FAQ's

Hi I'm new to this online class stuff and I don't know if we are supposed to log on at a certain time on a certain day or is this work at your ownpace, just as long as we turn our homework in. Thank you.

You can log on and work whenever it is convenient for you. You can work at you own pace, but you should try and turn in homework every week. Students who do not turn in any homework by the fourth week will be dropped. All work must be turned in by the final. As always its probably not a good idea to wait till the last minute to do your homework.

What kind of test is the final?

The test will be given on-line. The questions are fill in the blank and true false. There will be about 30 - 40 questions. The questions are similar to those in the book at the end of each chapter. You can take the test any time during the last week of class, but you must reserve a time to do so. You will have about 2 hours to take the test. 

How do I download the sample files?

Double click on them, then click on Save. Save in a folder on your home computer where you can find them.

Do you want us to turn in print  outs  of the projects along with the assignments?

No, Please no printouts.

How do I view the sample files after I download them?

For the sample files from my web site you need a copy of pkzip or winzip, free at www.pkzip.com or www.winzip.com. Use the File |Open and Extract menu options to unzip them. The contents depend on the chapter. See my updates.

Can I do my homework on a Mac?

Yes, as long as the files are text files with ".htm" extensions. They should be readable by MS-Notepad and a browser like Netscape or Internet Explorer. You will have to have access to a drawing program like MS-Paint that can create .gif or .jpg files.

When is homework due?

 You should try and turn in homework every week. Students who do not turn in any homework by the fourth week will be dropped. You should e-mail me the homework starting no later than the second week of the session.  I will give you credit if its OK, otherwise I'll let you know what changes you should make and you can correct it and  turn it again. Be sure you have a backup of all your work .

What's the first assignment? How do I do it?

In Chapter 1 you will do two assignments. The first is called my_first_program.html from page 11 in the chapter. Also you will do the assignment javascript_running.html. The instructions for this are in the Downloads section of the web site. Type in the assignments using MS-Notepad. Test them by viewing them in your browser. To view your pages use File|Open Page |Choose File from the menu bar or type the path into the location box on the location toolbar. Do they look the same as on in your book? If not check your source code over and make corrections. You will also do assignments like "kidsold.htm" and "kidsnew.htm" . Be sure and read my instructions in the Downloads section of the class website, as well as those in the book.

I have gotten to where I am supposed to be able to click on the sample link that takes me to the second page to continue in the chapter and I can't get it to come up...Helpppppp

No Problem. Check the spelling on your links. Make sure the file name is exactly the same as the file name on your disk. This includes use of capital letters ( my suggestion: don't use any). Also, if the files are in the same directory or on the same disk DON'T include the drive or directory names ( aka: the "Path name"), only the file names.
Finally use "DOS" file names. File names should only be eight characters long with a three character extension, i.e. ".htm" not ".html" and no blanks, dots or other special characters. So called "Long" file names, used in Windows, won't work on many web servers, though they may work while you are testing your pages at home.

By the way, .bmp graphics files work when you said .bmp doesn't work with html. What kind of teacher are you anyway?

Not all browsers are created equal. What works on one may not work on another. To be sure your graphics are viewable on the widest range of browsers, use .gif or .jpg files for graphics and make sure your code conforms the the HTML standard.

How do I create a zip file?

Zipping a group of files is a two stage process. First you create the zip file, then you add the files. The procedure below is for Pkzip, Winzip is similar.

Open Pkzip then click on File, and New. Enter the name of the zipfile you want to create, for example: ch2files.zip.

You should now see the "Add Files Dialog" box. Select the drive and folder with the file that you want to zip. Select the files to zip using the "Add Files" button. Click on OK when done.

Attach the zipfile to an e-mail in WebCt and send it to me.

You told me I had a bug in my code, but my web page displays OK on my computer.

Internet Explorer users should double check to make sure that you have a "/" on your closing table tags. IE will ignore the error, BUT other browsers ( incuding mine ) wont. Be sure and check your source code before sending me your assignments.

I was trying to receive the information from my form and I got an attachments called postdata.att and I don't have any application associated with this file. How do I view it?

.ATT files are text files. You can open them with Notepad. To understand the output look at the handout on Processing Form Data.

.... I must admit that I have no idea of how to do the graphic images for the rollover buttons.

Just use MS-Paint to draw a box, Put some text into it and fill it with a background color. Save the file with a name like b1.gif. THen click on Image | Invert colors and save the image again as b2.gif. Done. See, wasnt that easy????? :)