CROSSWORD EXPRESS
Copyright © 1995-2007 AUS-PC-SOFT
Publish your own interactive ACROSTIC puzzles on the Internet.
  • Registered owners of Crossword Express can publish their own Acrostic Puzzles interactively on the Internet using the Crossword Express Acrostic Applet. With the release of Version 7.7 of the Crossword Express program, this has become a very simple process which makes use of an Export as Applet function within the program.
  • The steps involved in preparing a puzzle for publication on the Internet are as follows:-
    • Make sure that the copy of Crossword Express you are using is at version 7.7 or later. If this doesn't apply in your case then please complete a free upgrade of your installation by visiting:-
    • Start the Crossword Express program, and select Other Puzzles/Acrostics from the program's menu bar.
    • Use the Select Dictionary button to select the dictionary which you know was used to construct the puzzle which you want to implement as an applet.
    • Use the Old button to select the puzzle you require.
    • Click the Export as Applet button to complete the process.

  • When you have completed these steps, you will find that inside your Crossword Express folder, there is a sub-folder called java, and inside this folder there is a total of three files as follows:-
    • A single .cwe file. This is the file which contains the actual puzzle which you have selected for interactive publication.
    • The file acrostic.class This is the Java program file which creates the interactive environment in which the puzzle will operate.
    • The file puzzle.html This is the file which starts the interactive process. Double clicking on the icon of this file will start your web browser with your puzzle displayed and ready for interactive operation in a test environment.

  • All that is now required to publish the puzzle on the Internet is to upload the three files onto your web server, and to provide a link from one of your existsing web pages to the puzzle.html file. If the exported puzzle performs correctly when operated locally on your hard drive, but fails to do so after loading onto your web server, it will probably be caused by one of the factors discussed in Frequently asked Questions.
  • You should find the puzzle perfectly acceptable exactly as it is exported by Crossword Express. You can however make changes to the appearance and behaviour of the applet using a system of param statements located within the puzzle.html file. There is a very comprehensive selection of params the use of which is explained in the following. Simply click on any param name in the following index for a complete description of that param and how to use it.

INDEX OF ACROSTIC APPLET PARAMETERS.
actcell
/applet
applet
average
bgcolor
buttoncolor
buttonfontsz
buttontext
cellid
choiceloc
cluefontsz
cluelabel
clue
clueloc
cluepanel
cluetext
code
contestn
correctn
encoding
errcell
errletter
errorloc
errors
errorsidle
errorsover
errorsdown
focuscell
focusletter
font
graphicpanel
graphloc
gridline
height
help
helpidle
helpover
helpdown
helpheader
helploc
helpn
helpok
helpokidle
helpokover
helpokdown
helpokloc
idfontsz
include
infocolor
infotext1
infotext2
keysound
keywordcolor
keywordpanel
keywordloc
msgfontsz
mybanner
noerror
nonotes
nopeek
notes
notesidle
notesover
notesdown
notesloc
othercell
otherletter
patcell
peek
peekidle
peekover
peekdown
peekloc
puzzleloc
puzzlen
puzzlepanel
rewardgraphic
rewardmsg
rewardsound
save
saveidle
saveover
savedown
saveloc
savemsg
savesound
saveurl
style
submit
submitidle
submitover
submitdown
submitloc
titlefont
titlefontsize
titleloc
titlen
titlepanel
titletext
time
timedisploc
timelabloc
tmcolor
tmlabel
tmlabeltext
tmtext
use3D
warning
width


