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Posts Tagged ‘element’

Clipping in JavaScript with Absolute Positioning

If you program games in JavaScript, you will often find it necessary to clip the region of an image that lies outside of the viewport. The solution is easy, but not obvious. The elements in a game are generally positioned using the “absolute” positioning designation: For example, the line qrMadonna.style.position = “absolute”; in the program below sets the positioning that the image of the Madonna, qrMadonna, refers to to absolute. (For an explanation of absolute positioning, see our post on positioning elements.)

Below, we have the code for an HTML file and a JavaScript file. The HTML file is essentially blank; it is simply used to call the JavaScript file, “ClipImage.js” and execute the code.

The file “ClipImage.js” contains four variables that refer to four nested HTML elements. The outermost element is the body; this element was created in the HTML file and is retrieved via a call to the getElementsByTagName() function, along with the array operator. After this, we create a div called qrOuterDiv to hold everything; this outer div is created to allow the code inside to flow normally, since it does not have absolute positioning (Otherwise, it is not needed.) The next element is qrInnerDiv, and it contains the image element that we are clipping; it is necessary that this element have its position as “absolute” and its overflow as “hidden”. Finally, the image element qrImage is 200×149 and is positioned at (125, 100) inside of the div, which is 300×200. So, the image hangs outside of the div by 25 and 49 pixels, respectively.

To illustrate this, we have an resulting image of what this clipping looks like below. The faint region that lies outside the dark gray rectangle is actually clipped. We show this region so that you can see what has been clipped. We also have the original image of the “Madonna and Child with Cherubs” that we used in the example, at the top of the article.

HTML File: “ClipImage.html”


<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
<head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
    <title>XoaX.net's Javascript Clipping Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="ClipImage.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

JavaScript File: “ClipImage.js”


var qrBody;
var qrOuterDiv;
var qrInnerDiv;
var qrImage;

function PageLoaded() {
    // Get the main body element, first/only element of array
    qrBody = document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0];

    qrOuterDiv = document.createElement("div");
    qrBody.appendChild(qrOuterDiv);

    qrInnerDiv = document.createElement("div");
    qrInnerDiv.style.backgroundColor = "#444444";
    qrInnerDiv.style.width = "300px";
    qrInnerDiv.style.height = "200px";
    qrInnerDiv.style.position = "absolute";
    qrInnerDiv.style.overflow = "hidden";
    qrOuterDiv.appendChild(qrInnerDiv);

    qrImage = document.createElement("img");
    qrImage.src = "MadonnaAndChildWithCherubs.jpg";
    qrImage.style.position = "absolute";
    qrImage.style.left = "125px";
    qrImage.style.top = "100px";
    qrInnerDiv.appendChild(qrImage);
}

window.onload = PageLoaded;

Specifying Colors in HTML with CSS

Colors in a computer are made up of three color channels: Red, Green, and Blue. These three channels are combined to form all colors. For example, when the three channels are at their maximum value, we get the color white. On the other hand, if all of the channels are set to zero, then we get the color black. We have several methods for setting a color in CSS.

RGB Values

background-color: rgb(255, 240, 200);

For our first method of setting a color, we use the rgb() functional notation. Inside the parentheses, the three values are given as comma separated decimal integers that range between 0 and 255. Above, we have a div that we set with the values red = 255, green = 240, and blue = 200. Since all of the channels are close to their maximum value of 255, the color is close to white. However, is has an orange tint because the red and green channels are the largest.

RGB Percentage Values

background-color: rgb(65%, 95%, 75%);

Instead of the values 0 to 255, we can use percentages. The notation is similar to the prior RGB Values except that the values are given as percentages instead of integers: rgb(65%, 95%, 75%). So, the value 0% is is the same as 0, and the value 100% is the same as 255, in RGB Values. Percentages can be given as fractional numbers, since they will be mapped to the range of values 0 to 255. For example, the color above, rgb(65%, 95%, 75%), is the same as rgb(255*.65, 255*.95, 255*.75) = rgb(165.75, 242.25, 191.25). Of course, since the color values can only be integers, these values are rounded to integers before they can be displayed. The color above has a larger green component in it, so looks green.

