Class MacaoObject

The class MacaoObject is the base class for every object displayed in a page. It implements basic functionality as displaying, positioning, sizing and event handling.

Because it is the basic interface to the browser's objects, it contains the majority of the browser specific code (even if there is not much brwoser specific code).

To use more complex functionality as walking and talking include the package dynamic in the page. This will extend MacaoObject with the methods and properties of the MacaoObject defined in that package.

Use this constructor to create new objects at your page.

Parameters

name: Provide the name of the new object. This name is used for the internal handling of the object and is not displayed to the user. You can use the name to send events to the object. The name has to fit the rules for building variable names in JavaScript. There can't be more than one object with the same name on the same page. If there is already one object with this name on the page, the name will be automatically extended by a number. The name you provided by this parameter is stored in the type property. Use the method getName() to check, if the name has been extended by a number. The name is mandatory.
title: Provide the title of the object. Controllers use the title to display the object's name. The title is by default displayed as a tool tip, when you move the mouse over the object. If you don't want a tool tip to be displayed, use the method setToolTip() to clear the tool tip. See also getTitle().
The title is automatically added to the resources and received from the resources. The object name is used as the resource name. See also MacaoPage.getResource().
left: Provide the position of the left edge of the object.
top: Provide the position of the top edge of the object.

Use this method to activate or deactivate dragging for this object and to set dragging characteristics.

See also activateDrop(). If you use Drag and Drop, you should call the method MacaoPage.setPageSize() to limit the drag area for the user.

Parameters

active: If you set this parameter to true, the user can drag the object over the page. If you set this parameter to false, the dragging is deactivated for this object. By default dragging is turned off.
moveBack: If you set this parameter to true, the object is moved back to its start position after a drag operation. If you set this parameter to false, the object stays in its new location.
cssClassName: Provide the name of a cascading style sheet, if you want to change the style of the object during the drag operation. Provide null to don't change the style.

Call this method to activate or deactivate the drop functionality for this object.

If drop is activated, the object gets events, when the user drags an object over this object or drops an object to this object. See also activateDrag() and hearEvent().

Parameters

active: Set this parameter to true, in order to activate drop for this object. Set this parameter to false, in order to deactivate drop for this object. By default drop is set to false.
hiliteCssClassName: Provide the name of a CSS style class, which will be used for hiliting, when another object is dragged over this object. Set this parameter to null, if you don't want the object to be hilited. There is a style named "hiliteBorder" defined in the file macao.css, which you can use for this purpose.

Use this method to set the name of an object, which is accepted as controller by this object.

The concept of controllers is the following: A controller may broadcast a user input as an event to all objects. Each object gets the event including the name of the controller. If the controller is activated in the object, the event is accepted and executed by the receiving method. Otherwise the event is ignored by the method. If the controller name is set to null, the method call should be executed.
It's up to a method to use the controller logic or don't use it.
Methods that use this controller function are tryAction(), approchAndTryAction() and setSteeringIndex(). See also removeController(), isController() and notifyControllers().

Parameters

controllerObjectName: Provide the name of the object, which is to set as controller.

Sends an event to all objects of the sender's frame or to all objects of all frames.

Sending an event is similar to calling a method of a target object. The event system is finding the target object even if it's in another frame. If there is no fitting method at the target object, the event is not delivered and no error is raised. It's recommended to send an event to another object rather than calling a method directly.

See also sendEvent() and postEvent().

Parameters

eventType: Provide the name of the method, which is to be called by the event.
params: Provide an array with the parameters, which are to be used to call the target method. Set this parameter to null, if the target method needs no parameters.
toAllFrames: If this parameter is true, the event will be delivered to all objects in all frames. If the parameter is false, the event will be delivered to the objects in the sender's frame only.

This method creates the DIV element (= layer), which is used to display the object. There may be only one layer for each object. If there is already a layer for this object, the existing layer is returned. See also getLayer().

Returns

Returns the created or already existing layer.