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<h1>WARNING!</h1>
You must use a Java enabled browser to solve these puzzles.
<hr>
These three lines provide a brief announcement for the benefit of people who are using a browser which is not able to process Applets. Feel free to change the wording of this message but please do not remove it.
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<param name="encoding"      value="Cp037">
The characters used by this Java applet are stored according to the standard international character set called Unicode. When characters are being read from the .cwe puzzle file, they must be translated into Unicode from whatever encoding was in use when the puzzle was constructed. If you are confident that the only people who will be solving your puzzles will be using a computer whose default language is the same as your own, then you can safely omit this parameter. Otherwise, you can select the value for this parameter from the following list:-
Cp037 USA, Canada, Netherlands, Portugal, Brazil, Australia
Cp285 IBM United Kingdom, Ireland
Cp1250 Windows Eastern European
Cp1251 Windows Cyrillic
Cp1252 Windows Latin-1
Cp1253 Windows Greek
Cp1254 Windows Turkish
Cp1255 Windows Hebrew
Cp1256 Windows Arabic
This is only a partial list, and many more codes are available. If you believe you need something which is not on this list, please contact support@crauswords.com with details of your requirements.
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<param name="include"       value="false">
Any, or most of the params contained within the <applet> tag may be placed instead into a file called acrostic.ini which is uploaded into the server folder that also contains the acrostic.class file. This parameter tells the applet whether or not it should attempt to load the acrostic.ini file. Normally, you can choose not to use the include parameter at all, because the Applet will attempt to read acrostic.ini by default. However, some web servers generate an error message if an attempt is made to read a file which doesn't exist, so if you are not using the acrostic.ini file, it is a good idea to use this parameter, and to set its value to false. Naturally, the include parameter must be placed in the <applet> tag rather than in the acrostic.ini file.
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<param name="buttoncolor"   value="00C0C0">
You are able to control the color of the buttons by setting the value of the "buttoncolor" parameter. The buttons will be drawn in a 3D style but you may need to experiment with this, as the 3D effect is more pronounced on some colors than on others.
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<param name="buttontext"    value="000000">
You can control the color of the text displayed on the buttons by means of the "buttontext" parameter.
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<param name="titlepanel"    value="D0E0C0">
<param name="titletext"     value="C04000">
Use these parameters to control the color of the panel on which the puzzle title is displayed, and the color of the text.
<param name="titlefont"     value="Monospaced">
The "titlefont" parameter allows you to specify the font which will be used to display the puzzle title in the title panel. There are three choices available to you, viz. "Serif", "SansSerif" and "Monospaced". (Note that the upper case letters in this parameter are required).
<param name="titlefontsize" value="40">
Use this parameter to specify the size of the font to be used for the puzzle title. If the puzzle title will not fit into the space you have allowed for it, a smaller font will be substituted.
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<param name="cluelabel"     value="FFC000">
<param name="cluepanel"     value="E9EDDE">
<param name="cluetext"      value="000000">
Include these three lines if you want to control the color of the CLUE label of the clue panel, the color of the clue panel, or the color of the clue text.
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<param name="graphicpanel"  value="E9EDDE">
Use this parameter to control the color of the panel on which graphic banner is displayed.
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<param name="puzzlepanel"   value="E9EDDE">
<param name="keywordpanel"  value="E9EDDE">
Using these parameters you can control the color of the panels on which the Acrostic paragraph and the Acrostic keywords are drawn.
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<param name="infocolor"     value="E9EDDE">
<param name="infotext1"     value="C00000">
<param name="infotext2"     value="0000C0">
The infocolor parameter controls the background color of the Help window, and the windows which appear when a complete solution has been entered for the puzzle.
The infotext1 and infotext2 parameters control the colors of the opening lines of the Help and Puzzle Complete windows.
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<param name="focuscell"     value="FF0000">
<param name="focusletter"   value="FFFF00">
<param name="othercell"     value="00FFFF">
<param name="otherletter"   value="C00000">
<param name="keywordcolor"  value="C0FFC0">
The background color of the focus cells, and the color of the text in the focus cells can be controlled by the first four parameters. The fifth controls the color of the Acrostic keyword.
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<param name="errcell"       value="C0C0C0">
<param name="errletter"     value="FF0000">
When the "Show Errors" button is clicked all cells in the puzzle which have the incorrect letter inserted will be highlighted. The two parameters above allow you to control the foreground and background colors of the error highlight.
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<param name="tmcolor"       value="C0C0C0">
<param name="tmtext"        value="00A000">
<param name="tmlabel"       value="FFC000">
<param name="tmlabeltext"   value="A00000">
Use these parameters to control the color of the panel on which the elapsed time is displayed, the color of the text of that display, the color of the label panel associated with it, and the color of the text on the label panel.
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<param name="patcell"       value="808080">
<param name="actcell"       value="C0C0C0">
<param name="gridline"      value="0000FF">
<param name="use3D"         value="true">
Use these color definitions to control the color of the pattern cells, the active cells and the grid lines which define the cells. Use the use3D parameter to have the puzzles cells drawn in a striking three dimensional mode. If you use the 3D effect, you should be aware of the following:-
  • The gridline color is not required, and if included will not be used.
  • The 3D effect is more pronounced on some colors than others, so you may want to do some experimenting here.
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<param name="font"          value="Serif">
<param name="style"         value="plain">
The "font" parameter allows you to specify the font which will be used when solving the puzzle. There are three choices available to you, viz. "Serif", "SansSerif" and "Monospaced". (Note that the upper case letters in this parameter are required). You can also control the style of the font by setting the "style" parameter to one of the four values "plain", "bold", "italic" or "bolditalic".
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<param name="buttonfontsz"  value="35">
<param name="cluefontsz"    value="35">
<param name="msgfontsz"     value="35">
The size of the fonts used in displaying the text used in the applet can be controlled by means of these thre parameters. To derive the number to use for "value", imagine the applet being sliced into 1,000 horizontal strips. The number you use represents the number of horizontal strips spanned by a character of the font. If you omit these parameters, the applet will select a default size for the font which will be satisfactory in the majority of cases.
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<param name="idfontsz"      value="35">
This parameter controls the size of the font used in displaying the cell ID numbers. The number you enter here is interpreted as a percentage of the height of a single cell. Suitable vales will be in the range of 35 to 50%. If you omit this parameter, the applet will select a default size of 50%.
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<param name="peek"          value="Peek 1 letter">
<param name="peekidle"      value="peekidle.gif">
<param name="peekover"      value="peekover.gif">
<param name="peekdown"      value="peekdown.gif">
The peek parameter is used to set the text attached to the Peek button, and the location of this button is set by the
peekloc parameter.

