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New this week on WebReference.com and the Web:
1. GIORDAN ON GRAPHICS: Masking Unmasked 2. 3D ANIMATION WORKSHOP: Texture Mapping Basics 3. NEW FEATURES: New Server, News Harvester Site Redesign 4. UPDATE: Evolution of a Home Page 5. NEW LINKS: Animation Resources, Conference Calendars 6. NEW SOFTWARE: FreeDOM - A Generic OO API 7. NEW BOOKS: * DHTML for the World Wide Web * Dynamic HTML Unleashed 8. OTHER VOICES: * Navigation 101 - WDVL.com * Perl Diving - Webmonkey.com * Java Database Connectivity - WDVL.com
Spread the word! Feel free to send a copy of this newsletter to your friends and colleagues, and while you're at it, snap a link to WebReference.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. GIORDAN ON GRAPHICS: Masking Unmasked
Hark! Who was that masked man? Learn how you can create you own masks to isolate your subject for that professional look. Follow the floating fish to learn how. By Dan Giordan.
http://www.webreference.com/graphics/column4/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2. 3D ANIMATION WORKSHOP: Texture Mapping Basics
We start a look at wrapping pictures around 3D models. By Robert Polevoi.
http://www.webreference.com/3d/lesson54/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3. NEW FEATURES: New Server, News Harvester Site Redesign
>New Server
Due to a recent increase in hits you may have noticed a slowdown in WebReference's load time recently. To meet our increased traffic demands we've moved WebReference.com to a more powerful server, a Sun Ultra 450. The response time is now greatly improved, thanks for your patience.
>News Harvester Site Redesign
Along with our new installer we've redesigned the News Harvester site, complete with context sensitive menus using frames and JavaScript. Bravo to the entire news harvester team, led by Bob Peyser.
http://www.webreference.com/headlines/nh/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4. UPDATE: Evolution of a Home Page
Behold the startling adventures of WebReference as it evolves out of the primordial HTML ooze. See the amazing shrinking logo, radical redesigns, and space-saving scrollers. Updated with the latest changes including our new pausable news scroller. By Andrew King.
http://www.webreference.com/dev/evolution/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5. NEW LINKS: Animation Resources, Conference Calendars
>Animation Resources
Now's the time to add a GIF animation or two to your site. Start out by taking a cue from a tutorial in our resource list. http://www.webreference.com/authoring/graphics/animation.html
>Conference Calendars
If you're thinking about getting away from it all, consider a working vacation at a trade-show or conference. Let our links be your travel guide. http://www.webreference.com/internet/conferences.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6. NEW SOFTWARE: FreeDOM - A Generic OO API
Last week I talked about how DHTML APIs can speed the development process when creating DHTML applications. I neglected to mention a new project called FreeDOM by Laurence Rozier.
FreeDOM is a superset of the DHTML APIs mentioned last week. An object-oriented framework built in JavaScript, FreeDOM is designed to create browser-based applications. FreeDOM is an open source project, meaning you can freely distribute the source code provided certain copyright notices remain intact.
In Laurence's own words:
"FreeDOM is a generic OO API. FreeDOM is a superset of the W3C DOM and places more power in the hands of scripters than the browser/ tool vendor driven C++/Java perspective of the W3C DOM.
There is now a version in beta which is an implementation of the W3C DOM specification:
http://www.thepattern.com/freedom/w3cdom
so it can be used to create DOM-compliant apps in version 4 browsers. These apps can be created in one of two ways. You can create your FreeDOM objects within SCRIPT tags or by parsing XML (you can use xparse the JavaScript-based XML parser in Netscape to do this). Once FreeDOM objects are created, they can be rendered on screen with statements like:
targetWindow.document.write(myFreeDOMObject.htmlText())
Cross browser DHTML is achieved in a clean and powerful OO manner using the prototype property. When FreeDOM objects are constructed, they can test for the environment they are in and then bind themselves to the appropriate methods for DHTML behavior as shown below:
switch (navigator.appName) { case "Netscape" : FreeDOM.prototype.left = Netscape_left; FreeDOM.prototype.top = Netscape_top; ... break; case "Microsoft Internet Explorer" : FreeDOM.prototype.left = Microsoft_left; FreeDOM.prototype.top = Microsoft_top; ... }
Once constructed, you don't have to think about browser sniffing while the app is executing. While these core DHTML methods work they don't handle all of the situations the DHTML libs you've covered do. However, other than the shortage of time :-), there is no reason these can't be implemented by those who need to. If someone is implementing a single DHTML feature on their site and not really doing much else with JavaScript, then FreeDOM may not be for them. OTOH, if you are using lots of dynamic objects across pages and need to integrate application objects like customers, suppliers and products, FreeDOM is the way to go."
For more information on FreeDOM goto:
http://www.thepattern.com http://www.builder.com/Programming/FreeDOM/ http://www.webreference.com/new/981123.html#dhtmllib
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7. NEW BOOKS: DHTML for the World Wide Web, Dynamic HTML Unleashed
The number of DHTML books is growing rapidly, which shows its increasing popularity. Last time we mentioned Scott Isaac's fine Inside DHTML book, that covers IE4 DHTML.
http://www.webreference.com/new/981123.html#dhtmllib
Here are some other DHTML books I recommend:
>DHTML for the World Wide Web
This small visual quickstart guide from Peachpit is the best introductory DHTML book I've read. It focuses on the areas where Netscape and Explorer overlap (CSS, JavaScript 1.2, and CSS-P) to create cross-browsr DHTML. The author boils down DHTML to the essentials and takes you step by step through creating simple popups, animations, and draggable elements. The CSS quick reference shows which CSS/P features are supported on CSS-capable browsers, and is worth the price of the book alone.
DHTML for the World Wide Web Jason Cranford Teague Peachpit Press, 1998. $17.95. ISBN: 0-201-35341-5
http://www.webbedenvironments.com/dhtml/
>Dynamic HTML Unleashed, 2nd Edition
Like DHTML itself, DHTML Unleashed is a collective effort of a number of DHTML experts, including our own Peter Belesis and Stephanos Piperoglou, plus Rick Darnell and Jeff Rouyer and many others. This book is a more advanced DHTML book that covers practically every aspect of DHTML. The level of how-to help stays high with individual authors tag-teaming the various aspects of DHTML.
Dynamic HTML Unleashed, 2nd Edition Rick Darnell, et. al. Sams.net, 1998. $39.99. ISBN: 1-57521-353-2
http://www.htmlguru.com http://www.mcp.com/info
>DHTML - The Definitive Guide
Danny Goodman's excellent reference book is a must-have if you're working with DHTML. Reviewed previously at:
http://www.webreference.com/new/980817.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8. OTHER VOICES: Navigation 101, Java Database Connectivity, Perl Diving
>Navigation 101
A simple, understandable navigation scheme can increase traffic, and boost return visits. Learn how from the WDVL. By Charlie Morris. http://wdvl.com/Location/Navigation/101/
>Perl Diving: Intro to CGI Using Perl - Lesson One
To learn CGI, you need to speak the language. For your first lesson, Webmonkey presents the basics of Perl, a popular CGI programming language. http://www.hotwired.com/webmonkey/98/47/index2a.html
>Java Database Connectivity
JDBC provides a standard interface, supported by a large set of drivers, which you can use regardless of what database is being used in the backend. By Selena Sol. http://WDVL.com/Authoring/DB/Intro/jdbc.html
That's it for this week, see you next time.
Andrew King Managing Editor, WebReference.com update@webreference.com
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