JPhotoViewer - Technical Information



Building the JPhotoViewer APPLET TAG
       How do I build the APPLET TAG for JPhotoViewer?
       A complete listing of the JPhotoViewer APPLET TAG PARAMETERS

Building the Photo Collection File
     What is a Photo Collection File?
     What is the purpose of the short description?
     What is the purpose of the long description?
     What is the purpose of the text overlays?
     What is the purpose of the Photo URL Link?
     A complete listing of the JPhotoViewer SCRIPT COMMANDS


The Photo Collection Editor (Windows only)
     The Photo Selection Tab
         How do I select photos?
         How do I unselect photos?
         Can I preview photos from the Photo Selection Tab?
         How do I add a Text-Only page?
    The Photo Collection Editor Tab
         How do I resequence photos?
         How do I remove photos from the photo collection editor?
         How is the FRAME option used?
    The Applet Parameters Tab
         What is the syntax for the parameters?
    The Deploy Applet Tab
         How do I upload the photo collection to my web server?

How do I build the APPLET TAG for JPhotoViewer?
JPhotoViewer provides great flexibility over the look and feel of the applet through the use of over twenty APPLET TAG Parameters.   The only mandatory parameter is the PhotoCollectionFileName parameter.   All other parameters are optional.   If a parameter is not used, JPhotoViewer will use the default settings for that parameter.

Click here to view a complete listing of JPhotoViewer's APPLET TAG PARAMETERS.





What is a Photo Collection File?
The Photo Collection File holds all the pertinent information regarding the photo collection; including URL address of photos, text annotations, font colors and sizes, and URL links.   This text file is passed to the applet as a parameter.   For non-Windows users, this Photo Collection File can be built with a simple text editor.  
The recommended extension for this file is (.ALB) but this is not mandatory.   The Photo Collection Editor uses the (.ALB) extension when writing to the photo collection file.

The applet tag would have a parameter such as:
< PARAM NAME="PhotoCollectionFileName" VALUE="MyPhotos.alb" >





What is the purpose of the short description?
The short descriptions appear in JPhotoViewer's List Box (the topmost component).   The short description gives the a user a means to create a brief title for each photo.   The List Box provides a convenient interface for scrolling through a large collection of photos.   This is generally more efficient than using the navigation buttons.   If you don't provide a short description the filename of the photo will be used instead.

The relevant applet parameters are :
< PARAM NAME="ShortDescrRows" VALUE="4" >
< PARAM NAME="ShortDescrBgColorHex" VALUE="0000ff" >
< PARAM NAME="ShortDescrTextColorHex" VALUE="ffffff" >
< PARAM NAME="ShortDescrFontSize" VALUE="12" >
< PARAM NAME="HideShortDescr" VALUE="YES" >






What is the purpose of the long description?
The long description appears in the Text Box which lies just below the actual photo.   The long description is used to provide detailed information regarding the photo.

The relevant applet parameters are :
< PARAM NAME="LongDescrRows" VALUE="4" >
< PARAM NAME="LongDescrBgColorHex" VALUE="0000ff" >
< PARAM NAME="LongDescrTextColorHex" VALUE="ffffff" >
< PARAM NAME="LongDescrFontSize" VALUE="12" >
< PARAM NAME="HideLongDescr" VALUE="YES" >






What is the purpose of the text overlays?
The text overlays allow you to overlay text on top of the photos.   The text overlays can be aligned to the top, middle, or bottom section of the photo.   You can also set the font color, size, and outline color of the text overlays.   The text overlays are maintained in the photo collection file.

The text overlay commands have the following syntax:

[Photo]
OverlayFontSize=16
OverlayAlignment=MIDDLE     (values = MIDDLE, TOP or BOTTOM)
OverlayText=This is the first line of text
OverlayText=This is the second line of text
OverlayFontColor=00ff00     (value = RRGGBB in hex)
OverlayOutlineColor=ffffff





What is the purpose of the Photo URL Link?
This script command allows you to associate a link with each photo in your photo collection.   When the user clicks on the photo, they will be taken to the corresponding URL, if one is defined.
Note: the unregistered version always links to www.galleriasoftware.com.





