Thursday, March 27, 2008

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Week #8

Today we're talking about design -- post up links to homework page which should link to your home page mockup (among other things) Also- lets go over the other homework, which was the javascript flyout menu and the single image CSS roll over menu.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

week #7


  • More Javascript

    1. Arrays, Review: A grouping of multiple values under the
      same name, for example you can have a variable called Beatles that
      contains all four band members.


      var beatles = Array(4);
      beatles[0] = "John";
      beatles[1] = "Paul";
      beatles[2] = "George";
      beatles[3] = "Ringo";

      the syntax is working like this:

      var name_of_array = Array(length);
      name_of_array[index] ="value_of_this_element";




      • An Element is a one of the values in an array.

      • The Length is the number of elements that you want the array
        to contain.

      • Populating is adding elements to an array.

      • The Index is where you specify the order of the array.



    2. Numeric Arrays have an incremental number index
      starting from 0, like the example above.

    3. Associative Arrays

      • Associative Array uses a string instead of a number for its
        index.

      • If you use an Associative Array you can reference elements by
        name instead of number.


        var beatles = Array(); // notice that the length can be left blank if you want
        beatles[vocalist] = "John";
        beatles[Rhythmguitar] = "Paul";
        beatles[bass] = "George";
        beatles[drummer] = "Ringo";





      • You can also create an Array to hold other arrays.



        var beatles = Array(); // notice that the length can be left blank if you want
        beatles[vocalist] = lennon;
        beatles[Rhythmguitar] = mccartney;
        beatles[bass] = harrison;
        beatles[drummer] = star;

        var lennon = Array();
        lennon[firstname] = "John"; //notice that the value of these elements can be
        lennon[birthyear] = 1940; //numbers
        lennon[living] = false; //or boolean values


      • Remember the example to play with




    4. Operations

      • Operations allow you to do calculations and manipulate data.

      • Operators are symbols that Javascript uses to perform operations.

      • We've been using (=) operator to perform assignments.

      • Arithmetic operators: Addition (+), Subtraction
        (-), Multiplication (*), Division (/)

      • Operations can be combined.

      • Operations can be used in
        a variable and performed
        on a variable.

      • Operations shortcuts:

        • (++) increases the value of a numeric variable by 1.

        • (--) decreases the value of a numeric variable by 1.

        • (+=) performs addition (or concatenation) and assignment
          at the same time.


          var year = 2005;
          var message = "the year is";
          message += year;

          alert (message);





      • Concatenations:

        • Concatenations join strings, numbers or variables together
          using the (+) operator.



          var mood = "happy";
          var message = "I am feeling"+mood;







    5. Conditional Statements

      • Javascript uses conditional statements to make decisions based
        on the criteria given. A conditional statement sets up a condition
        that must be evaluated before the rest of the script can be read.



        if (condition){
        statements;
        }

        for example:

        if (1>2) {
        alert("the world has gone made");
        }




      • The if statement is the most common. The condition
        is always going to be either true or false.

      • The if statement can be expanded using else.
        Statements inside of the else clause will be executed only when
        the if condition is false.


        if(1>2){
        alert("the world has gone mad!!!!! OMG!!!!");
        }
        else {
        alert("everything is fine, chill out");
        }




      • Comparison Operators: greater than (>),
        less than (<), greater than or equal to (>=), less than
        or equal to (<=), equality (==) and inequality (!=).

        • Check for equality the right way.

        • Don't try to check for equality the wrong way. Remember the = sign is
          used for assignments.

        • Check for inequality.



      • Operands: are operations combined in a conditional
        statement

      • Logical Operators: and (&&) and or
        (||)
        are used to combine operators, and not (!)
        is used to reverse the value of a statement. All three
        return Boolean values of either true or false.

        • The and operation (&&)
          will only be true if both operands are true.

        • The or operation (||)
          will be true if one of its operands is true or if both of
          its operands are true. It will be false only when both operands
          are false.

        • The not operation (!)
          works on a single operand and switches the returned value
          from true to false or false to true.





    6. Looping Statements

      • Looping is used to execute the same statement a number of times.
        The code with in the looping statement executes until the condition
        is no longer true.

