EGO Plug-in test page

This page loads the EGO plug-in and runs a DIDAX'ed course from the Internet (or Intranet for that matter). The plug-in is designed to be compatible with Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Opera, which currently seem to be the three most popular browsers. The plug-in is available for the Microsoft Windows platform only (because EGO itself is not available for the Macintosh, or any of the Unix flavours).

You need a browser that supports Netscape plug-in's!

The plug-in is embedded in the page with an <embed> command. The plug-in takes several options in the <embed> command, both standard and proprietary, that specify how and when to launch the EGO module.

src REQUIRED. The URL at which the index file (.IDX) of the DIDAX'ed course resides.
start Recommended. The name of the initial module (where execution starts). If not provided, the plug-in attempts to run the module "INDEX.EGO".
type Recommended. The exact phrase must be: type="application/x-ego". If not provided, the browser uses the file extension to select the correct plug-in.
width Recommended. The width in pixels that the EGO module uses.
height Recommended. The height in pixels that the EGO module uses.
frame The style of the border, one of: "bump", "etched", "raised" or "sunken". The default is no frame at all. Note: some of the frame effects achieve best results on a light grey background.
align Alignment options, these are similar to the "<IMG>" tag.
attachpage If set to "false", the plug-in does not terminate at a page switch. The default value is "true"; that is, the plug-in unloads when you leave the page.
autostart If set to "true", the EGO module starts immediately. Otherwise, the module starts as soon as you click in the plug-in window. The default value is "false".
description The text that appears in the plug-in window when the plug-in is not launched. Use "|" characters to break a line.
params General purpose parameters for the module.
pluginspage The URL from where the plug-in can be downloaded (or where instructions for the installation are found).
pluginurl Netscape only the URL at which an installable .JAR file for the plug-in is found.
top If set to "true", the EGO module stays on top of the browser window. The default value is "true".
window Set to "child" for the EGO module to run inside a window in the module. Set to "popup" to run in an independent window. Set to "default" to run full screen. The default value is "default".

Page mode

When linking to a EGO .IDX file, rather than embedding the object with an "<EMBED>" tag, the EGOnet plug-in has different defaults for its parameters.
start "INDEX.EGO"
type based in the file extension
width not passed
height not passed
frame not applicable
align not applicable
autostart "true"
description not applicable
attachpage "false"
params not applicable
pluginspage not applicable
pluginurl not applicable
top "true"
window "default"

Detecting the EGOnet plugin

With JavaScript, you can check whether the EGOnet plugin is installed in the current browser. The following snippet works for both Netscape Navigator 3.0 and higher, and Microsoft Internet Explorer:


var EgoPlugin = navigator.plugins["EGOnet"];
if (EgoPlugin) {
  document.write("You've got the EGOnet plug-in installed.");
} else {
  document.write("Sorry, this page requires the EGOnet plug-in.");
}