The Photo Selection Tab
The Photo Selection Tab is used to locate photos on your hard disk and allows you to select the photos that you would like to include in your photo presentation.   You can also preview, sort, and resequence photos from this function.



How do I select photos?
Using the Directory Browser in the Photo Selection Tab, locate the files that you want to include in JPhotoViewer.   Click on the "single right arrow" to move a block of highlighted files into the photo viewer.   Click on the "double right arrows" to move all the files from the current directory into the photo viewer.





How do I unselect photos?
You can selectively remove files from the photo viewer by highlighting those files and clicking on the "single left arrow."   Click on the "double left arrows" to deselect all files.
IMPORTANT: if you deselect a file(s), and you had entered text annotations, all of its text annotations will also be lost.

Can I preview photos from the Photo Selection Tab?
Yes, click on the image to see a thumbnail-sized view of the image.

How do add a Text-Only Page?
Yes, Click on the "Add Text Only" button from the Photo Selection tab.   This may be useful for displaying title pages.   In the Photo Collection Editor tab you will see an icon that reads "TEXT ONLY."





The Photo Collection Editor
The Photo Collection Editor is a Windows application whose sole purpose is to build the photo collection files that are used by JPhotoViewer.   This editor greatly simplifies the process of building these files.   The generated Photo Collection File is passed to JPhotoViewer as a parameter in the APPLET Tag.   The Photo Collection Editor allows the user to build photo presentations in a GUI environment.  

How do I resequence photos?
You can resequence photos by clicking on a photo and holding the left mouse button down.   While the mouse is held down, drag the photo to another slot in the photo collection editor.   If you want to move a block of photos to another location this can be only be accomplished in the Photo Selection Tab.   First highlight the block of files and then you can use the standard drag and drop operations to resequence the photos.







How do I remove photos from the photo collection editor?
First click on the photo that you would like to remove.   Now click on the Remove Photo button.
Note: this action only removes the selected photo from the photo collection file, it does not delete the photo from your disk drive.

How is the FRAME option used?
The FRAME option is used to specify how the HTML document gets opened.
A value of "_blank" displays the document in a new browser window.
A value of "_self" displays the document in the applet's frame.
A value of "_parent" displays the document in the applet's parent frame.
A value of "_top" displays the document in the applet's top level frame.
You can also specify the name of frame that you had already created.





The Applet Parameters Tab
The Applet Parameters are used to configure the look and feel of JPhotoViewer.   The PhotoCollectionFileName parameter is the only mandatory parameter.   This parameter specifies the file that contains the photo collection.   All other applet parameters are optional.


What is the syntax for the parameters?
JPhotoViewer uses a total of twenty-six parameters.   Click here to see a description of the parameters.   The Photo Collection Editor builds the applet tag automatically so you don't have to worry about the syntax.





The View/Deploy Applet Tab
Once you have established all the applet parameters, you can view the applet.   Start by creating a deployment directory, this is done by clicking on the "Create Deployment Directory" button.   The deployment directory contains all the files needed for the photo collection that you have created.   All the selected photos, the applet, the generated HTML file, the photo collection file, and the tiled-background photo are copied from the source directories to the DEPLOY directory of the Photo Collection Editor.

After you have created the deployment directory, you can preview the applet locally.   After you are satisfied with the results, you can upload the contents of the DEPLOY directory to your web server.

Note: All files in the DEPLOY directory are deleted for each new project.   If you want to maintain deployment directories for each project you will have to copy the DEPLOY directory to another folder on the disk.
How do I upload the photo collection to my web server?
You will need to find some information from your ISP.   You will need to know the ftp account name and password along with the ftp address of the web server.   With this information and a program such as FTP Explorer or WS FTP (you can get these from www.zdnet.com/downloads/) you should be able to upload the files to your web server.