Common Frequently Asked Questions
This document covers most of frequently asked questions regarding COOLjsMenu, COOLjsMenu Professional, COOLjsTree, and COOLjsTree Professional scripts. If you think we are missing something, please write your suggestions to the following address: jsinfo@cooldev.com. Spelling and grammar tips are also greatly welcome.
Contents
Questions and answers
1. General problems
1.1. Script does not work!
Looks like you're in trouble. Please double check if this is not cache issues (try to clear cache and restart your browser). Then try to identify if symptoms fall under some category covered in this FAQ (also, our forum can have answers to your question). Finally, you can ask technical support for assistance.
1.2. Builder does not work!
Both of our builders (for trees and menus) are not yet completed and they do have bugs. We are working on a new builders which will be much more robust, and probably they will work offline at users desktop. Please follow our announcements at JSCD. And don't forget that you can always ask technical support to help you in setting up your tree or menu and filling its structure.
1.3. I've found a bug!
Make sure that this is not a feature, covered in our documentation or samples' galleries. Also, make sure that it is not mentioned in this FAQ, and our forum does not contain related information. Finally, try to get latest version of the script - it might contain fix.
So, now you are sure that this is really bug, and it is not covered anywhere. Please, report it to technical support team, and they probably will propose some workaround until new version of the script is released. It would be nice if your report will contain not only "I've found a bug!", but also steps to reproduce it along with your environment description: operational system, browser, list of patches applied to both of them. Also, it is important for us to know what version of script do you use (you can find this information at the very top of the .js file). Please, let us know that this bug troubles you even if it is covered in the forum, and workarounds are known. This will help us prioritise things better, and most "wanted" issues will be revised first of all.
1.4. I need some new feature!
This is normal: our world constantly evolves, and people need new features and want to improve old ones. After realizing that you need some new feature, please make sure that it is really new and is not yet available. Our galleries at JSCD will help you to get an overview of existing features.
Then send your detailed feature description to our technical support team: screenshots and links to sites with similar functionality are greatly welcome. It is possible that the feature you need is already under development, or it already has been developed as separate patch or module, so answer may (or may not) be instant.
Regarding fees for developing new features following statement is in effect: small features cost low, and complex ones cost high. If you need tiny functionality modification which can be achieved via couple of additional code lines, chances that it will be free. More complicated cases involve some money.
Please keep in mind that we support only those features that are included in the release versions of our scripts. I.e. if your feature is not a customization and it worth of including into the package, then it probably will be included, and all consequent versions will also include it. But if you've asked for individual feature development then it will be done for the latest version of the script, and updates will be treated as new feature requests.
1.5. I'm getting "COOLjsTree/COOLjsMenu is undefined" error message!
This error message means that script initialization process was not completed because main object was not created. First possible reason: not all .js files were included correctly. Inclusion is usually done in the following manner:
This line usually goes to <HEAD>...</HEAD> section of HTML code, and it must appear before scripts initialization. Make sure that path is valid (i.e. it really points to the needed file). Also, make sure that slashes are straigh - not backslashes, and that case of letters in the HTML code matches to the case of real file names.
Second possible reason: misspelling of product name. We are selling COOLjsTree and COOLjsMenu (first four letters are capital, then small 'j' and 's', and finally word "Tree" or "Menu" with first letter capitalized), but "CoolTree" while "COOLMenu" are completely different things. So, please don't misspell product names. Correct variants are: COOLjsTree, COOLjsMenu, COOLjsTree Professional, COOLjsMenu Professional.
1.6. When I click node/item nothing happens!
If you've specified some URL to be assigned to some menu item or tree node, but nothing happens when you click it (or new blank window with error message appears), then probably you have <BASE> tag somewhere in your HTML code. Get rid of it, and problem will gone almost for sure. If you were using this tag to redirect links to other frame, then you were misusing script, because both tree and menu can do same thing.
