20.8.1.4.2 Specifying link properties via window-access object

You can specify a button, a text string, or a graphic for JavaHelp 2 to display as a window-access object for a pop-up link or a secondary-window jump. If you specify a text string, you can assign values to font keywords to apply a limited amount of formatting. Table 20-2 lists the base keywords, and the values you can assign to those keywords, to configure the appearance of a window-access object.

Prefix base keywords with “Pop” or “Sec”

You must supply a prefix for each of the object-property base keywords listed in Table 20-2, to indicate whether the keyword represents a property for a pop-up window link or for a secondary-window jump:

Table 20-2 [JavaHelp window name] window-access object properties

Keyword*

Value

Default value and comments

Type

Button
Graphic
Text

When Type=Button (default), the value of keyword Text is the label

When Type=Graphic, the value of keyword Text (or keyword Graphic) is the location of the image file

When Type=Text, Font* properties apply to the value of keyword Text

Graphic

URL for image file

Default is ../graphics/1p.gif

When Type=Graphic, value is the relative URL of the GIF or JPEG file

Text

plain text

<
>
&

Default is >

When Type=Text, Font* properties apply to the value of keyword Text

When Type=Graphic, value can be the location of the image (which can be specified as a value either for keyword Text or for keyword Graphic)

FontFamily

SansSerif
Serif
Monospaced
Symbol
Dialog
DialogInput

Pop-up window default is SansSerif

Secondary window default is Serif

 

Not all FontFamily values work the way you might expect them to work

FontSize

xx-small, x-small, small (default), medium, large, x-large

index number
bigger
smaller
+n
-n
nnpt

index number is a plain digit

bigger increases the size by one index

smaller decreases the size by one index

+n increases the size by n

-n decreases the size by n

nnpt specifies the font size in points

FontWeight

plain (default), bold

FontStyle

plain (default), italic

FontColor

blue (default), black, cyan, darkGray, gray, green, lightGray, magenta, orange, pink, red, white, yellow

* Prefix the base keyword with one of the following:

   Pop for a pop-up window property

   Sec for a secondary-window property

Eschew Type=Text

Despite the limited font-tweaking possibilities listed in Table 20-2, you might want to avoid setting PopType=Text or SecType=Text, unless you are happy with a link that consists of a single >, <, or & character, or a little box (what you get when, for example, you specify PopFontFamily=Symbol and choose a character from the Symbol font). See §20.8.1.3 Understanding JavaHelp 2 window-access limitations.

Multiple markers for each hotspot

To actually create a text hotspot with context-specific content, you would have to insert a collection of markers, all different, before every pop-up link or secondary-window jump in a file, to handle the varying text content and properties—to the limited extent that you can do so. See §20.8.1.5 Overriding window-access properties with markers.

Not all “special” characters work

Keep in mind that JavaHelp does not support the “undefined” characters with ASCII decimal values from 128 through 159, even though these characters are used heavily in Windows for quotes, bullets, and so forth.

Previous Topic:  20.8.1.4.1 Changing window type, size, or position via access object

Next Topic:  20.8.1.5 Overriding window-access properties with markers

Parent Topic:  20.8.1.4 Specifying window-access object properties

Sibling Topics:

20.8.1.4.1 Changing window type, size, or position via access object

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