As an alternative to having the applet draw the button you can prepare a set of three graphic files (.gif or .jpg) which the applet will use to represent the button when it is in each of the states, idle, mouse-over and down. The peekidle, peekover and peekdown parameters are used to inform the applet of the names of these files.
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<param name="errors"          value="Show Errors">
<param name="errorsidle"      value="errorsidle.gif">
<param name="errorsover"      value="errorsover.gif">
<param name="errorsdown"      value="errorsdown.gif">
The errors parameter is used to set the text attached to the Show Errors button, and the location of this button is set by the
errorloc parameter.

As an alternative to having the applet draw the button you can prepare a set of three graphic files (.gif or .jpg) which the applet will use to represent the button when it is in each of the states, idle, mouse-over and down. The errorsidle, errorsover and errorsdown parameters are used to inform the applet of the names of these files.
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<param name="help"          value="Help">
<param name="helpidle"      value="helpidle.gif">
<param name="helpover"      value="helpover.gif">
<param name="helpdown"      value="helpdown.gif">
The help parameter is used to set the text attached to the Help button, and the location of this button is set by the
helploc parameter.

As an alternative to having the applet draw the button you can prepare a set of three graphic files (.gif or .jpg) which the applet will use to represent the button when it is in each of the states, idle, mouse-over and down. The helpidle, helpover and helpdown parameters are used to inform the applet of the names of these files.
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<param name="helpok"          value="OK">
<param name="helpokidle"      value="helpokidle.gif">
<param name="helpokover"      value="helpokover.gif">
<param name="helpokdown"      value="helpokdown.gif">
The helpok parameter is used to set the text attached to the OK button, and the location of this button is set by the
helpokloc parameter.

