Re: Support for Mac OS browsers...

[Jonathan Callahan <callahan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

All,

One possibility for the malfunctioning of the LiveMap applet is that it still
uses the java 1.0.2 event mechanism.  Perhaps the newer Mac browsers do not
provide backwards compatibility for this.  Ironically, the reason we never
upgraded to the java 1.1 event model was because Netscape 4.? on macs never
supported the java 1.1 event mechanism.  If there are any interested parties
out there, you could check out the source code for the applet and some samples
of how to upgrade the event handling code.  It's only located in the topmost
layer(s?) of the code.

Instructions on using remote CVS to check out code are here:

 http://ferret.wrc.noaa.gov/Ferret/LAS/Documentation/manual/install.html#Downloading_LAS

The LiveMap code is in a top level directory called LiveMap_30 so you'll need
to

  cvs co LiveMap_30

A peek at the CVS logs will show that ealier versions of the top level code had
example 1.1 events commented out.


-- Jonathan Callahan


Joe Sirott wrote:

> Hi Roland,
>
> The real problem is that there are many browsers on many platforms that
> don't conform to standards for JavaScript or to the LIveConnect standards
> for interfacing JavaScript with Java.
>
> Version 6.1 of LAS has automatic "failover" where the browser will
> automatically redirect the user to a constraints page that doesn't use the
> applet (the equivalent of use_java=false) if the browser encounters
> problems. That will take care of many of the JavaScript/Java interaction
> problems on many browser/platform combinations. I'm not sure when this
> version will be released (I'm leaving the LAS group soon and am no longer
> involved in release decisions).
>
> At 12:17 PM 1/22/2003 -0700, Roland Schweitzer wrote:
> >Joe (and other that have responded),
> >
> >Thanks for the summary of your experiences using Mac OS browsers.
> >
> >On Wed, 22 Jan 2003, Joe Wielgosz wrote:
> >
> > > Roland, FYI, the way to disable the applet for a specific session is to
> > > start from the following page:
> > >       http://someserver/las/servlets/dataset?use_java=false
> > > instead of
> > >       http://someserver/las/servlets/dataset
> > > When you get to the constraint page,  you just get the text boxes, and
> > > the preset region menu, but no applet.
> >
> >Ok.  Thanks for the tip.
> >
> > >   Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems that the only platform/browser
> > > combinations that *can* handle this applet properly are Windows/IE or
> > > the obsolete Windows/Netscape 4.7.
> >
> >At home I use Windows XP and Netscape 7.0 which works quite well applet
> >and all.
> >
> > > Some suggestions:
> > >
> > > Maybe LAS should only try to serve the applet to clients that are
> > > running Windows?
> >
> >Seems pretty brute force.  All those folks in the "I switched" ads won't
> >be pleased that we're punting on trying to resolve the problem.
> >
> > > And in the long run, if the applet compatibility problems can't be
> > > solved, perhaps Javascript or even Flash/Shockwave, would work on a
> > > wider range of browsers?
> >
> >Either of those have their own problems, but it might be better.  Who
> >knows?
> >
> >Roland
> >
> >Roland Schweitzer
> >NOAA-CIRES Climate Diagnostics Center
> >325 Broadway (R/CDC1)
> >Boulder, CO 80305-3328
> >    .... (303) 497-6249 .... (303) 497-7013 FAX .... rhs@cdc.noaa.gov ....