Use this method to create a look and add it to the list of looks, which is maintained by the object.

There can only be one look with the same name at an object. If you try to add another look with the same name, an error message is displayed.

Looks are used to preload images and to predefine HTML to display. Preloaded images are displayed immediately when the look is set as the actual look. Use the method setActualLook() to display the added look. See also hasLook(), getLook() and setActualLook() and getActualLook().

If there is not already a look displayed for this object, the look you provide will be displayed. If there is already a look displayed, the display of the object stays unchanged. It's recommended to add all the looks to an object during the opening of the page.

The parameters deltaLeft and deltaTop assume, that your object has a standard size. If this image has another size than the standard size, the object possibly has to be shifted to display this image in the right position. To shift the object to the right position set the parameters deltaLeft and deltaTop. The delta values will be maintained. So if the delta values of the next object are 0, the object will be shifted back.

Parameters

name: Provide the name of the look. The name has fit to the rules for building JavaScript variable names.
imageSource: Provide the URL of the image, which is to be displayed by the look. The URL has to be relative to the base path. See MacaoPage.basePath. Set this parameter to null, if you want the look to display text or HTML.
baseWidth: Provide the width of the image in pixels. You can provide a different value than the image's real width to resize the image by default. Provide 0, if you don't specify an imageSource.
baseHeight: Provide the height of the image in pixels. You can provide a different value than the image's real height to resize the image by default. Provide 0, if you don't specify an imageSource.
deltaLeft: Provide the shift of the object in x-direction. Provide 0, if the object doesn't need to be shifted relative to the standard object left position.
deltaTop: Provide the shift of the object in y-direction. Provide 0, if the object doesn't need to be shifted relative to the standard object top position.
html: Provide the HTML, which is to be displayed as the look's content. Provide null, if the look has to display the image instead.


Returns

The method returns the new look object. It returns null, if a look with this name was already added.

This method displays the basic measures of this object in the browser's status bar.

By default this method is called, when you hold down the shift and the control key and click on an object.

This method returns the name of the look, which is currently displayed.

Use getLook() to get the look itself. See also setActualLook().

Returns

Returns the name of the look, which is currently displayed. Returns null, if no look is displayed.

Gets the information, if collision check is turned on for this object.

See also setCollisionCheck().

Returns

Return true, if the collision check is activated for this object. Else returns false.

Gets the object layer's cascading stylesheet class name.

See also setCssClassName().

Returns

Returns the name of the CSS class of the layer. Returns null, if there is no CSS class set.

Gets the name of the frame, where the object is in.

The name of a frame is set when defining a frameset. If you don't use a frameset, you can define the frame name by setting window.name.

Returns

The name of the frame in which the object resides.

Gets the current height of the object.

See also getWidth() and setZoom().

Returns

Returns the current height of the object in pixels. If the object has no layer, the method returns 0.

The method return the DIV object, which is used to display the object. The DIV object is part of the HTML DOM (Document Object Model).

Normally you should use the methods createLook() and setActualLook() or setImage() and setHtml() to modify the content of the layer. If you need to maintain special dynamic html, you may access the layer directly. The layer is automatically created when an image, HTML or a look is added to the object. If you want to access the layer directly without using one of those methods, you have to call the method createLayer() to create the layer. There is only support for one layer per object.

The DIV object contains sub-DIV objects, one for each look. Only one of the sub-DIVs is visible at a time.

If a sub-Div is displayed, which consists of an image, the property image of the DIV object keeps a reference to the image. The div object also contains the event handlers used to forward the ui-events to the object.

Returns

The DIV element used to display the object or null if the layer isn't already created.

The method returns the position of the left edge of the object.

Returns

Returns the position of the left edge of the object in pixels.

Use this method to retrieve a look, which was previously added to the object.

See also createLook().

Parameters

lookName: The name of the look you are looking for.


Returns

Returns the specified look of null, if no look with this name has been added to the object.

