HotSpots Editor

The HotSpots Editor is a tool integrated into DHTML Menu Builder that automates the process of implementing the menus in the files of your web site.

There are two basic steps performed by the HotSpots Editor:

• The addition of the loader code
  The loader code is a series of JavaScript instructions used by the browser to locate the .js file(s) containing the menus. These files contain all the information about your menus plus the code necessary to make them work.
• The addition of the trigger code
  The trigger code is the code that is placed on your hotspots, and enabling them to respond to mouse actions and display the menus. Without this code, your hotspots would not be able to detect when the mouse was over them.

To access the HotSpots Editor use either of following methods:

• From the Tools menu, click HotSpots Editor
• Click the HotSpots Editor icon on the toolbar

Attaching the Groups

The process of attaching a group to a hotspot is very simple:

• Select the hotspot from the list of available hotspots.
• Select the group you want to attach from the list of groups.
• Select the alignment.
• If the selected hotspot is an image you will be able to change the image name. In order to enable support for auto-alignment of the menus, the images must have a name.
• If the selected hotspot is text, the x,y (left and top) coordinates of where you want your menu to be displayed has to be specified. Since manually obtaining the best x,y position can be a tedious job, you can use the Active Text feature. This converts the text-based hotspot into an active element that supports auto-relative positioning, just like image-based hotspots do. This means that DHTML Menu Builder will be able to determine from the browser for the exact position of the hotspot when the web page is loaded and and automatically align the menu to the hotspot. This will occur accurately even if the position of the hotspot changes when the browser window is resized.

Repeat the above steps for all your groups.

Installing the loader code when using frames

If your hotspots are located in one frame and your menus are shown in another, each document loaded in the frame where the menus are to be displayed must contain an additional loader code that loads a special file created by DHTML Menu Builder.

This is done using a tool integrated into DHTML Menu Builder. After you commit your changes in the HotSpots Editor, DHTML Menu Builder will automatically display a dialog to let you add files that need this loader code. You should add all the documents that will be displayed in the frame that displays the menus. After clicking the Install button DHTML Menu Builder will scan all the added files and add the required loader code.