Using the Recipes

The DHTML "recipes" in this section provide an easy way to add commonly used interactive effects to your HTML Help system. Each recipe was designed to require the least possible amount of manipulation to make it work in various situations. For example, all variable names are written as single words, so you can double-click to choose and change them. Similarly, whenever possible event handlers are used in place of functions as the call within the HTML element.

NOTE:
All code in this section is designed for use in HTML Help, not for general HTML usage. Specifically, where conflicts exist, the code is Internet Explorer-specific; most of it does not work in Netscape Navigator or Communicator.

The hazards of displaying code

Each recipe includes a working sample of the effect and displays the code used to achieve the effect. Because working code does not display as code in your browser window, certain modifications had to be made to the page's source code so that the functions and calls within the elements would display correctly. Therefore, if you simply cut and paste the code from your browser window, you may need to remove extraneous <BR> tags and change code shown as < or > to < and > respectively.

For the easiest transfer of code, click the Download Code button to download a zipped text file containing the script in a form that WILL work with simple cut-and-paste.

Adding recipes to your files

To use a recipe in your own HTML file, you must cut-and-paste from the downloaded file or type in the appropriate code as follows:

If the recipe includes a Function section, either embed the function within the <SCRIPT> section of your HTML page's <HEAD> or, if you are linking to an external script file, add the function to that script file.
At the appropriate point within the <BODY> of the page, add the script or event handlers described in the recipe's Call within the element section to the desired HTML element tag.
If you are linking to an external script file, be sure to explicitly add the .js file to the [FILES] section of your HTML Help project (.hhp).
If desired, make any of the changes described in the recipe's Possible modifications section.

For details on performing these tasks, refer to the "How to do it" section (pp. 176ff) of the book's chapter 5.