As an alternative to having the applet draw the button you can prepare a set of three graphic files (.gif or .jpg) which the applet will use to represent the button when it is in each of the states, idle, mouse-over and down. The helpokidle, helpokover and helpokdown parameters are used to inform the applet of the names of these files.
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<param name="submit"          value="Submit">
<param name="submitidle"      value="submitidle.gif">
<param name="submitover"      value="submitover.gif">
<param name="submitdown"      value="submitdown.gif">
The submit parameter is used to set the text attached to the Submit button, and the location of this button is set by the
submitloc parameter.

As an alternative to having the applet draw the button you can prepare a set of three graphic files (.gif or .jpg) which the applet will use to represent the button when it is in each of the states, idle, mouse-over and down. The submitidle, submitover and submitdown parameters are used to inform the applet of the names of these files.
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<param name="notes"          value="Notes">
<param name="notesidle"      value="notesidle.gif">
<param name="notesover"      value="notesover.gif">
<param name="notesdown"      value="notesdown.gif">
The notes parameter is used to set the text attached to the Notes button, and the location of this button is set by the
notesloc parameter.

As an alternative to having the applet draw the button you can prepare a set of three graphic files (.gif or .jpg) which the applet will use to represent the button when it is in each of the states, idle, mouse-over and down. The notesidle, notesover and notesdown parameters are used to inform the applet of the names of these files.
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<param name="save"          value="Save">
<param name="saveidle"      value="saveidle.gif">
<param name="saveover"      value="saveover.gif">
<param name="savedown"      value="savedown.gif">
<param name="saveurl"       value="http://www.crauswords.com/cgi-bin/cwe.cgi">
<param name="savesound"     value="magic.au">
<param name="savemsg"       value="Puzzle Saved.">
Want to allow your visitors to save the work they have done so far, so that they can return later and continue from where they left off? To set up this feature it is necessary to take the following three steps:-
  • Use of the "saveloc" parameter to specify that a save button is to be included. The solver will click this button to save the solution so far in a cookie. This information will be placed back into the puzzle the next time the solver accesses it.
  • Use the "save" parameter to specify the text to be placed into the save button.
    As an alternative to having the applet draw the button you can prepare a set of three graphic files (.gif or .jpg) which the applet will use to represent the button when it is in each of the states, idle, mouse-over and down. The saveidle, saveover and savedown parameters are used to inform the applet of the names of these files.
  • A copy of the cgi script (cwe.cgi) which is responsible for saving the partial solution is included in the download .zip file. This file needs to be uploaded to your web server along with the applet and puzzle files. The saveurl parameter is then used to inform the applet just where the cgi script is located. Before taking any action in this direction you will generally need to talk to your ISP to ensure that you are authorised to run cgi scripts on your account.
There are also two optional steps you may choose to take:-
  • The "savesound" parameter allows you to nominate a .au sound file which will be played when the save button is clicked, thereby informing the solver that the save request has been processed.
  • You can also provide an advisory message to the solver that the puzzle has been saved by including the savemsg parameter.
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<param name="clue"          value="CLUE">
This parameter sets the label associated with the clue panel. This assists with the task of adapting the Applet for use with almost any language required.
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<param name="time"          value="Time">
This is the parameter which contains the text which is displayed adjacent to the elapsed time display on the Applet.
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<param name="keysound"      value="typekey.au">
If you include this parameter, the sound associated with the .au file will be played each time a character is typed into the puzzle.
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<param name="nonotes"       value="No notes have been defined for this puzzle.">
Use this parameter to supply the text which will be displayed to the solver if the NOTES button is clicked, but the current puzzle does not contain any puzzle notes.
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<param name="mybanner"     value="mybanner.gif">
The "mybanner" parameter provides you with an opportunity to customise the Applet by including your own banner in the display. Set value equal to the name of your .gif or .jpg file. The .gif or .jpg file containing your banner must be loaded onto your web server in the same directory as your .class file.
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<param name="average"       value="true">
