Copyright: Copyright © Digital Workshop 1994


Contents

ILLUMINATUS Text Box Extension

Version 1.00

Copyright © Digital Workshop 1994

Overview

Using the Extension in Illuminatus

Options

Distributing the Files

Troubleshooting

About


Overview

This is an extension module for Illuminatus and allows you to provide a scrolling text box anywhere on any page of your multimedia publication. It will display a standard ASCI or DOS text file of any size up to 32,500 bytes in a panel and enable your reader to scroll up and down through it as required. As illustrated below.

If you use the Text Extension in your publication don't forget to distribute the ILMTEXT.ILX and the text file(s) you want displayed. Distributing the Files.

You can only have one text box open at one time. The font used by the text box is the default system font and cannot be edited in the current version.


Using the Extension in Illuminatus

You run the Text Extension module using the Launch option on the Button Options dialog. Select the ILMTXT.ILX filename from the file list boxes and click the Add File as Launch button or type the pathname and filename direct into the Launch this Program box.

Type the appropriate options you want to apply in the With Parameter box starting with the name of the text file you want to display which you can either type in or use the file list boxes to locate, select and then click the Add File as Parameter button. To find the file during Preview or when running a Compiled publication Illuminatus will need the full path for this text file. When distributing a Published publication the text file is installed to the same directory as the publication. Your publication will look for it there but only after looking for it in the path you originally gave it. This allows your publication to display one of your users files if you know where it will be but if you want to display a particular file and there is a chance your user will have a different file with the same name in the same directory you should remove the pathname before publishing. Alternatively keep your text files in a unique directory or give them a unique name.

Click the Distribute Files check box to ensure the ILMTXT.ILX module is distributed with your publication. Make sure the text file you want the extension to display is also distributed by manually adding it to the list of files to be distributed on the Publish dialog. See Distributing the Files


Options

When you run the Text Extension you can specify the following options in the order indicated

Filename Top Left Width Height Title(in quote marks) options

The Filename is the name of the text file you want to display. You can type the full pathname and file or you can use the file list boxes to locate and select the file and then click on Add File As Parameter to import it into the With Parameter box. Obviously this should be done before you set the other options which can then be typed in by hand.

The Top, Left, Width and Height items describe the position and size of the frame, just as with frames in Illuminatus so you can draw a frame on your page to use as a guide for your text box or even as a background or border.

The Title is the text which will appear in the title bar above the text box. Without a title or a closebox the text box window will have no title bar or border. This can be useful for providing a text box which looks an integral part of your publication and can be surrounded by a frame which provides a border.

close

Closes your text box. This enables you to program a button to close your text box. If you want the text box to display for a set length of time program a button with this option, use the Delay option to delay its action for the appropriate length of time and use it invisibly underneath the button which launches the text box.

closebox

Adds a title bar to your text box (blank if no Title is given) with a standard Windows close box on the top left corner.

format

Including this command allows your text box display text according to the ILM text attribute formatting commands as detailed in the Illuminatus help file. Thus, using this option and putting /i around a phrase in your text file will display that phrase in italic in your text box. Please note that only the attributes supported by the current system font will display - in particular this may mean that Bold has now effect because the font is only available in bold.

The options are not case sensitive and can be in any order. The file and size parameters must be first and in the order given so...

file.txt 0 0 "Caption" 100 100 is not valid

and neither is

file.txt format 0 0 100 100

but this is:

file.txt 50 50 200 250 close "This is the title" format


Distributing the Files

When you use an ILX or other extension program in your publication you can tell Illuminatus to automatically include the extension program with your distributable publication by checking the Distribute Files option.

However this will NOT automatically distribute the text file you want to view. This must be added manually using the ADD button on the Publish dialog as illustrated below.


About

Illuminatus Text Extension v1.00

© Digital Workshop 1994  - All rights reserved

Programmed in Microsoft Visual C.

Developed and published in the UK by:

Digital Workshop

First Floor, 8 West Bar, BANBURY

Oxon, OX16 9RR, UK

Tel:01295 258335, Fax:01295 254590

Intl Tel: +44 295 258335 Intl Fax: +44 295 254590

CIX: join theworkshop

Compuserve: GO WORKSHOP


Troubleshooting

Here are some solutions to the most common errors which may occur when using this extension..

Unable to Locate Text File

If this happens in Preview mode. Check that the filename has been spelt correctly. If there is no path specified with the filename ensure that the file is in the same directory as the file list boxes are pointing to. If this is not the case you should either move the file or change the file list boxes to point to the location of the file.

Alternatively add the path to the filename (e.g: c:\ilm2\textfile.txt rather than simply textfile.txt)

If this happens in the Compiled version check that the full pathname for the file has been included in the With Parameter box.

If this happens in the Published version check that both the ILMTXT.ILX and the text file you want to display are present in the directory containing your publication. If the ILX file is missing check that you have selected the Distribute Files option on the Launch dialog. If the text file is missing ensure that it is present in the directory your publication is looking for it in.

The text box is still displayed after th publication closes

To allow you to use the Close Publication on Launch option with the ILX Extensions they do not automatically close with your publication. You must therefore ensure that any Exit button explicitly closes the extension program. You will need an additional invisible button beneath the Exit button to perform this function.

Text box fails to appear at all.

In this instance check that the size and position of the text box is correct and ensure that the ILMTXT.ILX is in the directory Illuminatus or your publication is expecting it to be.