# Special Applet Attributes

There are six special attributes that can be used for customizing the applet window during downloading of an applet. (Note: The same applies to a JavaBeans component.) This section discusses:

- The default appearance of the applet window (no special attributes specified)
- The six special attributes
  - `image`
  - `progressbar`
  - `boxmessage`
  - `boxcolor`
  - `boxfgcolor`
  - `progresscolor`
- The order of attribute precedence
- The failure scenario, i.e., what happens when an applet does not download or run cleanly

## Note: These attributes currently work only with Netscape browsers. In the future they will be made to work with Internet Explorer as well.

## Default Appearance

When none of these tags are used, the default appearance of the applet window is as follows:

The animated coffee cup logo is placed in the upper left corner. Its dimensions are 24x24 pixels and it is located 6 pixels from the top and left sides of the applet window. If the entire size of the applet is less than 36x36 pixels, then it will not be displayed. The status bar will display "`Loading Java content...`" when the mouse points at the applet window.

## Special Attributes

## `image`

The `image` attribute allows you to replace the default coffee cup logo with a custom graphic. The format with the standard `APPLET` element is:

> `<APPLET ...>
> <PARAM name="image" = value="my_image.gif">
> </APPLET>`

See Using `OBJECT`, `EMBED` and `APPLET` Tags in Java Plug-in for how this would be mapped to the `OBJECT` or the `EMBED` tags.

If a custom graphic is specified, it should be the same size as the area of the applet window. If these sizes do not match, the graphic will be placed in the upper left corner of the area specified for applet. If it is larger than the applet window, part of it will get chopped off. If it is smaller than the applet window, white space will appear around it.

The image can be either a GIF or JPEG, and it should reside in the same directory where other resources for the applet reside; i.e., if the applet uses the `codebase` attribute, then this image should be in the `codebase` directory.

Note: The image file should not be in a packaged in a jar file with other applet resources, since the image needs to be displayed while downloading resources.

The status bar will display "`Loading Java content...`" when the mouse is pointed at the applet window.

## `progressbar`

With the `progressbar` attribute you can request display of a progress bar instead of the default graphic. The progress bar will horizontally fill the applet window up to 6 pixels to the right and left. The text "`Loading Java content...`" will appear above the progress bar and be left-aligned with it. By default the progress bar is purple. The format for turning on the progress bar with the standard `APPLET` element is:

> `<APPLET ...>
> <PARAM name="progressbar" value="true">
> </APPLET>`

The status bar will display "`Loading Java content...`" when the mouse is pointed at the applet window.

## `boxmessage`

With the `boxmessage` attribute you can customize the text that is displayed. If you use this attribute, the text will be used with the progress bar and with the status bar. The format for using this with the standard `APPLET` element is:

> `<APPLET ...>
> <PARAM name="boxmessage" value="<your custom message goes here">
> </APPLET>`

## `boxcolor, boxfgcolor, progresscolor`

These attributes can be used to customize colors in the applet window.

By default the applet window background color is gray. The attribute `boxcolor` can be used to specify a different background color. The format for use with the standard `APPLET` element is:

> `<APPLET ...>`
> `<PARAM name="boxcolor" value="<value>">
> ` `</APPLET>`

where `<value>` may be:

- any `Color` from `java.awt.Color`, or
- `r,g,b` where `r`, `g`, and `b` are integers in the range of `0-255` that would render an opaque standared RGB (sRGB) color in the `Color` constructor `Color(int r, int g, int b)`.

Examples: `value="cyan"`, `value="111,222,145"`, `value="33FF33"`

By default the applet window foreground color is black. (The applet window foreground color is used for messages that appear in the window and for the border of the progress bar.) The attribute `boxfgcolor` can be used to specify a different foreground color. The color values are the same as described above.

By default the progress bar fill color is purple. The attribute `progresscolor` can be used to specify a different fill color. The color values are the same as described above.

## Attribute Precedence

The order of precedence for these attributes is as follows:

1) If no parameters are provided, the default appearance described above is used.
2) If a custom graphic is specified via the `image` attribute, then the custom graphic will appear as described above under `image`.
3) If a progress bar is requested via the `progressbar` attribute, then the progress bar is displayed with the default text and color as described above under `progressbar`.
4) If custom text is provided via the `boxmessage` attribute, then the progress bar is displayed with the custom text as described above under `boxmessage`.

With any combination of `image`, `progressbar`, and `boxmessage` attributes, custom colors can always be provided via the `boxcolor`, `boxfgcolor`, and `progresscolor` attributes.

## Failure Scenario

If an applet does not download or run cleanly, the applet window will displays error information. The applet window will have a single pixel border using the foreground color, and a small "broken" graphic will occupy the upper left corner. The user can right-mouse click over the applet window to get a popup menu with an option to open the Java Console.