Gets the name of the object. The name can be used to reach the object using events.

There must only be one object with the same name on a page. If you create more than one object with the same name, a number will automatically extend the name. You can get the original name using the method getType().

Returns

Returns the name of the object.

Use this method to get the title of the object. See also setTitle().

Returns

Returns the title of the object.

This method returns the position of the top edge of the object.

Returns

Returns the position of the top edge of the object in pixels.

Gets the type of the object.

See also setType().

Returns

Returns the type of the object.

Gets the visibility of the object's layer.

See also setVisibility().

Returns

Returns true if the layer is visible. Returns false if the layer is hidden.

Gets the current width of the object.

See also getHeight() and setZoom().

Returns

Returns the current width of the object in pixels. If the object has no layer, the method returns 0.

Gets the z-index of the object's layer.

The z-index controls, which layer covers which other layer. See also setZIndex().

Returns

Returns the z-index of the layer.

Gets the current zoom factor.

See also setZoom().

Returns

Returns the zoom factor.

Use this method to test, if a look with the specified name has been added to the object.

See also createLook().

Parameters

lookName: The name of the look you are looking for.


Returns

Returns true, if a look with this name is added to the object. Else returns false.

This method initializes the properties of the object. If the package dynamic is loaded into the page, this method also calls the method initDynamic().

The initObject() method creates the array objects for the properties. If you create a MacaoObject or another object of a standard class, the constructor automatically calls this method. But if you implement your own class subclassing a standard class, you have to call this method yourself. In this case you should implement your own init method, which initializes your properties and calls this method. Call your own init method in the constructor of your own class.

Parameters

name: Provide the name of the new object. This name is used for the internal handling of the object and not displayed to the user. You can use the name to send events to the object. There can only be one object with the same name on a page. The name has to fit the rules for building variable names in JavaScript. There can't be more than one object with the same name on the same page. If there is already one object with this name on the page, the name will be automatically extended by a number. The name you provided by this parameter is stored in the type property. Use the method getName() to check, if a number has extended the name.
title: Provide the title of the object. Controllers use the title to display the name of the object. The title is by default displayed as a tool tip, when you move the mouse over the object. If you don't want a tool tip to be displayed, use the method setToolTip() to clear the tool tip. See also getTitle().
left: Provide the position of the left edge of the object.
top: Provide the position of the top edge of the object.

Use this method to test, if another object is accepted as controller by this object.

See also addController() and removeController().

Parameters

controllerObjectName: Provide the name of the object, which is to be tested.


Returns

Returns true, if the object is accepted as controller by this object. Otherwise returns false.

Call this method to check, if this object can be dragged by the user.

See also activateDrag().

Returns

Returns true, if the object can be dragged.

Call this method to check, if the object is currently being dragged.

See also activateDrag().

Returns

Returns true, if the object is being dragged by the user.

Call this method to check, if Drop is activated for this object.

See also activateDrop().

Returns

Returns true, if Drop is activated. Else returns false.

This method controls, if another object may be dropped to this object.

You can override this method to change the selection, which objects may be dropped to this object. The default implementation returns true, if drop is activated for this object. See also activateDrop(). When the user drops the other object to this object, the event handler onDrop() is called.

Parameters

forObject: This parameter provides the other object, which the user currently drags over this object.


Returns

Return true, if the object may be dropped. Return false, if the other object may not be dropped to this object.

This method moves the object to a position on the page immediately.

Parameters

left: Provide the left position of the object relative to the page in pixels. The position may be a floating-point value to position slow moving objects.
top: Provide the top position of the object relative to the page in pixels. The position may be a floating-point value to position slow moving objects.

This method moves the object so that it is horizontally and vertically centred in the frame where the page is displayed in.

The method moves the object not the page. It is used to centre popups such like splash screens.

Call this method to send a notification to all controllers, which are registered to this object.

