VasTabs - Documentation

1. Do I need to learn Java programming before I can use VasTabs?
2. Can VasTabs handle HTML pages?
3. How can I put information inside each tab?
4. Why I cannot embed Frames into VasTabs?
5. Can I load an Applet onto a tab?
6. Can images be put on the tabs?
7. Why I cannot add Choice components in VasTabs?
8. Why should I use VasTabs instead of the standard JTabbedPane (or another) class?
9. With a professional license, can I use VasTabs in a commercial application that will be sold in retail?
10. How in VasTabs can I change ...?
11. VasTabs - available methods

1. Do I need to learn Java programming before I can use VasTabs?
   Yes, VasTabs is intented for Java programmers as a reusable component.

2. Can VasTabs handle HTML pages?
   No, VasTabs can handle only Java forms.
   It is not a tabbed menu for linking HTML pages.

3. How can I put information inside each tab?
   VasTabs accepts Panels inside each tab. And you can put in the Panels everything you want. A Panel is like a little window and you can add any component (buttons, images, textfields, labels, etc..) to it.
   So, you can put everything you want in the tabs.

4. Why I cannot embed Frames into VasTabs?
   Normal. You cannot embed a Frame in a Panel. Panels a normally embedded in Frames. A Frame is a independent window which is alone on the screen.

5. Can I load an Applet onto a tab?
   In fact, you can do it, since Applet class is inherited from Panel class. It'll work fine when embedding simple applets. Just call explicitly the good constructors and init() function.
   But it's not the normal way, of course.

6. Can images be put on the tabs?
   It depends on where you want to put the images.
   If you want to add an image in the tabbed panel (where is the "content" of the tab), no problem then.
   If it's in the tab (where the name of the tab is wrote), then it's impossible.

7. Why I cannot add Choice components in VasTabs?
   You can add Choice components in VasTabs.
   In fact, you came accross a famous bug of Java AWT 1.02. Choice components get placed on the top-left of the screen (0,0) instead of where they're supposed to be. :-)
   To place these components on another location, you must put the call to reshape() in the init() function of the applet (or later), not in the constructor.

8. Why should I use VasTabs instead of the standard JTabbedPane (or another) class?
   I agree with your concerns about standardisation, which is very important for software developers. But, now most browsers don't use JFC, Swing, Java 1.1+ :-(
   So, to have tabs, you must use a "custom", Java 1.02 component like VasTabs.
   VasTabs is also good for developing applications as it is very small and configurable.

9. With a professional license, can I use VasTabs in a commercial application that will be sold in retail?
   Yes, the pro license covers such use. The only restriction is that the tabs are not one of the goals of your application (applet, component), ie it's not a concurrent product.
   A reference to my site (or me) or simple tag like "Uses VasTabs" is highly appreciated (though not required).

10. How in VasTabs can I change ...?
    Of course you can change that (background colour, vertical displaying of tabs, size, font, etc.). Having source code (ie registering) you can change simply everything you want. The code is powerfull but easy enough to understand for everyone with some skills in Java.

VasTabs - available methods

  //X,Y: total length and width of tabs (with the panels)
  //posX,posY: the left upper corner of the Tabs inside of the applet
  public VasTabs(int posX, int posY, int X, int Y)

  //X,Y: total length and width of tabs (with the panels)
  //posX,posY: the left upper corner of the Tabs inside of the applet
  //width of the border of tabs
  public VasTabs(int posX, int posY, int X, int Y, int borderWidth)

  //add a tab with the given name
  public void addTab(String name, Panel p)

  //you MUST call this function after calling
  //addTab, removeTab, setColorTab, enableTab, disableTab, renameTab and selectTab
  //in "dynamic" conditions, ie not in constructor or init
  //refreshing the tabs, ie redraws everything
  public void refreshTabs()

  //remove the tab
  public void removeTab(String name)

  //set the color in the specified tab
  public void setColorTab(String name, Color col)

  //disable the specified tab
  public void disableTab(String name)

  //enable the specified tab
  public void enableTab(String name)

  //to rename a tab with this name
  public void renameTab(String oldName, String newName)

  //to select and show the tab with given name
  public void selectTab(String name)