If the mybanner graphic (or any other graphic you may elect to use in the applet) does not exactly fit the target space, a simple scaling process is automatically used to make it fit. This may result in a jagged appearance for objects within the image. Using an "average" parameter set to true will force an averaging process to be used during scaling, and the jagged effects will be removed. Be aware that this will substantially slow down the operation of the applet each time a graphic is displayed for the first time. It is a much better idea to create your graphic images to fit exactly into the available spaces.
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<param name="cellid"        value="false">
Cell ID numbers are included in the puzzle display as the default condition. You can turn off this behaviour by including a "cellid" parameter, and setting the value to "false".
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<param name="title1"        value="A puzzle with hot-links and graphic clues">
<param name="puzzle1"       value="demo.cwe">
For each puzzle which you want the applet to handle, you should include two param statements. The numeral added to "title" and "puzzle" must start at one and increase by one (no gaps please) for each new puzzle. You can include as few as one puzzle, or as many as you like. The values associated with the "title" params are the names of the puzzles as they appear in the drop down list above the puzzle and in the puzzle title banner, while the values associated with the "puzzle" params are the actual names of the puzzle files.
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<param name="helpheader"    value="How to use this program.">
<param name="help1"         value="Any characters you type will be placed into the puzzle at">
<param name="help2"         value="the red and blue 'focus' cells. The red focus cell will">
<param name="help3"         value="then move on to the next letter of the word in which it">
<param name="help4"         value="is located. The blue focus cell will also move on to a">
<param name="help5"         value="new location determined by the index number found in">
<param name="help6"         value="the red focus cell.">
<param name="help7"         value="-">
<param name="help8"         value="The focus can be shifted by pointing and clicking with">
<param name="help9"         value="the mouse, or by means of the arrow keys.">
<param name="help10"        value="-">
<param name="help11"        value="If you solve the WORDS correctly, you will see a message">
<param name="help12"        value="gradually appear in the left hand section of the puzzle.">
<param name="help13"        value="This message is a clue to the word consisting of the">
<param name="help14"        value="highlighted first letters of the words you have solved.">
<param name="help15"        value="-">
<param name="help16"        value="A number of other puzzles are available for you to solve.">
<param name="help17"        value="Choose the one you want using the selection box located">
<param name="help18"        value="immediately above the clue panel.">
This set of parameters allows the Help information to be translated into any language you wish. Please observe the following rules when making changes here:
1. You can use as many lines of Help as you wish, provided that they will fit into the target space. Numbering MUST start from 1 and continue upward without any omissions.
2. Limit the length of each line of text to fit in the space available on the Applet.
3. Any line which contains only a single printable character (other than a space) will print as a blank line. Use this fact to break your Help text into paragraphs.
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A note on Acrostic Puzzle solving competitions.
Setting up an on-line Acrostic puzzle solving competition is a simple process involving these four steps:
  • Any puzzle can be marked for inclusion in a contest by appending the URL of a Submit web page to the end of the Notes for that puzzle. The URL must be separated from the Notes by a single space, and must be of the form http://www.mydomain.com/submit.html This adjustment to the puzzle notes must be done using the Puzzle Description button before the puzzle is made, since Crossword Express does not yet provide a function for editing an existing Acrostic puzzle.

    If you add two different URLs to the end of the puzzle Notes, then correct solutions will be submitted to the first of these URLs, while incorrect solutions will be submitted to the second one. Exactly one space should be used to separate the two URLs.

  • Include the following set of six parameters in the <applet> tag:-
      <param name="contest1"        value="Congratulations on solving the puzzle.">
      <param name="contest2"        value="Here you can insert up to five lines of">
      <param name="contest3"        value="instructions to successful solvers.">
      <param name="contest4"        value="You should tell them what actions they">
      <param name="contest5"        value="will be expected to perform after they">
      <param name="contest6"        value="click the submit button.">
    The text which you provide here will be presented to any solver who has entered a complete (though not necessarily correct) solution to a contest puzzle. It will appear in the area normally occupied by the puzzle which is temporarily over-written. The solver will also be presented with a submit button which, when clicked, will lead them to the submit page which is displayed in a new browser window.

