The InternetIllustrated Introductory, Fourth Edition

1
The InternetIllustrated Introductory, Fourth
Edition

• Unit H
• Extending Browser Capabilities

2
U n i t O b j e c t i v e s

• Understand graphics
• Understand multimedia
• Understand browser extensions
• Locate browser extensions

3
U n i t O b j e c t i v e s

• Download and install extensions with Internet
  Explorer
• Download and install extensions with Firefox
• Use browser extensions

4
Understand Graphics

• Most Web sites incorporate graphics into their
  designs
• Graphics help Web site users
• find information more easily
• strongly influence the Web sites look and feel

5
Understand Graphics

• Graphics on the Web are in the following formats
• Compressed
• GIF
• JPEG
• PNG
• Uncompressed
• BMP
• TIFFPCX

6
Understand Graphics

• GIF files
• GIF is an acronym for Graphics Interchange Format
• can contain up to 256 colors
• uses lossless compression technology
• The algorithm that compresses GIF files is owned
  by Unisys
• programs that create GIF files must pay a
  licensing fee to Unisys

7
Understand Graphics

• JPEG files
• JPEG is an acronym for Joint Photographic Experts
  Group
• can store over 16 million colors
• particularly useful for photographs
• uses lossy compression technology

8
Understand Graphics

• PNG files
• a license-free, compressed format
• similar to GIF format
• cannot be used to create animations
• Promoters of PNG want it to become the prevailing
  Web standard
• it is not yet widely used because some browsers
  cannot display PNG files

9
Understand Graphics

• BMP
• Windows bitmap file format
• TIFF
• Tagged Image File Format
• PCX
• PC Paintbrush format
• Web page designers usually avoid these
  uncompressed formats because Web browsers take
  too long to download them

10
Understand Multimedia

• Audio File Formats
• Wave (WAV) format
• MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
  format
• AU format
• MPEG Audio Layer 3 (MP3) format

11
Understand Multimedia

• Wave (WAV) format
• digitizes audio waveform information at a user
  specified sampling rate
• can be played on any Windows computer that
  supports sound
• a WAV file that stores one minute of CD-quality
  sound can be more than 1 megabyte in size
• MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
  format
• digitally records information about each element
  of the sound, including its pitch, length, and
  volume
• much smaller than WAV files
• often used on the Web

12
Understand Multimedia

• AU format
• audio file format used by the UNIX operating
  system
• many pages available on the Web were created on
  computers running the UNIX operating system
• approximately the same size as WAV files
• MPEG Audio Layer 3 (MP3) format
• audio portion of MPEG video format
• somewhat lower in quality than WAV files
• 90 smaller than WAV files

13
Understand Multimedia

• Video File Formats AVI and MPEG
• common formats used for video on the Web
• can be played using the same software that plays
  many other multimedia file types, including the
  player that comes with Windows
• AVI files
• uncompressed files
• can be very large
• MPEG files
• use lossy compression

14
Understand Multimedia

• Proprietary File Formats
• RealAudio
• RealVideo
• Windows Media Audio
• Windows Media Video
• Advanced Systems Format
• QuickTime

15
Understand Multimedia

• RealNetworks, Inc
• RealAudio format for audio files
• RealVideo format for video files
• have filename extensions of .ra, .ram, or .rmj
• need one of the Real file players from Real.com
• Windows
• Windows Media Audio (.wma filename extension)
• Windows Media Video (.wmv filename extension)
• Advanced Systems Format (.asf extension)
• need Windows Media Player
• Apple Computer
• QuickTime
• works equally well on Windows and Macintosh
  computers
• need QuickTime player

16
Understand Browser Extensions

• Browser extensions
• enhance the capabilities of Web browsers by
  allowing a Web browser to perform tasks that it
  was not originally designed to do
• Three types of browser extensions
• Plug-ins
• programs that a Web browser starts to display or
  play a specific file type
• can start only from within a Web browser
• Helper applications or helper apps
• separate programs that are launched to display or
  play some files that can start independently of
  Web browsers
• Add-ons
• browser extensions that enhance your browsing
  experience