The notification is send to all objects, which are registered to this object using the method addController(). A controller, which has to receive this notification, has to implement the method receiveNotification(senderObject, notificationType, param). The receiving method has to filter the calls with the required notification type and may react to the notification. The parameter senderObject is the MacaoObject, which sent the notification.

For example you have a controller, which has to display the velocity of an object. First you have to register the controller to the controlled object by calling addController(). When the velocity of an object changes, it sends a notification of the type velocityChanged to all its controllers. The described controller implements the method receiveNotification(). It tests the notification type, gets the velocity from the senderObject and displays it.

Parameters

notificationType: Provide a type of notification, which the controller knows.
param: You can provide an optional parameter, which is expected with the provided notification type.

This event handler is called when the user clicks on the object.

You may override this method to implement your own event handler. But keep in mind , that the standard functionality is implemented by this event handler. If you don't need the coordinates of the click, you should better add a MacaoTalkItem to respond to the click instead. See addTalkItem().

The standard functionality of this event handler displays the position and the measures of the object in the status bar when the user holds down the shift and the control key and clicks on the object.

Parameters

event: The browser's event object.
mouseX: The mouse's x coordinate relative to the object.
mouseY: The mouse's y coordinate relative to the object.

This event handler is called when another object is clicked.

You may implement this method to respond to that event. In the package dynamic this handler is implemented to let the object the clicked object.

Parameters

objectName: The name of the object that was clicked.
event: The browser's event object.
mouseX: The mouse's x coordinate relative to the object.
mouseY: The mouse's y coordinate relative to the object.

This event handler is called, when the user clicks at an item in a MacaoInventory.

You may implement this event handler to respond to that event.

Parameters

itemName: The name of the item, which has been clicked.
itemTitle: The title of the item, which has been clicked.

This event handler is called, when the mouse is clicked in any frame.

You may implement this handler. In the package dynamic this handler is implemented to let the object approach the mouse click position.

Parameters

event: The browser's ui-event, that caused this event.
mouseX: The x-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
mouseY: The y-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
frameName: The name of the frame, in which the event was raised.

This event handler is called when the object starts colliding with another object.

You may implement this event handler to get the event. See also setCollisionCheck().

Parameters

objectName: The name of the object, which this object is overlapping.

This event handler is called, when the object ends colliding with another object.

You may implement this event handler to get the event. See also setCollisionCheck().

Parameters

objectName: The name of the object, which this object was overlapping.

This event handler is called when the user double clicks on the object.

You may implement this method to respond to that event.

Parameters

event: The browser's event object.
mouseX: The mouse's x coordinate relative to the object.
mouseY: The mouse's y coordinate relative to the object.

This event handler is called when another object is double clicked.

You may implement this method to respond to that event.

Parameters

objectName: The name of the object that was double clicked.
event: The browser's event object.
mouseX: The mouse's x coordinate relative to the object.
mouseY: The mouse's y coordinate relative to the object.

This event handler is called, when the mouse is double clicked in any frame.

You may implement this handler. There is no default implementation.

Parameters

event: The browser's ui event, that caused this event.
mouseX: The x-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
mouseY: The y-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
frameName: The name of the frame, in which the event was raised.

This method is called, when the user ends to drag this object.

You may implement this handler. There is no default implementation.

Parameters

event: The browser's ui event, which caused this event.
mouseX: The x-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
mouseY: The y-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.

This method is called, when the user drags this object out from over another object.

You may implement this handler. There is no default implementation.

See also the method isDropAllowed(). It controlls, which object may be dropped.

Parameters

event: The browser's ui event, which caused this event.
mouseX: The x-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
mouseY: The y-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
otherObject: The other object.

This method is called, when the user drags this object over another object to which it can be dropped.

You may implement this handler. There is no default implementation.

See also the method isDropAllowed(). It controlls, which object may be dropped.

Parameters

event: The browser's ui event, which caused this event.
mouseX: The x-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
mouseY: The y-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
otherObject: The other object to which this object may be dropped.

