***************************************************************** Readme file for java ascii animator and converter programs. I am making both the program files and the source code available to download from: http://www.dmriley.demon.co.uk/download/asciitv.htm You are welcome to copy the programs for your friends or to make any changes to them. Please let me know if you have any problems with either of the programs. I can be contacted by email at: dave@dmriley.demon.co.uk If you use the program to put your animations on the web, please send me the URL - I'd love to see them. Note for unix people: The ascii animator does not work on nescape 4.04 for linux, but it does work on the appletviewer which comes with the jdk. Hope you enjoy the programs :-) ***************************************************************** ************************ Installing the programs: ************************ Note: this readme is not included in the archive so don't forget to save a copy. The binaries and source for the program are all in the file: asccitv.zip - for windoze asciitv.tar.gz - for unix To run the asciitv from your hard drive: make a directory for the program and move the zip file into it. unzip the zipfile and all the program files will be unzipped into the correct directories below your base directory. You should now have: /dmr/applets/asciitv - contains: AAConverter.class AsciiAnim8or.class Base.class EOF2Param.class Screen.class Script2Param.class /dmr/lang - contains: Answerable.class /dmr/awt - contains: ListDialog.class OnOffButton.class ToolButton.class There should also be a corresponding .java file for each of these Next edit the html template file (see below) to make the 'codebase' parameter within the 'applet' tag point to the base directory you installed in. eg: codebase="c:\java\classes" or for unix: codebase="file:///home/name/java/classes" Note: you do not have to alter your 'CLASSPATH' evironment variable. Then save the file to disk (.html, in any directory), load it into your browser and it should work (make sure you have java enabled :-) To install the program on your www server: Install the files in the above directory structure on the server (you'll probably have to do this the hard way unless you have shell access to your ISP), then make the 'codebase' parameter in your html point to: http://your.server.name/path/ where the 'dmr' directory is under 'path'. Note: to use the animator on your www site you don't need to upload the files AAConverter.class, Script2Param.class or EOF2Param.class, as these are only used by the converter, and you don't need to upload any of the .java files (although you are welcome to). ************************************************************************ ************************************************************************ The Animator program: ====================== The program is loaded into the browser using an html file which tells the browser where the class files are, and contains the animations. The html file can be anywhere on the directory tree. ****************** example html file: - assumes class files are below host.com/classes ****************** example *********** end example *********** Remember to set the "codebase" parameter (inside the tag) to the base directory below which you installed the class files. ********************************************************************** There are a few parameters to customize the look of the program: uses a default java button on the web page. If this parameter is missing, or the value is not "plain", it will use the colored button. sets the toolbar color to red. you can use the values "gray", "red", "cyan", "yellow", "green", and "white". If the parameter is missing it will use gray. sets the status bar to red. You can use any of the values shown above for the toolbar. The default is gray. sets the title of the animation window to "My Ascii Animations". The default title is "Ascii TV". Note: These parameters must be in between the and tags and the parameter names must be in lower case as shown. *********************************************************************** Animation Format: (see below for instructions for converting your animations) Each animation must have a "title" parameter eg: The numbers after "title" must be from 1 upwards (they don't have to be in order but you can't miss any numbers). You can add a description after the title if you leave a space eg: The program will look for the animations in parameters corresponding to the specified titles, so with the above example it would look for anim_A in parameters starting from: example ******** end file ******** You may need to adjust the width and height parameters within the tag to suit your screen resolution.