Using FrontPage 2000 to Create Your Computer Science Toolbox

Tom Kelliher, CS 116

Fall 2000

Introduction

The best introduction is the one given in the top page of the toolbox:

Computer Science is a discipline in which a small set of tools is applied in novel ways to solve problems. The problems we solve vary in complexity from the simplest ``Hello world'' application through complex software and hardware systems controlling traffic flow in a city, sustaining life in a hospital's emergency unit, even toasting our bread!

Acquiring proficiency with these tools is a key requirement for the developing computer scientist. You will see these tools, and the underlying concepts with which we combine them, again and again in your courses. The purpose of this virtual toolbox is to help you keep track of the tools you build during your years here, so that you can reuse (Hey, that's one of the concepts!) them, and to help you see and better understand the underlying concepts that enable us to build complex, beautiful, useful systems.

The purpose of this small manual is to help you see the skeletal structure of the toolbox and show you how to use FrontPage 2000 to build your toolbox.

Toolbox Structure

Your toolbox is a set of files and folders organized like this:

Your toolbox's URL will be similar to http://phoenix.goucher.edu/~username/toolbox/ (you replace username with your user name). Visit your toolbox (see Viewing Your Toolbox on the Web below for access) on the Web to see what the first page looks like and to prepare to navigate to the three other starting pages in the toolbox.

Let's take a tour from the toolbox page now. Visit the Data/Processing Models page and read the page description. Here you see a table where you will enter names of models, algorithms, and examples. You will enter names here and then link the names to Web pages you've created. Note that each cell in the table is a list, so you can have more than one name/link per cell.

Return to the first page and then visit the Tools page and read the page description. Here you have lists where, again, you enter names of abstract data types, classes, and functions, and then link the names to Web pages you've created.

Finally, again return to the first page and visit the Threads page, reading the description there. Here you will create entries within the page's list for each of your CS courses, linking each to a page you create to keep track of recurring concepts seen in each of your CS courses.

Contents of the templates Folder

The templates folder holds templates --- blank pages --- for you to use in building your toolbox. Each template is designed for a specific purpose and will contain some areas where you fill-in information. For example, the class.htm template looks something like this:

                                Class Name

      Description

      Place class description here. 

      Operations

      Define and describe class operations here. 

      Private Data

      Define and describe class private data here. 

      Comments

      Place comments here.
You would replace ``Class Name'' with the name of the class you're describing, for example, SodaPop. You would then enter a description of the class, the operations defined for the class, the private class data (instance variables), and any comments, deleting the placeholder sentences. Finally, you would change the title of the page. (We're talking about the title you see in the browser's title bar here, not the title at the top of the page itself.)

Use a new template for each item you add to your toolbox. (Except for recurring concepts, see below.)

There are seven template files. Here are brief, introductory descriptions for each of them:

Using Microsoft FrontPage 2000

This section shows you how to perform basic editing operations within your toolbox. FrontPage 2000 is available on the PCs in the campus labs.

Starting Microsoft FrontPage

Hit the Start button, choose Programs and find and choose FrontPage.

Opening Your Web on Phoenix

  1. Start FrontPage.

  2. Open the File menu and choose Open Web....

  3. An Open Web dialog box pops up. In the Folder name field, enter the URL of your web site: http://phoenix.goucher.edu/~username/ (where username is your username from the phoenix FrontPage account slip you received). After you've opened your web the first time, you'll see a shortcut to your Web folder in the dialog box. You can open the shortcut, rather than type in the URL.

  4. Click the Open button.

  5. An Enter Network Password dialog box opens. Enter your username and password from your FrontPage account slip. (The password is case sensitive).

  6. Back in the Open Web dialog box, select the toolbox folder and click the Open button.

Changing Your FrontPage Password

This is a good thing to do so that you don't have too many passwords to keep track of. I suggest changing it to your Goucher network password, assuming that is a good, secure password. If it's not a good, secure password, I suggest you change them both to a secure password. If you're not sure what a ``secure'' password is, see Choosing a Good Password
(http://phoenix.goucher.edu/password.shtml).