COOLjsMenu and COOLjsMenu Professional:
COOLjsTree and COOLjsTree Professional:
1.7. When I use "javascript:myFunc()" as URL everything disappears!
Probably, your function returns some value. When some code is executed using "javascript:" protocol and return value of that code is not empty, browser treats this value as new content of the page, causing window to reload.
To cancel this behavior you can put your function call into "void()" pseudo function which discards any return value:
1.8. Problems with Netscape Communicator 4.x: it freezes, it stalls, it crashes.
NN 4.x is known by its numerous bugs and misfeatures. Some people report that menu or tree freezes when loading locally (from hard drive), but when they move the mouse pointer and switch to other applications, download resumes. And when they are accessing online menu or tree, there is no stalls. Other people report reverse situation: locally site loads very fast, but online version causes NN to stall. Also, stability is painful question. Can you imagine that JavaScript application causes browser crush? All modern browsers strictly watch scripts they run - to prevent any malicious actions. But Netscape is so unstable that it allows script to crush the browser... That was a great platform for the first days of the real Web, but now...
On our site we state that NN 4.x is supported. Yes, our scripts support this platform. But its greate unstability can compromise usability of web-pages when using complex scripts like COOLjsTree or COOLjsMenu. Fortunately, number of users who is using modern browsers keeps growing, and eventually nobody will need NN 4.x support.
1.9. I see a warning like "active content blocked", and demos do not work!
Probably, this happens when you're using Internet Explorer 6+. This warning applies to local files only, and it does not affect websites. If you want to get rid of this warning on your own computer, go to "Control Panel" | "Internet Options" | "Advanced", and set these two checkboxes: "Allow active content from CDs to run on My Computer" and "Allow active content to run in files on my Computer".
1.10. Do your scripts work with prototype.js?
Yes, they do. If they don't for you, then make sure that you're using latest versions. Also, including prototype.js after our scripts might help.
Special note about prototype.js 1.3 and below. These versions modify Object.prototype, and because of this most of hash-related functionality renders broken. Our scripts won't work with these versions, and never will be. Most of complex third-party scripts do not work with older prototype.js either. The only solution is to upgrade your prototype.js to version 1.4 or above.
2. Licensing
2.1. Where can I find license notice?
You can read license notice for every product by clicking "Order" link on the Donwload/Order page. Sure, you don't have to buy something to read license.
2.2. What does "non-profit" mean?
It is simple: if your web-page will not give you more money than you are spending to support it, then it falls under non-profit category.
2.3. What does "personal use" mean?
"Personal" means that you will use scripts for your own projects like a home page or page about pets. Your company's site is definitely non-personal.
2.4. What if several of my people use the script at the same time?
If script was purchased by your company, and your workers use it as a part of their work for your company, then it is ok.
2.5. Is the Professional version available an no cost for non-profit web sites?
No, Professional version is available only as full package without any discounts.
2.6. How can I register your scripts?
Buying our scripts means registering them. I.e. after purchase you'll receive .zip package with registered version of scripts along with documentation and samples.
To register free versions you need to let us know that you want to use our scripts on your website. No farther steps are required.
2.7. How can I remove watermark?
Commercial versions (i.e. non-free) are supplied without watermarks. Free version must always have watermark - removing it means law violation. So, to have our scripts without watermarks you need to buy at least Standard edition. In some cases instead of purchasing license you can "exchange" it - you can have non-Professional version for back link to our site. To find out if this is possible in your particular case please write to jssales@cooldev.com.
2.8. Should I keep copyright notices?
Yes, you have to keep copyright notices in the body of your copy. This condition does not depend on the edition: Free, Standard, and Professional all must be with these copyright notices inside.
3. Payments
3.1. What forms of payment do you accept?
All our financial operations are done via ShareIt! - famous company which supports idea of Shareware. They accept virually all possbile forms of payment, so do we. You can read more about this at ShareIt! Customer Care Center.
3.2. I've lost my registration info!
Go to ShareIt! Customer Care Center and ask their technical support team to recover your account.