Hexadecimal RGB

background-color: #f4cfe5;

If you are wondering why the color values run from 0 to 255, then you might not be familiar with hexadecimal. However, you should learn it because it is a more convenient format for representing how computers store numbers. If you are not familiar with it I suggest watching our short videos on bits and bytes and binary, octal, and hexadecimal. These videos will go a long way toward clearing up this extremely important topic, which is likely to trouble you until you get it sorted out.

The hexadecimal RGB format uses a # sign to signal the hexadecimal format, which is then followed by three sets of two hexadecimal digits to represent the red, green, and blue channels:

   #f4cfe5.

These values convert to f4 = 244, cf = 207, and e5 = 229 in decimal. It takes some time to get used to hexadecimal. Once you do, however, it is more convenient to work with since the values from 0 to 255 can be represented with exactly two digits in hexadecimal. As you can see, the color above is a light purple because the red and blue channels are the largest.

Hexadecimal RGB Abbreviated

background-color: #adf;

The abbreviated hexadecimal format is similar to the two digit hexadecimal format, except that it only uses one digit to represent two digits. It does this by repeating the single hexadecimal digit. So, the abbreviated hexadecimal value #adf is the same as #aaddff:

   #adf

The color above is greenish-blue because the blue channel is the largest followed by the green.

Color Names

background-color: orange;

In addition to the formats above, it is possible to specify a color by name. There are only 17 names that are standardized. First, there is orange, which is shown above and is equal to the color #ffa500 in hexadecimal. The other 16 names are shown below, along with their hexadecimal equivalents.

black
#000000
gray
#808080
silver
#c0c0c0
white
#ffffff
maroon
#800000
red
#ff0000
purple
#800080
fuchsia
#ff00ff
green
#008000
lime
#00ff00
olive
#808000
yellow
#ffff00
navy
#000080
blue
#0000ff
teal
#008080
aqua
#0000ff

Other color designations are available in HTML 5. However, these formats are not supported in all browsers at this time.

Centering HTML Elements with CSS Absolute Positioning

Here, we have a medium gray, outer div element with a lighter gray div inside it. The inner div is 300 pixels by 250 pixels and has a 5 pixel wide border with a padding width of 10 pixels. So, the inner div is 2*5 + 2*10 + 300 = 330 pixels wide and 2*5 + 2*10 + 250 = 280 pixels high. The outer div has a 30 pixel margin around it for presentation.

(Proverbs 20:1-4) Wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness riotous: whosoever is delighted therewith shall not be wise. As the roaring of a lion, so also is the dread of a king: he that provoketh him, sinneth against his own soul. It is an honour for a man to separate himself from quarrels: but all fools are meddling with reproaches. Because of the cold the sluggard would not plough: he shall beg therefore in the summer, and it shall not be given him.

To center a block element both vertically and horizontally within another element, we use negative margins. However, first we set the left and top positions at 50%. This places the upper-left corner of the inner div in the center of the outer div. To correct this placement and put the center of the inner div in the center of the outer div, we use a negative margin that is half the size of the inner div in both the horizontal and vertical directions. These values are 330/2 = 165 and 280/2 = 140, respectively. So, the left and top margins are set to -165px and -140px. The HTML and CSS to create the effect above is shown below.


<div style="position:absolute; width:480px; height:360px; background-color:#aaaaaa; margin:30px;">

<div style="position:absolute; background-color:#DDDDDD; width:300px; height:250px; padding:10px; border:5px solid #444444; left:50%; top:50%; margin-left:-165px; margin-top:-140px;">

<p>(Proverbs 20:1-4) Wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness riotous: whosoever is delighted therewith shall not be wise. As the roaring of a lion, so also is the dread of a king: he that provoketh him, sinneth against his own soul. It is an honour for a man to separate himself from quarrels: but all fools are meddling with reproaches. Because of the cold the sluggard would not plough: he shall beg therefore in the summer, and it shall not be given him. </p>

</div>

</div>

 

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