Multimedia Types

Advanced Users

This section describes how you can change the way GED-GEN displays various multimedia file formats that appear on multimedia gallery Slide pages.

GED-GEN handles many common multimedia file formats automatically. However if you are an advanced user, you can alter how your multimedia files are handled on the slide pages. You can also specify new multimedia formats and how they are processed.

To use this advanced feature, you should already be familiar with HTML and web page editing. Please be careful when making changes. GED-GEN does not validate your changes. Any typographical errors or omissions will affect how the generated web pages will display.

Initialization File

GED-GEN uses an initialization file that contains information about multimedia file formats. This file is named multimedia.ini and it resides in the GED-GEN installation folder. By default, that folder is C:\Program Files\GED-GEN, but you may have installed to a different folder. You can edit this file using Windows NotePad or another text editor. However, you should make changes only if you understand how to do so properly. If you make a mistake, GED-GEN may not generate your web pages properly. It is recommended that you make a back-up copy of multimedia.ini before modifying it.

In the initialization file, each multimedia file format is specified under its corresponding file extension. For instance there are sections for JPG images and for WAV sound files. JPG images have the file extension .jpg and WAV sound files have the extension .wav.

If you want to add another multimedia file format, create a new section in multimedia.ini. A section name is the file extension, without the period, between square brackets. Take for example the section already provided for Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The section name is [PDF].

Under each section, you specify various parameters for that multimedia format, for example:

  [PDF]
  MIME=application/pdf
  Icon=icon-pdf.jpg
  Object=mm-document.txt

There is one parameter per line. Each begins with a predefined term, then an equals sign. After the equals sign, you can specify the value of that parameter.

Parameter Description

Parameter	Description
`MIME=`	The Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type. This is a special phrase that identifies a particular multimedia file format. It helps an Internet browser display the media properly. If you add another multimedia format, see MIME Types for a list of other MIME types available.
`Icon=`	The default thumbnail icon to use for this multimedia item. For items that are not images, *GED-GEN* displays a default thumbnail on the thumbnail page and, depending upon the item, on the slide page too. To use a default thumbnail, specify one of the file names listed under Default Thumbnails. If you use one of these file names, *GED-GEN* will create a default image if one does not already exist. Otherwise, specify the name of your own icon file. The icon file itself must reside in the thumb\ sub-folder. Do not include any folder path when you specify a file name. Since *GED-GEN* automatically generates icons for JPG, GIF and PNG file formats, the icon parameter is ignored for these types.
`Object=`	The name of a text file that contains the HTML syntax to display the multimedia item on the slide page. This file must reside in the *GED-GEN* installation folder (default, `C:\Program Files\GED-GEN`).

MIME=

The Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type. This is a special phrase that identifies a particular multimedia file format. It helps an Internet browser display the media properly.

If you add another multimedia format, see MIME Types for a list of other MIME types available.

Icon=

The default thumbnail icon to use for this multimedia item. For items that are not images, GED-GEN displays a default thumbnail on the thumbnail page and, depending upon the item, on the slide page too.

To use a default thumbnail, specify one of the file names listed under Default Thumbnails. If you use one of these file names, GED-GEN will create a default image if one does not already exist. Otherwise, specify the name of your own icon file. The icon file itself must reside in the thumb\ sub-folder. Do not include any folder path when you specify a file name.

Since GED-GEN automatically generates icons for JPG, GIF and PNG file formats, the icon parameter is ignored for these types.

Object=

The name of a text file that contains the HTML syntax to display the multimedia item on the slide page. This file must reside in the GED-GEN installation folder (default, C:\Program Files\GED-GEN).

Note

If you modify multimedia.ini, you must exit and then re-run GED-GEN for your changes to take effect. This file is processed only once, when GED-GEN first starts.

Object Files

Object files are text files that contain the specific HTML code to display a multimedia item on the slide page. They are termed object files because they usually contain HTML <object> elements. Specify the name of an object file using the Object= parameter under each file extension section in multimedia.ini.

GED-GEN provides a default set of object files, which it uses to display common multimedia formats. You can edit these default files, but if you do, create a back-up copy first. You can also create new files to display additional multimedia formats of your own.

The same object file can also be used for more than one media format. For example .mp3, .wav and .mid audio files all specify:

  Object=mm-audio.txt

The text file mm-audio.txt contains the HTML necessary to display an audio file on the slide page.

An object file can include predefined macros. When GED-GEN encounters one of these special terms, it substitutes it with the appropriate text. A macro is a single word, enclosed between two percent (%) signs with no spaces.

