I'm just beginning to come to terms with the issues surrounding the QT DirectX
plugin for the new IE browsers. One issue that has been discussed on the list
is whether to script the <OBJECT> tag for all of your QT content, or for just
one that will prompt your site's users to download the plugin, which will then
enable all other <EMBED> tags for the users' browser. I had another related
question, which is, do you really have to code ALL of the <EMBED> parameters
for your <OBJECT> tag? This can be important if you have a panorama with 105
hot spots. Well, I've found the answer is, yes you do. If the QT DirectX
plugin encounters an <OBJECT> tag, it will march to its orders and completely
ignore the <EMBED> tag it nested within it.
As to this "to script or not to script" the <OBJECT> tag question, I found that
the QT Tag Converter, a $25 SuperCard application recommended recently to the
list, makes the question moot. It can reliably recode a whole folder QuickTime
web pages with a single click. I had a complaint about the way the program
worked that I emailed to the author on Sunday and he had a fix on Monday
morning. I've already gotten my money's worth on that one. Now my plan is to
just script <EMBED> tags as I always have and then run QT Tag Converter on the
pages before posting to my web sites--and feel like I'm thumbing my nose at
Bill Gates when I do it! Check out this program at
http://www.retiariusenterprises.com/products/index.html.
Another issue is the DirectX plugin and Javascript. This was discussed in an
earlier exchange on the list:
>> With the new ActiveX Component from Apple, will this
>> allow us to now use javascript to script Quicktime for
>> IE like we can for Netscape?
>Unfortunately not. The new Active X Plugin is not scriptable at all.
>Here is what Apple told me:
>
>>> The simple answer is that the first version of the ActiveX control does not
>>> have any JavaScript control. The ActiveX control will support the same
>>> JavaScript methods as the Netscape plug-in (running in Netscape) as soon as
>>> we can get the work done. It's likely to be in the next release.
-------------------------
I'm not sure if this is refering to the same technical issue or not, but I have
found that call-outs to Javascript with QT hot spots does work at least in the
following special case. I used Javascript to get a pop-up window to come up
from a hot spot click. I adapted this Javascript routine from Steve Gulie's
QuickTime for the Web:
<script language="JavaScript"><!--
function openmovie(url) {
moviewin =
window.open(url,"movie",'toolbar=0,location=0,directories=0,status=0,menubar=0,scrollbars=1,resizable=1,width=600,height=400');
moviewin.focus();
}
// --></script>
Then used it with hot spots in my embed tag:
<embed src="QTVR/WinterCountSml.mov" width="600" height="136" controller="true"
hotspot1="javascript:openmovie('1798.html')"
hotspot2="javascript:openmovie('1799.html')">
This worked flawlessly in IE 5.5 SP and 6.0 with the DirectX plugin. It also
worked with the <OBJECT> tag code added:
<OBJECT CLASSID="clsid:02BF25D5-8C17-4B23-BC80-D3488ABDDC6B" height="136"
width="600" CODEBASE="http://www.apple.com/qtactivex/qtplugin.cab";>
<param name="src" value="QTVR/WinterCountSml.mov">
<param name="controller" value="true">
<param name="hotspot1" value="javascript:openmovie('1798.html')">
<param name="hotspot2" value="javascript:openmovie('1799.html')">
<embed src="QTVR/WinterCountSml.mov" width="600" height="136" controller="true"
hotspot1="javascript:openmovie('1798.html')"
hotspot2="javascript:openmovie('1799.html')">
</EMBED>
</OBJECT>
I can't tell if this is working because Apple has updated the QT DirectX plugin
or not. I checked it out in a University computer lab this weekend. If anyone
wishes to check it out, go to
http://markshir.home.texas.net/WinterCount/WCPanoSml.html. Please keep in mind
that this is an unpublished web site on my personal ISP account that I placed
there as a "proof of concept" for the National Museum of the American Indian.
Only the first 10 hot spots (out of 105) are active in the panorama "timeline"
at the bottom of the page.
--Mark Christal
