RE: [DQSD-Devel] On the uses of banner/logo

[Shawn K. Hall]

Hello all,

I apologize in advance for the HTML email, I felt it was necessary to convey the message.


> Ok. I dug in and built a search that essentially treats the
> banner/logo as a toggle between "buttons" and the search box.
> ...
> It's not without bugs, though. :\

Fixed 'em all, I think (I was using nullArgs incorrectly, mostly). I also cleaned up the code a bit to make it easier to work with. This is the extent of the code for my 'floax' search (excluding the variable in prefs, shown further below):

'// ========================================================
  function floax (q)
  {
    if ( toggleDisplayIsToggled() ) {
      toggleDisplay('');
      return false;

    } else {
    //format the view-port
      var floaxs = "";
      for (var i = 0; i < floaxButtons.length; i++) {
        floaxs += "<img width=16 height=16";
        floaxs += " src=''";
        floaxs += " title='"   + floaxButtons[i][1] + "'";
        floaxs += " >        floaxs += floaxButtons[i][2] + "';def();\"";
        floaxs += " />\n ";
      }
      toggleDisplay( floaxs );

      return false;
    }
  }
'// ========================================================

I've got it setup on my system to do the following (including the banner/logo setting for 'floax'):

'// ========================================================
bannerlink="floax";

var floaxButtons = Array(
  Array('ra.png', 'Visit RA', 'http://ReliableAnswers.com/'),
  Array('reg.png', 'Google [Clipboard]', 'vbsx gg ClipboardGetText'),
  Array('faq.png', 'ASPFAQ [Clipboard]', 'vbsx aspfaq ClipboardGetText'),
  Array('dqsd.gif', 'Visit DQSD', 'http://www.dqsd.net/'),
  Array('yahoo!.png', 'YG Ban-Bot [Clipboard]', 'vbsx banyg ClipboardGetText'),
  Array('ftp.png', 'Look up [Clipboard] in Dictionary', 'vbsx dic ClipboardGetText'),
  Array('savenet.jpg', 'Browse Webs \(W:\)', 'expw'),
  Array('vbs.png', 'Copy Source', 'vbsx :document.body.outerHTML' )
); // Array( button, title, function)
'// ========================================================

And here's a couple pics of what it looks like both 'before' and 'after':

Before:

After:



And now for the big question - what do you all think? Is this something that you think would be used? I ask primarily because it *does* require changes to the search.htm to include the following (in the scripts area):

'// ========================================================

// toggleView: allows direct access to the toggled viewport object when open
var toggleView;

// toggleDisplayIsToggled: returns a boolean indicating if the display is in
//                         the default state (false) or toggled state (true)
function toggleDisplayIsToggled() {
  var t = document.getElementById("defft");
  if ( t.style.display == '' ){
    return true;
  } else {
    return false;
  }
}

// toggleDisplay: toggles the viewport between 'normal' view and the viewport
//       this function takes one argument, which if passed, will be used to
//       set the contents of the viewport. If not passed or empty it will
//       reset the view to 'normal'.
function toggleDisplay( contents ){
  //set a reference to the toggleView-port
  //this is necessary for direct search access, assuming you'd want to
  toggleView = document.getElementById("defft");
  var obj;
  if (typeof contents == "undefined") {contents = ''}
  if (contents == '' ) {
  //show default
    toggleView.style.display ='none';
    obj = document.deff.q;
    obj.style.display        ='';
    obj = document.deff.gobutton;
    obj.style.display        ='';

  } else {
  //show toggleView
    toggleView.style.display ='';
    toggleView.innerHTML     =contents;
    obj = document.deff.q;
    obj.style.display        ='none';
    obj = document.deff.gobutton;
    obj.style.display        ='none';

  }
}
'// ========================================================

...and (right below the banner/logo img tag)...

'// ========================================================
      <span id="defft" style="display: none;"
       
       
        >
      </span>
      <nobr>
'// ========================================================

Any input/thoughts on these changes?

Myself, I think it's possible I could get rid of several icons in my 'quick launch' bar and use this instead. If I didn't have - well, I guess, 62 icons - in there I think it would be entirely feasible for users of DQSD to close the quick launch toolbar and use this exposed tool instead. :)

And again - I'm VERY sorry for the HTML email (I hate it myself). Please forgive me. ;)

Regards,

Shawn K. Hall
http://ReliableAnswers.com/

'// ========================================================
    His men would follow him anywhere,
    but only out of morbid curiosity.

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