Frequently Asked Questions

• Why does FLAP not load in my browser?

  This applet was made with the Java 1.1 API. Of the major commercial browsers, only the latest releases of Netscape Navigator (4.03 or later) with the Java 1.1 patch and Microsoft Internet Explorer (4.0 or later) support Java 1.1. Navigator and Internet Explorer are supported on most major platforms.

• I'm on a platform which is not supported by NS or IE. What do I do?

  There are other Java supported web browsers for various platforms out there. If there is no web browser for your platform that supports Java 1.1, try running the applet as a stand-alone application. Please see below.

• When I press a mouse button on a Department, nothing happens.

  Mouse button event masks seem to not work equally well on all platforms. Try pressing the leftmost mouse button to move a Department. If that does not work, try a combination of the buttons.

• What's that little blue square in the corner?

  That square is used for manual resizing of the facility using the mouse. Please refer to the manual.

• Why do Departments sometimes have two numbers on them?

  If a Department is small enough (either caused by a small window or in relation to other Departments) the Identifying number will sometimes be bigger than the actual rectangle. In this case the number sometimes may appear on another Department. To possible get rid of this, resize the window or Facility to a bigger size.

• Why does FLAP take so long to load or run sometimes?

  Since FLAP is an applet, your browser downloads the needed compiled java files *only* when it needs it. Since FLAP is a decently sized applet (~ 100 KB), downloading all the class files may take some time especially for slow internet connections. Note that not all the files are downloaded at load time. Some are downloaded when a certain functionality has been accessed. For example, opening the "About..." dialog will take some time the *first* time accessed. Subsequent launches will be immediate. Also, slow computers with fast internet connections can yield similar results.

• Does FLAP run as a stand-alone application?

  FLAP can be run as a stand alone application using any stand alone 1.1 Java Virtual Machine. Please check out the JDK page for a platform specific JVM. Stand-alone applications are usually much faster than web browser equivalents. Please download this tar file. To extract the directory, run "tar xvf flap.tar"(Unix) or run Winzip(Windows). Run FLAP using the FacilityFrame class as the entry point. If using "java" or "jre", which are bytecode interpreters in the JDK, type "java FacilityFrame" or "jre FacilityFrame" on a shell command line. The tar file does no contain the source code.

• Why does FLAP "look and feel" (L&F) differently on various platforms and browsers?

  This question is a general caveat with any Java program and JVM implementation. While there is no best platform and JVM to run FLAP, or any Java program in general, with extensive optimization has been done for the Windows platform by JavaSoft and Microsoft.

• Who created FLAP? How can I contact them? (I want the source)

  If you have any questions, comments, or ideas, please feel free to contact Professor Phil Kaminsky (kaminsky@ieor.berkeley.edu) and/or Sidarth Khoshoo (sidarth@cory.eecs.berkeley.edu).

Copyright © 1998 The Regents of the University of California