This method is called, when the user starts to drag this object.

You may implement this handler. There is no default implementation.

Parameters

event: The browser's ui event, which caused this event.
mouseX: The x-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
mouseY: The y-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.

This method is called, when the user drops another object to this object.

You may implement this handler. There is no default implementation.

See also the method isDropAllowed(). It controlls, which object may be dropped.

Parameters

event: The browser's ui event, which caused this event.
mouseX: The x-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
mouseY: The y-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
toObject: The other object, to which this object is dropped.

This event handler is called, when a key goes down on window level.

You may implement this handler. There is no default implementation.

Parameters

event: The browser's ui event, that caused this event.
keyCode: The key code. You may use the JavaScript function fromCharCode() to convert the code to a character.
shiftKey: This parameter is true, if a shift key is hold down. Else it's false.
altKey: This parameter is true, if an alt key is hold down. Else it's false.
ctrlKey: This parameter is true, if a control key is hold down. Else it's false.
frameName: The name of the frame, in which the event was raised.

This event handler is called, when a key is pressed on window level.

You may implement this handler. There is no default implementation.

Parameters

event: The browser's ui event, that caused this event.
keyCode: The key code. You may use the JavaScript function fromCharCode() to convert the code to a character.
shiftKey: This parameter is true, if a shift key is hold down. Else it's false.
altKey: This parameter is true, if an alt key is hold down. Else it's false.
ctrlKey: This parameter is true, if a control key is hold down. Else it's false.
frameName: The name of the frame, in which the event was raised.

This event handler is called, when a key goes up on window level.

You may implement this handler. There is no default implementation.

Parameters

event: The browser's ui event, that caused this event.
keyCode: The key code. You may use the JavaScript function fromCharCode() to convert the code to a character.
shiftKey: This parameter is true, if a shift key is hold down. Else it's false.
altKey: This parameter is true, if an alt key is hold down. Else it's false.
ctrlKey: This parameter is true, if a control key is hold down. Else it's false.
frameName: The name of the frame, in which the event was raised.

This method is called when the page's loading is complete.

You may implement this handler. There is no default implementation.

Parameters

event: The browser's ui-event, that caused this event.

This event handler is called when the mouse button goes down on the object.

You may override this method to implement your own event handler. But keep in mind that the standard functionality is implemented by this event handler. If you don't need the coordinates of the click, you should better add a MacaoTalkItem to respond to the click instead. See addTalkItem().

The standard implementation of this event handler initiates the dragging of the object. If dragging is set active to this object or the shift and the control keys are pressed, the object starts dragging. See also activateDrag().

Parameters

event: The browser's event object.
mouseX: The mouse's x coordinate relative to the object.
mouseY: The mouse's y coordinate relative to the object.

This event handler is called, when the mouse button goes down in any frame.

You may implement this handler. There is no default implementation.

Parameters

event: The browser's ui event, that caused this event.
mouseX: The x-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
mouseY: The y-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
frameName: The name of the frame, in which the event was raised.

This event handler is called when the user moves the mouse pointer over the object.

You may override this method to implement your own event handler. But keep in mind that the standard functionality is implemented by this event handler.

The standard implementation moves the object when the object is being dragged. See also activateDrag().

Parameters

event: The browser's event object.
mouseX: The mouse's x coordinate relative to the object.
mouseY: The mouse's y coordinate relative to the object.

This event handler is called when the user removes the mouse pointer from over the object.

You may implement this method to respond to that event.

Parameters

event: The browser's event object.
mouseX: The mouse's x coordinate relative to the object.
mouseY: The mouse's y coordinate relative to the object.

This event handler is called when the user moves the mouse pointer over the object.

You may implement this method to respond to that event.

Parameters

event: The browser's event object.
mouseX: The mouse's x coordinate relative to the object.
mouseY: The mouse's y coordinate relative to the object.

This event handler is called when the mouse button goes up on the object.