MACRO	Substitution
`%FILE%`	The multimedia file name. This is either the original image, the slide image, the HREF Script specified on the Slides tab, or the non-image multimedia file. It will include the relative folder path to access the file from the current folder.
`%DATA%`	The multimedia file name. This is either the original image, the slide image, or the non-image multimedia file. It will include the relative folder path to access the file from the current folder. This macro is used for the data= attribute of an <object> element on a slide page. In contrast to the `%FILE%` macro, it is never replaced by the HREF Script specified on the Slides tab.
`%IMAGE%`	An HTML <img> element. This will be a completely formed <img> element with a src= attribute for either the multimedia image itself, or the default icon representing the item. If you want something different than an <img> element, simply do not specify the `%IMAGE%` macro. Use your own element and other macros like `%FILE%`.
`%MIME%`	The Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type. This is a special phrase that identifies a particular multimedia file format. It helps an Internet browser display the media properly. The MIME type is specified with the `MIME=` parameter under each file extension within the `multimedia.ini` file.
`%ONCLICK%`	The OnClick Script option specified the Slides tab. This will complete an OnClick= attribute.
`%PROMPT%`	The Link Prompt option specified on the Slides tab. This phrase is used for the title= and alt= attributes.
`%RAWIMAGE%`	An HTML <img> element. This will be a completely formed <img> element with a src= attribute set to the original image file in the orig\ sub-folder. You should use this macro only when you are sure the multimedia item resides in the orig\ sub-folder. JPG, PNG and GIF images are not placed in the orig\ sub-folder unless you enable Link to original images on the Slides tab.
`%TARGET%`	The Frame Target option specified on the Slides tab. Note The frame target is ignored when generating pages that conform to the HTML 4.01 Strict standard. Please refer to HTML Conformance. If you want to include a frame target, you must edit the appropriate object files and add the following phrase inside the desired anchor (<a>) elements. `target="%TARGET%"`
`%WIDTH%`	The width of the multimedia item, in pixels. Currently this macro only applies to Flash (.SWF) media. If you specify this macro for other media, an empty string is substituted. That is, `width="%WIDTH%"` results in `width=""`.
`%HEIGHT%`	The height of the multimedia item, in pixels. As for width, this only applies to Flash (.SWF) media.

The use of macros in an object file allows you to write generalized HTML that is converted to specific instances for each actual multimedia file. The default object file for audio formats is mm-audio.txt:

  <!-- Audio -->
  <object classid="clsid:6BF52A52-394A-11d3-B153-00C04F79FAA6"
    data="%DATA%" type="%MIME%"
    class="gg-objaud">
  <param name="url" value="%FILE%">
  <param name="src" value="%FILE%">
  <param name="autoplay" value="false">
  <param name="autoStart" value="0">
       
    <object data="%DATA%" type="%MIME%"
      class="gg-objaud">
    <param name="url" value="%FILE%">
    <param name="src" value="%FILE%">
    <param name="autoplay" value="false">
    <param name="autoStart" value="0">
       
      <a href="%FILE%" onclick="%ONCLICK%"
        title="%PROMPT%">
          %IMAGE%
      </a>
       
    </object>
  </object>

The first <object> element attempts to use the Windows Media Player to "display" an audio file. If that fails, the second <object> attempts to display it generically. And if that fails, a simple link is provided so your website visitor can click to open it directly or download the audio file.

Notice that several macros are also included (emphasized here in blue). When GED-GEN generates a slide page for an audio file named interview.wav, it uses the contents of the above object file and substitutes values for these macros. This results in the actual HTML code generated:

  <!-- Audio -->
  <object classid="clsid:6BF52A52-394A-11d3-B153-00C04F79FAA6"
    data="orig/interview.wav" type="audio/x-wav"
    class="gg-objaud">
  <param name="url" value="orig/interview.wav">
  <param name="src" value="orig/interview.wav">
  <param name="autoplay" value="false">
  <param name="autoStart" value="0">
       
    <object data="orig/interview.wav" type="audio/x-wav"
      class="gg-objaud">
    <param name="url" value="orig/interview.wav">
    <param name="src" value="orig/interview.wav">
    <param name="autoplay" value="false">
    <param name="autoStart" value="0">
       
      <a href="orig/interview.wav" onclick=""
       title="Right-click to Download">
         <img class="gg-sldimg" src="thumb/icon-wav.jpg"
         title="Right-click to Download" alt="Right-click to Download">
      </a>
       
    </object>
  </object>

Note

If you modify multimedia.ini or any of the object files like mm-audio.txt, you must exit and then re-run GED-GEN for your changes to take effect. The files are processed only once, when GED-GEN first starts.

Note

You need not modify the object files if you only want to change the styling of an object element, like the width, height, color and border. Each <object> element specifies a Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) class, like gg-objaud for audio objects. You can override these classes with your own CSS file.

If you modify the initialization file or the object files without making a back-up copy first, you can recover the default files by re-installing GED-GEN. Doing so will re-copy the default files to the installation folder.

Before the existing files are replaced, they are automatically copied to a back-up folder, named backup\, under the installation folder. The default installation folder is C:\Program Files\GED-GEN. Whenever you re-install GED-GEN, or when you install a new version, your existing initialization and object files are copied there.

If you modified these files, you must manually copy your modified files from the back-up folder to the installation folder. If you installed a new version of GED-GEN, you should carefully incorporate any changes in the new default files into your modified files. Otherwise, you may miss any new functionality provided with the new version.

Rather than re-install GED-GEN, you will also find the default initialization and object files available as a separate download at the GED-GEN website.