About the Timbuktu Pro Macintosh Netscape Plug-in

The Timbuktu Netscape plug-in is invoked by an EMBED tag whose SRC is a MIME type/subtype of Application/Timbuktu. The plug-in lets you embed any of four different Timbuktu Pro user interface elements in an HTML document:

Service - embeds a button which opens a Timbuktu Pro connection for a particular service.
AddressTextEdit - embeds a text edit box for an IP host address or name.
LocalAddress - embeds text indicating the local address for a specified transport.
Access - embeds a user access checkbox for a specified transport.

To help Netscape Navigator find the Timbuktu Netscape plug-in, a file whose name ends in .tbt (such as "test.tbt") needs to match the source (SRC) in the EMBED tag. The contents of the .tbt file do not matter. The .tbt file is only needed to tell Netscape which plug-in to run. For files on a server, the extension (.tbt) to MIME type mapping is configured in the server. For local files-that is, on the client instead of the server-the mapping is embedded in the plug-in itself. Be aware that if someone tests a page that uses the plug-in locally, it might work but then fail when the files are loaded on a server. There can be any number of EMBED tags on the same page. The actual function of a particular EMBED is determined by its elements. The main elements, exactly one of which must be specified, are Service, Access, LocalAddress, and AddressTextEdit. Each of these can have additional elements.

Service

The Service element embeds a service button in the same style as Timbuktu Pro's button bar buttons with a service icon and optional text label. When the user clicks the button, the plug-in launches Timbuktu Pro and opens a connection for the specified service. Use the following commands to invoke the available services.

	Control
			Service = ctrl
	Observe
			Service = obsv
	Send
			Service = send
	Exchange
			Service = xchg
	Chat
			Service = chat
	Notify Me
			Service = noty

The TCP/IP address of the host can be specified with the Host element, or it can come from an AddressTextEdit by using the Associate element. The User and Password can be specified optionally.

Host

Host specifies the IP address or domain name of the host. Use Host when the button always connects to the same host. Use Associate (see below) to let the user enter the host's address.

Host = "host name or address"

Label

Label can be used to specify the button title. If Label = "" is specified, the button will include only the service icon. If no Label element is included at all, it will use the name of the service (i.e., Control, Observe, Send, Exchange, Chat).

Label = "button title"

For example, if you wanted to create a "Send to Arthur" button to send a FlashNote to a host at 123.123.123.123, you could embed the following tag:

<EMBED SRC="test.tbt" ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=140 HEIGHT=24 
Host = "123.123.123.123" Label = "Send to Arthur" Service = send>

User and Password

User and Password can be specified for authentication. If neither is specified, Timbuktu Pro will present the usual authentication dialog. If the password is specified, but the name isn't, Timbuktu Pro will tr y to log on as a password-only user.

User = "user name" Password = "password"

Associate

The Associate element specifies an AddressTextEdit (see below), which contains the address of the host. The AddressTextEdit should include an Associate element with a matching association string.

Associate = "association string"

AddressTextEdit

The AddressTextEdit element creates an editable text box for entering a TCP/IP address or host name. The address contained in this text box is then used by the selected Timbuktu Pro service.

AddressTextEdit = "initial value"

Associate

The Associate element associates the text field with one or more buttons.

Associate = "association string"

Each Service button which has an Associate element with a matching association string will act on the host whose address is currently entered in the text box. In the following example, the first EMBED tag creates an AddressTextEdit text box named "ObserveMeSet" that contains the IP address "timbuktu.farallon.com". The second EMBED tag then associates the Observe service with the "ObserveMeSet" text box.

<EMBED SRC="test.tbt" ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=20 
AddressTextEdit = "timbuktu.farallon.com" Associate = "ObserveMeSet">

<EMBED SRC="test.tbt" ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=100 HEIGHT=24 
Service = obsv Associate = "ObserveMeSet">

LocalAddress

The LocalAddress element embeds the local address for the specified transport.

LocalAddress = IP
LocalAddress = AppleTalk
LocalAddress = Novell

IP, AppleTalk,and Novell are literals and are transport names.

Label

The Label element specifies an optional label that is attached to the front of the address. If access is turned off for the transport, neither the label nor the address is displayed.

Label = "label for the address"

In the example below, the LocalAddress element is used to supply the IP address of your computer while the label element identifies it.

<EMBED SRC="test.tbt" ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=20 
Justify = LEFT LocalAddress = IP LABEL = "Your Internet address is: ">

Justify

The Justify element specifies the text justification for the label and address. If no Justify element is specified, the text is left-justified.

Justify = Left (default)
Justify = Center
Justify = Right

Access

The Access element embeds an Incoming Access checkbox for the specified transport.

Access = IP
Access = AppleTalk
Access = Novell

In the example below, the Access element is used to create an IP Incoming Access checkbox.

<EMBED SRC="test.tbt" ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=24 ACCESS = IP>

Label

The Label element specifies an optional label that is attached to the right of the checkbox. If a Label is not specified, the standard checkbox description for the transport is used (such as "AppleTalk Network Access").

Label = "checkbox title"

Optional elements

These elements can be used in any Timbuktu Pro EMBED tag.

Color

This element can be used to get the background color right for access checkboxes and local address text. If you know the background color, it can be specified directly.

Foreground = #color (default is 000000, black) Background = #color (default is CCCCCC, dark gray)

To create an EMBED that can be used over any color background, use Javascript to generate the embed command. For example:

<script language="javascript">
document.write("<EMBED SRC=\"test.tbt\"");
document.write(" ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=24");
document.write(" ACCESS = IP");
document.write(" LABEL = \"Check this to let others look at your screen.\"");
document.write(" background = "); document.write(document.bgColor);
document.write(">");
</script>

Missing URL

This element specifies a page to display if Timbuktu Pro is not installed or is the wrong version.

Missing = "url"

If no Missing element is specified, the default value used is:

http://www.farallon.com/www/gen/ftvpage.html

Configuring a server to serve Timbuktu Pro Plug-in documents

For a WWW server to send a MIME type such as Timbuktu Pro Plug-in documents, the server may have to be reconfigured. The Timbuktu Pro extension must be added as an Application with the application/timbuktu designation. Refer to you server's documentation for specifics. For example, to configure a Netscape SunOS server, edit the mime.types file to add the Timbuktu Pro extension line:

type=application/timbuktu exts=tbt

Important note: many servers require restarting after re-configuring mime-types, please refer to you server's documentation for details.

Demonstration web site

You can connect to the Farallon web site below to try out the Control, Observe, Send, Exchange, Chat, and Notify buttons that take advantage of the plug-in's features.

http://www.farallon.com/product/tb2/proplugin.html

Click to send questions, comments or problems regarding Farallon products and services or our Website.