You may override this method to implement your own event handler. But keep in mind that the standard functionality is implemented by this event handler.

The standard implementation of this event handler ends a dragging operation and starts the drop operation when dragging and dropping is activated for this object. See activateDrag() and activateDrop().

Parameters

event: The browser's event object.
mouseX: The mouse's x coordinate relative to the object.
mouseY: The mouse's y coordinate relative to the object.

This event handler is called, when the mouse button goes up in any frame.

You may implement this handler. There is no default implementation.

Parameters

event: The browser's ui-event, that caused this event.
mouseX: The x-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
mouseY: The y-coordinate of the mouse relative to the page.
frameName: The name of the frame, in which the event was raised.

This method is called before the page is unloaded.

You may implement this handler. There is no default implementation.

Parameters

event: The browser's ui-event, that caused this event.

Opens a page in the defined frame.

It's recommended to open a page by using this method rather than by assigning window.location. This method maintains the auto restore functionality for the objects on this page. It informs the opened page which its opener was. This method does the same as the global method openPage(). See also store(), restore(), setAutoRestore() and getOpenerPageName().

Parameters

pageURL: Provide the path and filename of the page relative to the basePath. The URL may contain parameters following the "?" character.
frameName: Provide the name of the frame to open the page in a specific frame. If you set this parameter to null, the page is opened in the current frame.
forceReload: Set this parameter to true to force the reload of the page. Set this parameter to false, if the page doesn't need to be reloaded. The URLs of the new page and the already loaded page are compared from the end. The parameters are not included in the comparison.

Sends an event to an object with a delay.

Posting an event is similar to calling a method of the target object. But the event is delayed. The event system is finding the target object even if it's in another frame. If there is no fitting method at the target object, the event is not delivered and no error is raised. An object may also send an event to itself to delay the execution of a method.

Every event is also delivered to the talk system. See addTalkItem().

See also sendEvent() and broadcastEvent().

Parameters

eventType: Provide the name of the method, which is to be called by the event.
params: Provide an array with the parameters, which will be used to call the target method. Set this parameter to null, if the target method needs no parameters.
delay: Provide the delay for the delivery of the event in milliseconds.
recipientName: Provide the name of the recipient object. Set this parameter to null to send the event to the sender object itself.
frameName: Provide the name of the frame, where the object resides in. Provide the frame name, if you have objects with the same name in different frames and you want to address a specific of them. Set the frame name, if the object is on a page of another frame and you are not sure, if the page in that frame is already loaded. If the page of the target frame is not fully loaded, the event will be buffered and send to the target object when the loading of the page has been completed. You can't use this functionality to buffer events to the actual frame. Set this parameter to null, if you don't need to address a specific frame.


Returns

Returns the event object, which is posted. Before the event has been delivered, you can prevent the delivery of the event by calling it's method disable().

Call this method to refresh the size of the image, which is used to display the object.

See also setZoom().

Use this method to remove the name of an object, which is accepted as controller by this object.

See also addController().

Parameters

controllerObjectName: Provide the name of the object to remove it as controller.

This method removes the object from the list of the objects. And it removes the layer of the object from the DOM of the page.

This method displays a bubble near the object, showing a text, which is "said" by the object.

The method forwards the request to the MacaoBubble object. It is recommended to add talk items to the object in order to let it say something, rather than call the method say directly. See also addTalkItem().

If there is already another object speaking using the bubble, then the display for this object is delayed until the previous sentences have been finished.

