RSS Viewer Applet: Ready to Rumble (1/6) - exploring XML

RSS Viewer Applet: Ready to Rumble

By popular demand I brushed up the RSS viewer applet of column 7 and released it under the GNU Public License (GPL). I have added some more user-friendly features to the news applet, like mouseovers and styles. It is now fully customizable to fit your Web site's look and feel. I'll be updating and optimizing this applet in future columns so keep those suggestions coming.

• Applet Appearance Parameterization
• The Rendering Model
• Initialization and Parameter Handling
• Drawing Logic
• Standard Applet Routines and Event Handling
• Helper Functions, Future Plans and Current Distribution

At the end of column 7 I listed some feature wishes for a full-fledged RSS applet. In this installment I deliver on the first three items concerning the user interface. Now there are loads of applet parameters for a sophisticated configuration and customization of the applet's appearance:

Name	Type	Description
src	String	URL of RSS file
box.foreground	int	box foreground color
box.background	int	box background color
box.border	int	box border width
box.scroll	boolean	box scrolling
box.scroll.horizontal	boolean	horizontal/vertical scrolling
box.scroll.reverse	boolean	forward/backward scrolling
title.foreground	int	title foreground color
title.background	int	title background color
title.foreground.mouseover	int	title foreground color on mouse-over
title.background.mouseover	int	title background color on mouse-over
title.font.family	String	title font family
title.font.size	int	title font size
title.font.style	String	title font style
item.foreground	int	item foreground color
item.background	int	item background color
item.foreground.mouseover	int	item foreground color on mouse-over
item.background.mouseover	int	item background color on mouse-over
item.font.family	String	item font family
item.font.size	int	item font size
item.font.style	String	item font style
item.margin	int	item margin
item.separator	String	item separator

Scrolling is not yet implemented, so the respective parameters including the item separator are not currently used. All the other properties concerning the applet's appearance are functional, though, to ensure a smooth integration into your Web site's look and feel.

In order to parameterize the visual appearance of the applet a model is needed which breaks down the drawing logic into several components with color and font attributes that can then be customized: The Rendering Model

Produced by Michael Claßen
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URL: https://www.webreference.com/xml/column9/index.html
Created: Mar. 12, 2000
Revised: Mar. 12, 2000