Timed Scroller - The Code

Building on the ticker, this week's script is a scrolling linker - a slightly more dynamic route to extending browser real-estate

The code is fairly complex, but it's actually very easy to set up. Select it all and paste it into your HTML where you want the scroller to go. All of the configuration is done in the first few lines:

<script language="JavaScript1.2"><br />
//configure the variables below to change the style of the scroller
var scrollerwidth=150
var scrollerheight=40
var scrollerbgcolor='white'
//set below to '' if you don't wish to use a background image
var scrollerbackground=''

//configure the lines below to change the contents of the scroller
var messages=new Array()
messages[0]="<a href='dates.htm'>Check the Strange Brew Diary</a>"
messages[1]="<a href='reports.htm'>Read Gig Reports</a>"
messages[2]="<a href='bryony.htm'>Bryony Aid - 19th February</a>"
messages[3]="<a href='sounds.htm'>Download Strange Brew MP3s</a>"
messages[4]="<a href='/reports/beeb.htm'>Strange Brew at the Beeb</a>"

///////Change nothing beyond this line///////////////////////

if (messages.length>1)
i=2
else
i=0

function move1(whichlayer){
tlayer=eval(whichlayer)
if (tlayer.top>0&&tlayer.top<=5){
tlayer.top=0
setTimeout("move1(tlayer)",3000)
setTimeout("move2(document.main.document.second)",3000)
return
}
if (tlayer.top>=tlayer.document.height*-1){
tlayer.top-=5
setTimeout("move1(tlayer)",100)
}
else{
tlayer.top=scrollerheight
tlayer.document.write(messages[i])
tlayer.document.close()
if (i==messages.length-1)
i=0
else
i++
}
}

function move2(whichlayer){
tlayer2=eval(whichlayer)
if (tlayer2.top>0&&tlayer2.top<=5){
tlayer2.top=0
setTimeout("move2(tlayer2)",3000)
setTimeout("move1(document.main.document.first)",3000)
return
}
if (tlayer2.top>=tlayer2.document.height*-1){
tlayer2.top-=5
setTimeout("move2(tlayer2)",100)
}
else{
tlayer2.top=scrollerheight
tlayer2.document.write(messages[i])
tlayer2.document.close()
if (i==messages.length-1)
i=0
else
i++
}
}

function move3(whichdiv){
tdiv=eval(whichdiv)
if (tdiv.style.pixelTop>0&&tdiv.style.pixelTop<=5){
tdiv.style.pixelTop=0
setTimeout("move3(tdiv)",3000)
setTimeout("move4(second2)",3000)
return
}
if (tdiv.style.pixelTop>=tdiv.offsetHeight*-1){
tdiv.style.pixelTop-=5
setTimeout("move3(tdiv)",100)
}
else{
tdiv.style.pixelTop=scrollerheight
tdiv.innerHTML=messages[i]
if (i==messages.length-1)
i=0
else
i++
}
}

function move4(whichdiv){
tdiv2=eval(whichdiv)
if (tdiv2.style.pixelTop>0&&tdiv2.style.pixelTop<=5){
tdiv2.style.pixelTop=0
setTimeout("move4(tdiv2)",3000)
setTimeout("move3(first2)",3000)
return
}
if (tdiv2.style.pixelTop>=tdiv2.offsetHeight*-1){
tdiv2.style.pixelTop-=5
setTimeout("move4(second2)",100)
}
else{
tdiv2.style.pixelTop=scrollerheight
tdiv2.innerHTML=messages[i]
if (i==messages.length-1)
i=0
else
i++
}
}

function startscroll(){
if (document.all){
move3(first2)
second2.style.top=scrollerheight
second2.style.visibility='visible'
}
else if (document.layers){
document.main.visibility='show'
move1(document.main.document.first)
document.main.document.second.top=scrollerheight+5
document.main.document.second.visibility='show'
}
}
window.onload=startscroll
</script>

<ilayer id="main" width=&{scrollerwidth}; height=&{scrollerheight}; bgColor=&{scrollerbgcolor}; background=&{scrollerbackground}; visibility=hide>
<layer id="first" left=0 top=1 width=&{scrollerwidth};>
<script language="JavaScript1.2">
if (document.layers)
document.write(messages[0])
</script>
</layer>
<layer id="second" left=0 top=0 width=&{scrollerwidth}; visibility=hide>
<script language="JavaScript1.2">
if (document.layers)
document.write(messages[1])
</script>
</layer>
</ilayer>

<script language="JavaScript1.2">
if (document.all){
document.writeln('<span id="main2" style="position:relative;width:'+scrollerwidth+';height:'+scrollerheight+';overflow:hiden;background-color:'+scrollerbgcolor+' ;background-image:url('+scrollerbackground+')">')
document.writeln('<div style="position:absolute;width:'+scrollerwidth+';height:'+scrollerheight+';clip:rect(0 '+scrollerwidth+' '+scrollerheight+' 0);left:0;top:0">')
document.writeln('<div id="first2" style="position:absolute;width:'+scrollerwidth+';left:0;top:1;">')
document.write(messages[0])
document.writeln('</div>')
document.writeln('<div id="second2" style="position:absolute;width:'+scrollerwidth+';left:0;top:0;visibility:hidden">')
document.write(messages[1])
document.writeln('</div>')
document.writeln('</div>')
document.writeln('')
}
</script>

The <a href...> lines are the ones I've used at the Strange Brew site - edit them for your own site (or "View Source" on this page to see how the links for this site are configured. You'll note that for this page I've set the background colour to "Aqua" just so you can see it. I'd normally set it to the background colour of the page (or table cell) the scroller is running in.

The number of messages can be increased or decreased to suit your own needs. Note that a link to another site needs you to lose the single quotes and insert the full url, like this:

<a href=http://www.strange-brew.com>Strange Brew</a>

Enjoy!

David Dorn