Parameters

text: Provide the text to be displayed in the bubble. Provide null, if you want to display HTML instead.
html: Provide HTML, if you want to control the appearance of the bubble. Otherwise provide text to the text parameter, and set this parameter to null.
imageSource: Provide the source of an image, if you want to display only an image in the bubble. Otherwise provide null. The URL has to be relative to the base path. See also setBasePath().
imageWidth: Provide the width of the image as base for zoom operations. Provide null, if there is no image source.
imageHeight: Provide the height of the image as base for zoom operations. Provide null, if there is no image source.
duration: Provide the duration of the display of the bubble in milliseconds. If you provide null or 0 and the bubble has to display text, the duration will be calculated automatically from the length of the text. If the bubble has to display HTML or an image, the bubble stays open, until you send the event "clear" to the bubble. See clear().
afterEventType: Provide the type of an event, which will be raised, when the display of the bubble has finished. The event will be send to this object. Provide null, if you don't need an event.
afterEventParams: Provide parameters for the above event. Provide null if the event has no parameters or you have not provided an event type.
cssClassName: Provide the CSS style class name, if you want the bubble displayed in a specific style. Provide null, if you want to use the standard style "Bubble", which is defined in the file macao.css.
lookName: Provide a look name, if you want this object to display a specific look while it speaks. Provide null, if you don't want to change the look or if you want to calculate the look for speaking automatically. See also createLook() and addLookBunch().

Scrolls the object into view.

The method scrolls the page so that the object comes into view. Call setScrollVisibleOptions() to set the characteristics for this action.

Sends an event to an object.

Sending an event is similar to calling a method of the target object. The event system is finding the target object, even if it's in another frame. If there is no fitting method at the target object, the event is not delivered and no error is raised. It's recommended to send an event to another object rather than calling a method directly.

Every event is also delivered to the talk system. See addTalkItem().

The following example hides the car object. Even the only parameter must be enclosed in an array.

this.sendEvent("setVisibility", [false], "car")

See also postEvent() and broadcastEvent().

Parameters

eventType: Provide the name of the method, which is to be called by the event.
params: Provide an array with the parameters, which are used to call the target method. Omit this parameter, if the target method needs no parameters.
recipientName: Provide the name of the recipient object. Set this parameter to null in order to send the event to the sender object itself.
frameName: Provide the name of the frame, where the object resides in. Provide the frame name if you have objects with the same name in different frames and you want to address a specific of them. Set the frame name, if the object is on a page of another frame and you are not sure, if the page in that frame is already loaded. If the page of the target frame is not fully loaded the event will be buffered and sent to the target object, when the loading of the page has been completed. You can't use this functionality to buffer events to the actual frame.
Set this parameter to null, if you don't need to address a specific frame.


Returns

Returns the return value of the called method. If the event is buffered or there is no fitting method, the return value will be null.

Use this method to display a look, which has been added to the object.

Use the method createLook() to add looks to the object. See also hasLook() and getActualLook().

Parameters

lookName: Provide the name of the look to display.
forceReload: If you set this parameter to false and the look is the same as the previous actual look, the display will not be refreshed. Set this parameter to true, if you want to refresh the display, even if the look is the same as before.

Sets the base size of the object. The base size is used for calculating the zoom size.

You may set the base size to null to clear it. In this case the base size is got from the image itself. But this may fail, if the image is not already loaded. See also setZoom().

Parameters

baseWidth: Provide the base width of the object. You may set this to null to clear the base size.
baseHeight: Provide the base height of the object. You may set this to null to clear the base size.

Activates or deactivates the collision check of the object.

When the collision check is activated, the object receives onCollisionOver() and onCollisionOut() events when the object is overlapping another object whose collision check is also activated. See also getCollisionCheck().

Parameters

active: Set this parameter to true to activate the collision check. Set it to false to deactivate the collision check.

Set the name of the object layers cascading stylesheet class.

See also getCssClassName().

Parameters

cssClassName: Provide the name of the CSS class. Set the class name to null in order to clear the CSS class.

Call this method to activate the forwarding of mouse events to the underlying objects.

If you activate the forwarding of mouse events, the object will ignore its own mouse events. The events are forwarded to the next object, which is lying below this object. Or the events are ignored, if there is no other object below this. This behaviour is useful for character objects, which are controlled by the user. So the object will not cover other objects. By default this behaviour is off.