  • Configure the Submit button. Use the submitloc parameter to specify the size and location of the button, and the submit parameter to specify the label printed inside the button.

  • It is your responsibility to create the page which handles the submit operation. When the Submit button is clicked, the browser will open a new window, and link to your submit URL with the string ?message=AcrosticParagraph&time=solution time appended to it. You will need to use some scripting to extract the Acrostic Paragraph and the Solution Time from the HTML header, and you will need to set up a form to receive the solvers name and address details.

  • If you want the last word in simplicity in setting up your online contest, you can arrange for an email to be sent to you when the solver has entered a complete (though not necessarily correct) solution, and this email will contain a complete image of the solvers attempt, along with the time taken to complete the puzzle. The steps involved here are as follows:-

    • Add the URL to the end of the Puzzle Notes as described above. The URL to be used must be of the form
      mailto:youraddress@yourdomain.com?subject= Crossword competition entry
      The sections shown in red can be varied to suit your own requirements. If you wish, you can enter two mailto: items separated by a single space. If you do this, then correct entries will be forwarded to the email address included in the first mailto: while incorrect entries will be forwarded to the email address in the second mailto:.
    • Using the parameters contest1 to contest6 define the text which will be displayed to the solver when a puzzle has been completed.
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<param name="correct1"      value="CONGRATULATIONS!">
<param name="correct2"      value="Your solution is correct.">
<param name="correct3"      value="Why not select another puzzle">
<param name="correct4"      value="from the choice box above?">
This is where you can control the text which is presented to a successful solver of a puzzle which is not part of a contest. Once again, please follow the same rules which applied in the case of Help.
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<param name="rewardgraphic" value="reward.jpg">
<param name="rewardsound"   value="reward.au">
<param name="rewardmsg" value="Well done!">
As an alternative to displaying a simple text message to a successful solver, you can instead use the rewardgraphic parameter to specify the name of a .jpg graphic file which will be displayed to the solver. Optional additions to this display are the inclusion of a .au sound file using the rewardsound parameter and a brief text message using the rewardmsg parameter.
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A note on setting Applet component locations.
The size and location of all of the major components of the Applet may be controlled by the webmaster using the parameters referred to in this section. The value which sets the size and location of a given component consists of a string of exactly twelve digits which is to be viewed as four three digit numbers joined together. These four numbers represent the "top", "left", "bottom" and "right" coordinates of the component. To derive the values of these numbers, imagine the area of the Applet being divided into 1,000 vertical columns (numbered 000 to 999) and 1,000 horizontal rows (also numbered 000 to 999). The components of the Applet are superimposed on this coordinate system and the required numbers can easily be calculated.
<param name="titleloc"      value="000 000 088 999">
<param name="peekloc"       value="153 350 218 550">
<param name="errorloc"      value="218 350 283 550">
<param name="saveloc"       value="000 000 000 000">
<param name="helploc"       value="283 450 348 550">
<param name="notesloc"      value="283 350 348 450">
<param name="helpokloc"     value="850 708 905 810">
<param name="submitloc"     value="850 708 905 810">
<param name="timelabloc"    value="088 350 153 450">
<param name="timedisploc"   value="088 450 153 550">
<param name="graphloc"      value="175 000 175 000">
<param name="clueloc"       value="175 000 348 350">
<param name="choiceloc"     value="088 000 175 350">
<param name="puzzleloc"     value="348 000 999 550">
<param name="keywordloc"    value="088 550 999 999">
You may wish to omit some of these components. This can be achieved by setting the value to "000 000 000 000".
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</applet>
This line terminates the applet HTML tag.
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  • Good luck with your interactive Acrostic puzzles. If you would like to enhance your web site even further, why not investigate the other great Crossword Express applets. They will all become available to you at no extra charge when you register the Pro version of Crossword Express. Find out all you need to know about Registering Crossword Express and about the great benefits you will receive when you do.
How to Register Crossword Express.
Register on-Line using PayPal.
Return to the Crossword Express Home Page.