an Applet and back end to create the various colourised listings you see all over my
website. I released the source. It consists of parsers for Java, HTML, SQL, XML,
and BAT files that decide the colours, and an Applet to display and scroll the listings, and
a macro preprocessor to either expand small listings as HTML inline or generate an <applet
invocation to an Applet to display it. If you can’t see the listings, here are things
to check:
- To use JDisplay to display listings on this website, you must have Java 1.5 or later, preferably 1.6.0_14,
installed on your machine.
- If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, try another browser.
Seriously. Microsoft has taken great pains, over and over, to screw up Java and every other mult-platform
standardisation.
- If you are using Internet Explorer 7, you must allow blocked content permission for Active X to run. This also
gives permission to Java to run. Click the Information bar, and then click Allow
blocked content. Unfortunately, this also allows dangerous ActiveX code to run. However, you must do this in
order to get access to perfectly-safe Java Applets running in a sandbox. This is part of Microsoft’s war on Java.
Don’t put up with it! Use a different browser.
- Check the Java console for error messages. If you don’t know
how to interpret that message, feel free to email me at
for
help.
- If you still can’t get the program working click HELP for more detail.
Get New Java Get
New Browser Help
How It Works
JDisplay renders three different ways:
Inline
java.exe -version
With an iframe
With an Applet
If you don’t see anything, check out first that you can see Applets in general by
looking at
and my Applet Collection, especially Wassup
which will tell you which Java version you have installed. If no Applets work, try tracking
down the problem with the help under JRE.
The JDisplay program is more complicated that you would imagine, so you you probably don’t want to be bothered
with it just to display a few listings. I use static macros to generate the HTML, but you could generate it by hand.
JDisplay, Firewalls and MIME Types
If the problem is only with JDisplay, then likely the problem is with your firewall
interfering the JDisplay getting its listing files. The files have the following mime types
and extensions:
| JDisplay file extensions and MIME types |
|---|
| Extension |
MIME type |
|---|
| ser |
application/x-java-serialized-object |
| bat |
text/plain |
| batfrag |
text/plain |
| java |
text/x-java-source |
| javafrag |
text/x-java-source |
| html |
text/html |
| htmlfrag |
text/html |
| sql |
text/plain |
| sqlfrag |
text/plain |
| xml |
application/xml |
| xmlfrag |
application/xml |
If *.ser files are blocked, you will not see anything. If any of the others are blocked, the download
button will fail.
While you are at it, you might as well check the complete list of MIME types to make sure you
are not blocking any other critical kinds of file downloads.
Improving the Look
JDisplay and my website in general were designed with certain fonts in mind. If you don’t have them installed Java
and your browser will substitute others, which won’t have the same metrics which means it might not look right. I
suggest you install the following fonts:
| Suggested Fonts For Viewing Mindprod.com |
|---|
| Font |
Source |
Cost
|
|---|
| Bitstream Vera Sans Mono |
gnome.org.
This is my primary monospaced font. |
free |
| Tiresias PCFont Z |
Bitstream
MyFonts.com. A highly legible font. This is my primary proportional font. |
. |
| Lucida Console |
Comes with Windows. If you don’t have it, you can buy it, and any of the other Lucida family from Ascender
Fonts |
|
| Lucida Sans |
C:\Program Files\java\jre6\lib\fonts\LucidaSansRegular.ttf
C:\Program Files\java\jre6\lib\fonts\LucidaSansDemiBold.ttf |
free |
| Lucida Sans Typewriter |
C:\Program Files\java\jre6\lib\fonts\LucidaTypewriterRegular.ttf
C:\Program Files\java\jre6\lib\fonts\LucidaTypewriterBold.ttf |
free |
| Lucida Bright |
C:\Program Files\java\jre6\lib\fonts\LucidaBrightRegular.ttf
C:\Program Files\java\jre6\lib\fonts\LucidaBrightDemiBold.ttf
C:\Program Files\java\jre6\lib\fonts\LucidaBrightItalic.ttf
C:\Program Files\java\jre6\lib\fonts\LucidaBrightDemiItalic.ttf |
free |
| Tiresias Keyfont V2 |
download. For labeling keycaps. |
free |
If the fonts or the displays look flea-bitten, make sure you have anti-aliasing turned
on.
Why JDisplay?
People have often asked me why I don’t just embed listings directly in my web pages, perhaps decorated with CSS
style tags instead of fooling around with the JDisplay Applet. I do, I generate decorated HTML, but only for short
listings. I use <iframes for medium sized ones, and an Applet renderer for long ones. For long ones, the data that
the JDisplay Applet uses are much more compact than the equivalent HTML. With JDisplay, a long listing takes up only a
small window on your screen. You an ignore it if you are not interested. Inline listings would create a huge long
document to scroll through.
If you don’t have Java at all, you should see a button to download the listing to view in place of the listing.
The problem comes when you have a malfunctioning Java. Then you won’t see anything at all.
Further, I am a Java evangelist. In particular I want to see more client-side Java computing. I think this 100%
server logic talking to a browser, all the rage these days, is so sixties. So I demonstrate it where I can on my site
with JDisplay, the CurrCon currency displays, and the many amanuenses
Applets.
2007-04-26 by Roedy Green ©1996-2009 Canadian Mind Products
Please email your feedback for publication, errors, omissions, broken/redirected link reports