4. Technical support
4.1. What kind of support do you provide?
We provide pre-purchase and post-purchase technical support: we can help you to try our products in your project, to set them up, to make advanced tuning and to do some customization. You can ask a quick question and you can ask for a new feature - depending on amount of work some fees can be charged.
4.2. How can I receive updates?
After purchase you will be subscribed to mailing list, and on every release you will receive newsletter with your own download link which will be available only for two weeks. Clicking this link will result in a package download, and you'll receive your own registered scripts.
If you do not receive updates for some reason, you can ask technical support by e-mail to send you latest version manually. In this case don't forget to include your Ref.No. from registration letter.
Those customers who use free versions will not receive newsletters, but they also can ask technical support to send latest version. Also they can download latest stable package by themselves from our Donwload/Order page.
4.3. How can I get latest versions?
On every stable release customers receive newsletter with a download link (please read previous answer). If you want to get latest alpha- or beta-stage software, you can ask technical support.
5. Databases and CGI
5.1. What database engines are supported?
There are many possibilities to use our scripts with databases. Tree and menu do not support databases by themselves, but additional scripts do. With COOLjsTree Professional package we supply following ASP + MS Access (MS Jet 4.0) sample, and some support code for Perl (assuming that you will add specific database support manually). Also, we supply ColdFusion Custom tags for the COOLjsTree Professional along with a demo.
If you wan't to use some other database engine, you can ask technical support to help you. At the moment, we have following samples: COOLjsMenu and COOLjsMenu Professional with ASP + MS Access, COOLjsTree and COOLjsTree Professional with ASP + MS Access, PHP + MS SQL, PHP + MySQL. Other samples can be created at your request: virtually every database engine which has some interface for using in web-server environment can be combined with menu or tree script.
Instead of providing samples we can set the script up in your database environment for some fee. To get this kind of support write to jssupport@cooldev.com.
5.2. What CGI engines are supported?
We have samples written in Perl, PHP, ASP (VBScript and JSctipt), ColdFusion. We can write other samples at your request, so please feel free to ask technical support for help.
As in case with database egines, Instead of providing samples we can set the script up in your CGI environment for some fee. To get this kind of support write to jssupport@cooldev.com.
5.3. Can SSI affect your scripts?
No, SSI cannot affect how our scripts will run unless you'll do something weird, and SSI processor will output invalid HTML/JavaScript code. The most common mistake here is including non-Professional version into some table cell or other container: non-Professional cannot be used like this and such inclusion will result in a wrong script behavior.
6. Other questions
6.1. What is the difference between COOLjsMenu and COOLjsTree?
COOLjsMenu looks and behaves like usual menu at the top of most computer programs/applications - horizontal bar with items and dropdown submenus. But menu is not limited to this. You can look at the samples of its possible forms/usage here: COOLjsMenu and COOLjsMenu Professional samples.
COOLjsTree Professional is basically a tree - like the tree on the left side of the Explorer when you are browsing your disk drives (I assume you are using PC with Windows; if not, then probably you have some other program to browse files with a hierarchical view of folders). It's form and behavior is more limited than menu's form and behavior: tree by it's definition can only be a tree. But you still have many options to customize: images, styles of text, contents of nodes (there can be text, images, form elements, forms, and many other things - almost any HTML code). Samples are here: COOLjsTree and COOLjsTree Professional.
6.2. Are data structures of menu and tree similar? Can I use single file to configure both these scripts?
Data structures are similar because they both represent hierarchical system of nodes. But menu has much more options to adjust its visual appearance, and its configuration file has much more complex format. So, you cannot use single configuration file for both tree and menu. But after making some development efforts you can use single database table as structure for both these scripts.
6.3. How fast do tree and menu evolve? How active is the development process?
You can see the log of our not so minor updates on the frontpage: http://javascript.cooldev.com/ (couple of the most recent releases is not yet listed). As you can see, we a releasing some new version at lease once a month (since Feb we had some more releases: COOLjsTree Professional 2.3.0 and 2.3.1, COOLjsMenu Professional 1.8.0, 1.8.1, 2.0.0b ans 2.1.0b, and some more).
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