desired direction.
- Or an optional control panel offers buttons for pause
  and scroll direction selection.
- Different applet widths and heights can be chosen and it
  will adjust the text and icons to fit accordingly.
  
  
                   Installation
                   
Unpack the EasyScroller.zip file into the directory with your
web page or a sub-directory. The unpacked files include 
   
 *  EasyScroller.class
 *  HSCanvas.class
 *  HSPanel.class
 *  Message.class 
 *  ScrollCanvas.class
 *  
 *  EasyScroller.html
 *  
 *  messages.txt
 *  messages2.txt
 *
 *  javaGuy.jpg
 *  banner1.jpg
 *  banner2.jpg
 *  eye.gif
   
The program is implemented by the class files.

EasyScroller.html is an example web page with the applet.

The files "messages.txt" and "messages2.txt" provide example 
messages for the sample web page. The image files are displayed 
in the sample scrolls.


                      Applet Setup

To place EasyScroller on your web page, insert the following
hypertext code:

<table border="1">
   <tr>
     <td> <applet code="EasyScroller.class" width=250 height=125>
         <param name="FileToScroll" value="messages.txt">
         <param name="RollSpeed" value=10>
         <param name="BackgroundColor" value=0xffffff>
         <param name="ShowControls" value=0>
       </applet>
     </td>
 </tr>
</table>

An optional table is used here to give the applet a border.

The applet width and height can be altered according to the users 
requirements. A width of at least 125 is recommended.

Note: If the files are put into a sub-directory, e.g. /Files/, then
use the "codebase" parameter in the <applet tag to specify it. 
For example, 

 <applet code="EasyScroller.class" codebase="Files" width=250 height=125 >

The parameters provide options for the scroller:
  
 *  FileToScroll    - text file holding messages according to format below.
 *                    (messages.txt is default name.)
 *  RollSpeed       - proportional to scroll speed
 *                     time/pixel line = 500ms/RollSpeed
 *  BackgroundColor - background color of scroll. Default is white.
 *                        Values are given in hex format. See below
 *  ShowControls    - include a set of buttons to pause or change 
                      scrolling direction. 
                          value = 0 to remove controls
                          value = 1 to add controls


                 Message Setup

Each message is listed in a file denoted by the FileToScroll parameter.
A message item provides the text, font style, color, image and
corresponding web page address.

A sample message file:

Get the latest news on space hobbies and activities.
%%COURIER|BOLD|16|0x660000|3|0x55dddd%%http://www.hobbyspace.com/index.html%%banner1.jpg|100|115|;;
Try other HobbySpace Java programs.%%HELVETICA|BOLD|16|0x007700|3|0xffffff%%http://www.hobbyspace.com/Java/%javaGuy.jpg|55|68|;;
LinkWatch:
- Monitor favorite
    web sites.
- Fix bad links.
%%DIALOG|PLAIN|12|0x000055|30|0xaaaaee%%http://www.hobbyspace.com/Java/LinkWatch/%%eye.gif|48|48|;;
EasyScroller offers:
- User selected fonts 
- Color selection.
- Movement controls.
- image messages.
%%DIALOG|PLAIN|12|0x008000|3|0x00FFFF;;

The format is

 Text%%Font%%URL%%Image;;
 
with items separated by the "%%" characters and terminated by two semi-colons.
Do NOT use these character pairs in the message text! Otherwise, the parsing of
the messages will become scrambled.

Items can be truncated from right to left but not otherwise left out.

The items include

  Text - this can include line breaks and other whitespace. (If you want only
         an image and no text, place at least one space ' ' here.)
         Do NOT use "%%" or ";;" in your text.
  
  Font - TYPE|STYLE|SIZE|COLOR OF TEXT|HORIZONTAL OFFSET|MESSAGE BACKGROUND COLOR
         See below for explanations of these parameters.
  
  URL  - web addresses  can be absolute, i.e. http://www.a.com/, or relative to
         the scroll web page, i.e. "../archive/index.html"
         
  Image- name of image file followed by the image dimensions: |width|height|. 
         The dimensions are REQUIRED or the image will not be displayed.
         
         The image file name is relative to the codebase. If, for example, the
         applet class files are in the sub-directory (relative to the web page)
         called Files/ and the image banner1.jpg is in Files/Images/, then 
         specify the file name with "Images/banner1.jpg|100|115|"
         
         If the image is < 50% of the applet width, the image will be put on
         the left hand side and the text will be placed to the right of the image. 
         Otherwise, the image  will be centered and the text placed beneath.
         (The text will not be centered but the HORIZONTAL OFFSET below can 
         be used to move the text towards the center.
         
         
Font settings:

  TYPE = HELVETICA, DIALOG, COURIER
  STYLE= BOLD, ITALIC, PLAIN, ITALIC+BOLD
  SIZE = point size in number, typically 8,10,12, etc are available.
  TEXT COLOR = in hexadecimal style: 0xFFFFFF in which combinations of
         red, green and blue are assigned with values from 00 to FF
         where each digit runs from 0,1,....9,A,B,C,D,E,F.
          Typical values: red   = 0xFF0000
                          green = 0x00FF00
                          blue  = 0x0000FF
                          black = 0x000000
                          white = 0xFFFFFF
                          gray  = 0x777777
  HORIZONTAL OFFSET - number of pixels to move the message from the
                      left hand side of the scroll.
  BACKGROUND COLOR - each message is seen against a band of a given
                     background color. Colors are again in hex style.
                     
                     
                     
                        Disclaimer
                   
EasyScroller is freeware provided without any support or warranty,
explicitly or implied.

Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.

HobbySpace - Copyright 1999-2001. 
All Rights Reserved
Clark S. Lindsey
www.HobbySpace.com
java@hobbyspace.com