      • while: the code within the curly braces will
        be executed until the condition is false. In this example the
        code will execute 10 times until the value of the count turns
        11 and the condition becomes false. If nothing happens to affect
        the condition the loop will execute forever.



        while (condition){
        statements;

        }

        var count = 1;
        while (count < 11) {
        alert(cont);
        count++;
        }




      • do while: similar to the syntax of a regular
        loop, but this loop will execute even if the condition is false.



        do{
        statements;
        } while (condition);





      • for: a cleaner way of executing loops. Everything
        relevant to the loop is contained within the parentheses.


        for (initial condition; test condition; alter condition){
        statements;
        }

        example:

        for (var count =1; count < 11; count++){
        alert (count);
        }

        and a more complex example:

        var beatles = Array("John","Paul","George","Ringo");
        for (var count=0; count < beatles.length; count++){
        alert(beatles[count]);
        }







    7. Functions

      • A function is a group of statements that can be invoked from
        anywhere in your code.



        function name(arguments){
        statements;
        }

        example:

        function multiply(num1, num2) {
        var total = num1 * num2;
        alert(total);
        }



      • Functions are good for reusing pieces of code. Once you define
        a function, you can reuse it by simply calling it by name.

      • You can pass data to a function and have them act on that data.
        These are called arguments. A function can use
        multiple arguments, separated by commas. Once the arguments are
        passed to the function they can be used like variables.


        multiply(10,2);




      • Use the return statement to return a number,
        string, array or Boolean value. In this example the function take
        one argument, returns a number and then assigns the number to
        a new variable.




        function convertToCelsius(temp) {
        var result = temp -32;
        result = result / 1.8;
        return result;
        }

        var temp_farhenheit = 95;
        var temp_celcius = convertToCelsius(temp_fahrenheit);
        alert(temp_celsius);







    8. Objects

      • An object is a self-contained collection of data that takes
        two forms: property and method. Properties and
        methods are combined to form an object.

      • A property is a variable (like mood or age)
        that belongs to an object.

      • A method is a function (like walk or sleep)
        that can be invoked by the object.

      • To use a specific object an instance of that
        object must be created.

      • Native Objects are those that come pre-made
        for use in your scripts.

      • You can create your own User-Defined Objects,
        but not quite yet.

      • Host Objects are objects provided by the browser.
        Early Javascript used the properties and methods of the window
        object
        , sometimes called the Browser Object Model. Stay away
        from the the window object and work with the Document Object.






  • IF we Have Time, even More Javascript


  • Intro to the Document Object Model
  • The Document Object Model represents the web page that is currently
    loaded in the browser. Think of the DOM as map of the web page and
    think of using JavaScript to read the map.

  • The document is represented as a family tree or document
    tree
    .

  • Nodes

    • Element Nodes: All the elements , like h1, p,
      ul, etc. are all nodes on the tree. The have relationships to each
      other, like parent, child, sibling. All elements contain other elements,
      except <html> which is the root of the tree.

    • Text Nodes: are the text the elements contain,
      like <h2>Resume</h2>. Text nodes are
      always contained inside an element node.

    • Attribute Nodes: give more specific info about
      an element, like <h2 title="my resume">Resume</h2>



  • DOM Methods

    • getElementById: This method is a function associated
      with the document object. It takes just one argument: the id of
      the element you want to get.


      document.getElementById(id);

      See Example on w3c site

    • getElementsByTagName: Using this method gives
      you access to an array that is populated with every instance of
      the tag. You have access to multiple elements.

      document.getElementByTagName(tag);


      See Example on w3c site


    • getAttribute: This method can only be used on
      an element node.


      object.getAttribute(attribute);


      here is an example
      Combined with getElementsByTagName, use it to get
      the attribute of a specific element, or in this example the title attributes of each of the "p" tags in the document .


      var paras = document.getElementByTagName("p");
      for (var i=0; i < paras.length; i++){
      alert(paras[1].getAttribute("title"));
      }




    • setAttribute: This method allows you to change
      the value of an attribute node. Unlike the others, it takes two
      arguments: one for attribute and one for value.

      object.setAttribute(attriute,value);




  • http://icant.co.uk/articles/domessentials/


  • Now we will talk about this Sub nav flyout example of a fly-out secondary menu






Homework



  1. Make your own version of the Sub nav flyout example This is due in two weeks


  2. Make your own version of the single image roll over from two weeks ago click here for example - this i assigned last week in class but didn't write down so its due next week

  3. OPTIONAL EXTRA CREDIT CHALLENGE - if you DARE! (OMG its so exciting!) create a menu that combines a single image rollover with a javascript subnav.

  4. First Draft of Home page mockup (comp) -- this is a JPG file, you can create it in photoshop, and its your first idea for the over-all design of your client's site using the home page as an example. Once the design direction is approved by your client, you will use the design of this first designed home page to guide the style of all the pages.