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Trail: Deployment
Lesson: Applets
Section: Taking Advantage of the Applet API
Applets
Getting Started with Applets
Importing Classes and Packages for Applets
Defining an Applet Subclass
The Life Cycle of an Applet
Methods for Milestones
Methods for Drawing and Event Handling
Methods for Adding UI Components
What Applets Can and Can't Do
Taking Advantage of the Applet API
Finding and Loading Data Files
Displaying Short Status Strings
Displaying Documents in the Browser
Sending Messages to Other Applets
Playing Sounds
Defining and Using Applet Parameters
Deciding Which Parameters to Support
Writing the Code to Support Parameters
Giving Information about Parameters
Using the APPLET Tag
Practical Considerations When Writing Applets
Security Restrictions
Creating a User Interface
Creating a GUI
Displaying Diagnostics to the Standard Output and Error Streams
Getting System Properties
Threads in Applets
Threads in Applets: Examples
Working with a Server-Side Application
A Simple Network Client Applet
Using a Server to Work Around Security Restrictions
Finishing an Applet
Before You Ship that Applet
The Perfectly Finished Applet
Deploying Applets
General Deployment Considerations
Using the applet Tag
Using the object Tag
Using the embed Tag
Deploying Applets in a Mixed-Browser Environment
Solving Common Applet Problems
Questions and Exercises
Home Page > Deployment > Applets
Displaying Short Status Strings

> All browsers allow applets to display a short status string. All applets on the page, as well as the browser itself, share the same status line.

> You should never put crucial information in the status line. If many users might need the information, it should instead be displayed within the applet area. If only a few, sophisticated users might need the information, consider displaying the information on the standard output (see Displaying Diagnostics to the Standard Output and Error Streams).

> The status line is not usually very prominent, and it can be overwritten by other applets or by the browser. For these reasons, it's best used for incidental, transitory information. For example, an applet that loads several image files might display the name of the image file it's currently loading.

> Applets display status lines with the `showStatus` method, inherited in the `JApplet` class from the `Applet` class.

> Here's an example of its use:

> >     showStatus("MyApplet: Loading image file " + file);

> > Note: Please don't put scrolling text in the status line. Browser users find such status line abuse highly annoying!

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