  1. Open your FrontPage web on phoenix.

  2. From the Tools menu, choose Security.

  3. Choose Change Password. (If it isn't visible, allow your mouse cursor to hover over the pair of down-pointing arrows and it will become visible.)

  4. Follow the instructions on the Change Password dialog box which pops up. You'll enter the password I assigned you once and your new password twice.

Editing an Existing Toolbox Page

  1. Open your FrontPage web on phoenix.

  2. Open the toolbox folder within your web.

  3. Open the web page you wish to edit.

  4. Make the desired editing changes.

  5. Save the page.

Adding a hyperlink:

  1. Highlight the text which will be the link to the hyperlinked page.

  2. From the Insert menu, choose Hyperlink. A Create Hyperlink dialog box will open up.

  3. If you are linking to a page within your own web, navigate to the page, select it, and press the OK button.

    If you are linking to some other page, enter that page's URL in the URL field of the dialog box and press the OK button. (This is quite easy to do if you make use of the Use your Web Browser... button in the dialog box --- it's the button with a magnifying glass in front of a globe. Try it and see.)

Creating a New Page

(See the next section for instructions on adding a new page from the set of templates.)

  1. Open your FrontPage web on phoenix.

  2. From the File menu, choose New, and select Page.... A New dialog box will open. Within the dialog box, open the Normal Page.

  3. Edit the page.

  4. When it comes time to save the page, open the File menu and choose Save As.

  5. Change the file name of the page and save it in the toolbox folder.

Adding a New Page from the Set of Templates

  1. Open your FrontPage web on phoenix.

  2. Open the toolbox folder within your web, then open the templates folder within it.

  3. Open the desired template web page and edit it.

  4. When it comes time to save the page, open the File menu and choose Save As.

  5. Change the file name of the page and save it in the toolbox folder (one folder level above the templates folder.

Saving a Page

  1. Open the File menu and choose Save.

  2. If prompted to change the name, choose a different file name.

  3. If prompted to save any ``embedded files,'' do so.

Note: you cannot save pages to the templates folder. Save them to the toolbox folder, instead.

Changing the Title of a Page

Follow these instructions to change the title that you see in the browser's title bar.

  1. Open the page.

  2. Open the File menu and choose Properties....

  3. In the Page Properties dialog box which opens, select the General tab.

  4. Using the Title text field, change the page's title and press OK.

Adding an Image to a Page

  1. Move the page editing cursor to the location where you wish to add the image.

  2. From the Insert menu, choose Picture, and then choose From File. A Picture dialog box will open up.

  3. If you are inserting an image within your own web, navigate to the image, select it, and press the OK button.

    If you are inserting an image from another web, enter that image's URL in the URL field of the dialog box and press the OK button. (This is quite easy to do if you make use of the Use your Web Browser... button in the dialog box --- it's the button with a magnifying glass in front of a globe.)

    If you are inserting an image on your G: drive or another drive, use the Select a file... button in the dialog box --- it's the button with a magnifying glass in front of a folder. When you later go to save the web page, you will be asked to save ``embedded files.'' Do so.

It is preferable to download images to your G: drive and insert them from there, rather than linking to them on the Web through their URL.

Viewing Your Toolbox on the Web

Your toolbox's URL will be of the form http://phoenix.goucher.edu/~username/toolbox/ . You will be prompted to enter your FrontPage username and password. (Replace username with your user name.)

Creating Your Own Personal Homepage

Create a web page as your home page and save it as index.htm in your ~username folder, one folder level above the toolbox folder. The URL of your personal homepage will be of the form
http://phoenix.goucher.edu/~username/ . (Replace username with your user name.)



Thomas P. Kelliher
Tue Nov 7 13:39:43 EST 2000
Tom Kelliher