This property doesn't affect the tool tip. If you don't want the tool tip of the object to be displayed, call setToolTip(null).

Parameters

active: Set this parameter to true to activate the forwarding. Set the parameter to false, to deactivate it.

This method sets HTML to the layer.

If the object hasn't already a layer, the layer will be created. The method replaces the HTML, which was previously displayed in the layer. See also createLayer(), setImage() and clearHtml().

Parameters

html: Provide the HTML, which is to be set to the layer.

Sets an image to the object.

If you used setImage() before to set an image, the image is replaced by this image.

It is recommended to use looks to maintain the images for an object rather than loading them direct by setImage(). See createLook() and setActualLook().

The parameters deltaLeft and deltaTop assume, that your object has a standard size. If this image has another size than the standard size, the object possibly has to be shifted to display this image in the right position. To shift the object to the right position set the parameters deltaLeft and deltaTop. The delta values will be maintained. So if the delta values of the next object are 0, the object will be shifted back.

Parameters

imageSource: Provide the URL of the image relative to the base path. See MacaoPage.basePath.
baseWidth: Provide the width of the image in pixels. You can provide a different value than the image's real width to resize the image by default.
baseHeight: Provide the height of the image in pixels. You can provide a different value than the image's real height to resize the image by default.
deltaLeft: Provide the shift of the object in x direction. Provide 0, if the object doesn't nee to be shifted relative to the standard object left position.
deltaTop: Provide the shift of the object in y direction. Provide 0, if the object doesn't need to be shifted relative to the standard object top position.

Sets the characteristics for scrolling an object into view.

See also scrollVisible().

Parameters

autoScroll: If you set this parameter to true, the object is checked at each move, if it is still in the visible area of the page. If it is not in the visible area, the page is scrolled to display the object. Set this parameter to false in order to disable this check. By default this is turned off.
borderDistance: Defines the minimum distance between the object and the border of the window, when scrolling the object into view. By default the value is 20 pixels.

This method sets the title of the object. The title is used for displays to the user. See also getTitle().

This method doesn't change the content of the tool tip. Use the method setToolTip() instead.

Parameters

title: Provide the title of the object.

The method sets the content of tool tip of the object. The tool tip is displayed when the user places the mouse pointer over the object. By default the title of the object is set as the tool tip content.

Parameters

toolTip: Provide the text of the tool tip. Set this parameter to null, if you want to disable the tool tip.

Sets the type of the object. Initially the type is set by the name of the object.

If you create more than one object with the same name, there will automatically assigned different names. But the original name is kept as the type. You may use the type property to identify a group of objects of the same type to handle them in the same manner. At the moment there is no special support for groups of objects of the same type except the maintaining of this property. See also getType().

Parameters

type: Provide the type of the object. The type has to fit the rules for building JavaScript variable names.

Sets the visibility of the object's layer.

You can set this property before creating the layer to determine if the layer will be visible. See also getVisibility().

Parameters

visibility: Set true to display the layer or false to hide the layer.

Sets the z-index of the object's layer.

The z-index controls, which layer covers which other layer. See also getZIndex()., toFront() and toBack().

Parameters

zIndex: Provide the z-index, which is to be set to the layer.

The method sets the zoom factor for the current object.

Zooming an object is currently supported for images only. So if you set HTML to the object by calling setHtml() or set a look containing HTML, setting the zoom factor will have no effect.

Setting the zoom factor changes the size of the currently displayed image. The new size of the image is calculated by the base size and the zoom factor. The base size of the object can be defined by the method setBaseSize() or setImage() when creating a look containing an image. See also MacaoLook(), refreshZoom() and getZoom().

Parameters

zoomFactor: Provide the zoom factor to change the size of the current object. The default zoom factor is 1.

This method drops the object behind each other on the page.

See also toFront() and setZIndex().

Returns

Returns the new z-index of the layer.

This method raises the object above each other object on the page.

See also toBack() and setZIndex().

Returns

Returns the new z-index of the layer.