17
Understand Browser Extensions

• Image Viewer extensions
• let the Web browser display graphics, such as
  interactive road maps or non-standard graphic
  file formats
• Sound Player extensions
• let your Web browser play non-standard audio file
  formats
• Video Player extensions
• let your browser play videos

18
Understand Browser Extensions

• Document and Productivity extensions
• let you use a Web browser to read certain types
  of documents, such as PDF documents
• 3-D Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML)
  extensions
• a programming language used to create
  three-dimensional environments in which users can
  navigate and interact with a three dimensional
  scene.
• popular applications
• games in which players can interact with the
  objects they encounter
• virtual location tours

19
Understand Browser Extensions

• Animation extensions
• allow you to play interactive games
• view animated interfaces
• listen to streaming CD-quality audio music and
  speech
• view instructional presentations
• Macromedias Shockwave Player
• one of the most popular animation extensions
• Macromedias Flash Player
• an animation plug-in so popular, it is installed
  automatically with some browsers

20
Locate Browser Extensions

• You can find and download browser extensions from
  
• download sites
• developers sites

21
Clues to Use

• What happens when you encounter a Web page that
  requires an extension?
• If you have the extension, the content will
  display properly
• If you do not have the extension
• you might see only what your browser can activate
  without the extension
• the page might display an icon or empty frame,
  indicating that you are missing an extension
• another page might open with a link to the site
  where you can download the required plug-in
• a dialog box might appear providing information
  about the missing plug-in and where to obtain it
• When you click the link or follow the
  instructions,
• the developers Web site opens allowing you to
  download the plug-in
• usually, you can allow the browser to install the
  plug-in right then and there

22
Download and Install Extensions with Internet
Explorer

• You can download and install browser extensions
  just as you would other software for your
  computer
• Internet Explorer also allows you to
  automatically download and install some
  extensions by simply clicking a link on a Web
  page

23
Download and Install Extensions with Firefox

• You download and install browser extensions for
  Firefox just as you would other software for your
  computer
• You first download the extension to your
  computer, then double-click it to run the
  installation wizard.

24
Clues to Use

• Anyone who writes a Firefox extension can submit
  it to the Mozilla Update Web site
• after the site administrator tests and accepts
  it, it is added to the list of extensions
  available on this site
• To install an extension from this site, click
  Tools, Extensions, Get More Extensions
• the Extensions page on the Mozilla Updates Web
  site opens
• click the link of the extension you want to
  install
• follow the instructions to install the extension
• after the installation is complete, the new
  extension is added to the bottom of the list in
  the Extensions window
• restart Firefox if necessary

25
Use Browser Extensions

• If the required browser extension is installed
• you do not have to do anything special to view
  content on a Web page that requires that
  particular browser extension
• the Web page will display the content as it was
  designed

26
Use Browser Extensions

• To interact with a Shockwave site
• click objects on the page
• some of the objects are interactive

27
Extending Browser Capabilities Includes

• Understanding graphics
• Understanding multimedia
• Understanding browser extensions
• Locating browser extensions
• Clues to use Knowing when you need an extension

28
Extending Browser Capabilities Includes (cont.)

• Downloading and installing extensions with
  Internet Explorer
• Downloading and installing extensions with
  Firefox
• Clues to use Using Mozilla Update
• Using browser extensions

29
Terms to Use

• Animated GIF
• a file that combines several images into a single
  GIF file so that the images can be displayed one
  after the other to simulate movement

30
Terms to Use

• Lossless compression
• technology that reduces file size without any
  loss of data
• Lossy compression
• technology that eliminates redundant and
  unnecessary data in an image to reduce the file
  size
• the discarded data isnt usually noticeable to
  the human eye
• the greater the level of compression, the more
  data is lost and the smaller the file size gets.

31
Terms to Use

• multimedia
• sound, animation, and video
• streaming transmission
• transferring sound and video files on the Web in
  which the Web server sends the first part of the
  file to the Web browser, which begins playing the
  file, and while the browser is playing the first
  part of the file, the server is sending the next
  segment of the file