Known Hazards and Most Favorable Conditions of the Archive

What follows are known compatibility problems for several features of the Archive with respect to various browsers and platforms. We are doing our best to resolve these problems, but some of them are products of rapidly changing technology and because of that are beyond our immediate control.

Bug reports are welcome, and may be submitted here. Your findings will be most useful to us if they are documented with specific information about your platform, browser, and a careful description of the actual problem or error.

NOTE: Users have experienced major problems viewing the Archive with Internet Explorer 6. These problems can be corrected. Click here for directions.

Most Favorable Operating Conditions

• The Blake Archive is ideally viewed using Windows 95 or higher, Netscape Navigator 3.01 or higher OR Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher, and a 17" High-Resolution monitor or larger (you can determine your browser's version number by selecting "About" under its pull-down Help menu).

• If possible, your monitor should be set to Gamma 1.8 and a White Point of 5000K, as these are the settings used for color-correcting the in-line and enlarged images in the Archive.

Known Hazards for the Macintosh

• As a general rule, the Archive's Java features (Inote and the ImageSizer) are less stable on the Macintosh than on the PC. Mac users with a PowerPC should be using both System 8 and Netscape Communicator 4.01 or higher -- this is the (Macintosh) combination under which the Archive's Java features perform most reliably. Users with a 68K Mac should opt for the non-Java site, even if they are running System 8 and Communicator 4.01 or higher. Likewise, Mac users running Internet Explorer should opt for the non-Java site.

• Inote:
  • If the Inote window displays a "Ready" message but fails to display an image, resizing the window slightly will display the image.
  • We have found that increasing Netscape's alloted memory is beneficial to Inote's performance on the Mac: Preferred Memory should be set to at least 20,000K, Minimum Memory to at least 6000K. Switching your system's Virtual Memory on or off does not seem to make a difference.
  • For Mac users, text will not wrap properly in the annotation windows except in Netscape Communicator 4.0; however, Netscape Communicator 4.0 (Mac version) will not display images at all in Inote windows(!). This problem appears to have been corrected in Communicator 4.01, which displays both text and images properly -- if you manually resize the Inote window once Inote has loaded the image.
  • The annotation window may open its list of component descriptions at the bottom, rather than the top, of the list. Should this be the case, users can simply scroll to the top.
  • Finally, as a general rule, Inote runs slowly on Macs. Please resist the temptation to "overclick" your mouse when the program appears unresponsive; most probably it is working, and will perform if given a bit of time. (Too many clicks though, and it will crash.)

• The ImageSizer:
  • On versions of Netscape below 4.01, the first time you click the ImageSizer's Calibrate button, it will launch a new window, but it will not put anything in that window. The solution is to click a second time on the Calibrate button -- the second click will bring up the Calibration applet in that new window.
  • The Info window (displayed after you click the Info button) must be dismissed either with "Close" from the File menu, or by pressing apple-W.
  • Occasionally, users will notice Java code displayed on-screen in place of the image. This appears to be a bug emenating from the way Communicator and/or the Mac process Java. The solution is simply to reload the page, or to try a different page, and then come back to the one that initially produced the error. Restarting the browser may also help.
  • Images dispalyed by the ImageSizer tend to load very slowly in the Macintosh version of Communicator.
  • The delete function in the Calibration applet does not work; however, users may restore their display to its original setting by altering the value that is recorded the Calibration dialogue box and clicking Save.

Known Hazards for Netscape Navigator and Communicator

• Users may experience compatibility problems between Netscape Communicator 4.6 and the Archive's ImageSizer applet. The symptoms are these: the first time you load an Object View page in the Archive, the applet will work properly. But once you select a second page, the applet fails to load (you will see only a block of blank space in the center of the screen); moreover, all of the links on the page are rendered non-functional (you must instead navigate through the browser's buttons). If this is a problem for you, the only solution we have at this point is to shut down your browser and return, opting for the non-Java portion of the site. If and when we correct the problem or discover a workaround, we will post it here.
• The Javascript-based Search History feature requires Netscape 3.01 or higher; it does not, however, require a 32-bit operating system.

Known Hazards for Internet Explorer

• If you are running Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x, you may not be able to view Java-encoded portions of the Archive. This is because IE 6 does not install Java by default. You may be prompted to install it when you encounter a Java applet, but if your browser does not prompt you, you can do a manual installation:
  • Go to the main Microsoft download page.
  • Under "Search for a Download," select "Virtual Machine" from the "Product Name" menu. Make sure the operating system selected in the "Operating System" pull-down menu matches yours, then click the "Find It" button.
  • A list of possible downloads will appear just below the button you clicked. All of the list components should be different "builds" of the Virtual Machine. Select the build with the highest number.
  • A new window will open with directions on how to download and install the Java Virtual Machine.
  Installation may require you to restart your computer, but once you have done that, you should be able to view the Java-encoded portions of the Archive.

• The image displayed in Inote's panner window may be distorted; IE version 4.0 corrects this, but seems in turn to disable Inote's scrollbars.

• The Javascript-based Search History feature may not work; it has been optimized for Netscape 3.01 or higher, but appears to function with the 4.0 generation of Explorer browsers.

• If you are using the optional Search History feature, your browser's Back button may not be capable of returning you to the Image Search page—use the "Image Search" link instead.

Pop-Up Blockers

• Most internet browsers now include a pop-up block feature that prevents websites from opening up new windows. This feature will prevent you from accessing some resources and tools in the Blake Archive. When using the Archive, you will need to allow the site to open pop-up windows in your browser by selecting the appropriate command in your browser (such as allowing this site to open any new windows, or simply turning off the pop-up blocker in the Tools/Options for your browser).

Image Resizing in Browsers

• Most internet browsers automatically resize large images so as to fit them in the navigation window. This feature will reduce the image enlargements that the Blake Archive provides for every available object (in the Show Me menu on each Object View Page). When this occurs in your browser, you can either return the image to its full size (by resizing it again in the window) or simply turn off the resizing feature (in the Tools/Options of your browser).

Known Hazards for X Windows (AIX)

• The first few words of the text in Inote's annotation windows may appear truncated.

• The ImageSizer's Info button does not function.

Known Hazards for 16-bit Operating Systems (e.g. Windows 3.x)

• 16-bit operating systems will not support Java. In order to take advantage of the Archive's Java-based features (Inote and the ImageSizer) you must be using a 32-bit operating system (such as Windows 95). Javascript however, which is used by the Search History feature, does not require a 32-bit operating system.

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