Discuss: Docking boxes (dbx)

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RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by josh on 2006-02-21 at 18:01:45 (GMT)

any way to restrict the movable area container? such as only moving vertical?
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-02-22 at 08:06:05 (GMT)

any way to restrict the movable area container?
Yeah there's a value in the dbxGroup constructor to specify that. Have a look in Section 3 of the setup instructions ("Implementing the script") for "restrict drag movement to container axis"
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Fred on 2006-02-22 at 17:18:15 (GMT)

Any way to override the cookie saving, so that i can reset the layout back to the default, as I am populating from a database.
Fred
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Glen on 2006-03-02 at 16:27:11 (GMT)

I'm using dbx in an application, and it has a small tweak that I can't figure out. Sometimes it will add an entire space where it looks like a docking box should be, but there's not really a box. You can drag the boxes around to cover up the space, but it's still kind of weird. Oh, and it happens in both IE and Firefox. I'm using the boxes in an admin section that requires a login... could this be the problem?
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-03-02 at 19:54:37 (GMT)

I'm using dbx in an application, and it has a small tweak that I can't figure out. Sometimes it will add an entire space where it looks like a docking box should be, but there's not really a box.
Hmm yeah, I have seen it behave a bit like that ... I think it's margin values on the dbx-box element that do it. Try having no margins on those elements, and use padding or margin on other elements to create the spacing you want - that might avoid this quirk.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-03-02 at 20:00:08 (GMT)

Any way to override the cookie saving, so that i can reset the layout back to the default, as I am populating from a database.
You can override the cookie yourself from other scripting - as long as the scripting is on the same domain, you can delete or overwrite the cookie whenever you want.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by boscomonkey on 2006-03-07 at 00:56:34 (GMT)

How difficult is it to use dbx to move elements in a 2D manner (i.e., arbitrary number of cells in an arbitrary number of columns, where the number of cells may vary from column to column)?
I need to implement something like a Yahoo-style portal where I can drag an article from any position in a column to a position in another column.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by ward on 2006-03-12 at 23:00:43 (GMT)

DBX is pretty awesome. I've just implemented it in one of my applications.
It seems that the dbx code only keeps track of 10 dbx-box's (within a group?) across page reloads. Is this known behaviour? Any constant I could modify to change this?
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by ward on 2006-03-13 at 02:30:53 (GMT)

To come back to the 10 dbx-box limit; here's a patch against dbx[commented].js to fix that. I've also e-mailed the patch to James, so hopefully he will include it in the next release.
--- dbx[commented].js 2006-03-13 02:10:26.000000000 +0000
+++ dbx[commented].js 2006-03-13 02:20:43.000000000 +0000
@@ -471,6 +471,7 @@
{
//dbx.output.value += this.gid + '=' + dbx.cookiestate[this.gid] + '&';
+ var regex = new RegExp('-$','');
//iterate through values
for(i=0; i<num; i++)
{
@@ -482,7 +483,7 @@
//if we're using toggle buttons, and
//if the box (in its corresponding place in boxes array) should be closed
- if(this.toggles && dbx.cookiestate[this.gid][i].charAt(1) == '-')
+ if(this.toggles && regex.test(dbx.cookiestate[this.gid][i]))
{
//send this box button to toggle box state method, but don't save
this.toggleBoxState(this.buttons[index], false);
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-03-17 at 21:22:06 (GMT)

@boscomonkey At the moment the number of boxes has to be stable, and any change in the number mid session results in the save cookie being deleted and the structure will reset.
But what you're describing would certainly be useful - I'm looking into the possibility of wider functionality to allow users to remove boxes forever, and add them back via some kind of generated control panel, so it's not far from that to adding the functionality for the number of boxes to be truly dynamic.
What did you have in mind specifically - that the number changes via your own mechanism and the states are retained on a "best fit" basis? Or a user-centered mechanism for adding or removing different kinds of content?
@ward - thanks for the update, and I will be incorporating that into an incremental update very soon.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Marc on 2006-03-24 at 11:02:13 (GMT)

I really like DBX, i'm thinking about implementing it in a CMS.
I've been testing it today but i'm having a problem with loading DBX in IE. It keeps having problems with loading the images (even in combination with the domFunction.js file); a small number of images refuse to load after refresh which prevents the boxes from displaying properly. This especially happens when i change the collapse/expand status of the boxes and then refresh my browser.
Any suggestions on this?
Thanx
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Eric on 2006-03-31 at 02:35:31 (GMT)

Great script!
Question: I'm trying to use dbx to maintain lists of URLs that are user-editable after pageload. I've been successful at dynamically inserting new dbx-content entries (which are also subsequently deletable) with this line of code:
N.B.:
divINSERT is a blank div already living at the right place within an existing db-box div
u ensures div id uniqueness
xButtonTiny2.bmp is a little button that appears to the right of each URL allowing the user to delete the entry
document.getElementById("divINSERT").innerHTML += "<div id='liveURL" + u + "'>" + "<LI><A href='" + incomingURL + "'" + " target='AuxWindow'>" + incomingURL + "</A>" + "<a href='javascript:;' onclick='removeEntry(\"liveURL" + u + "\")'><img src=\"xButtonTiny2.bmp\" border=0></a>" + "</LI></DIV>"
When I attempt a similar stunt to insert new a dbx-box div, it seems like it's working -- a new blank box appears, except it has no toggle, and it kills the draggability of all db-box divs. What am I doing wrong, or is what I'm attempting not feasible? Thanks in advance,
--Eric
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-04-04 at 14:56:02 (GMT)

When I attempt a similar stunt to insert new a dbx-box div, it seems like it's working -- a new blank box appears, except it has no toggle, and it kills the draggability of all db-box divs. What am I doing wrong, or is what I'm attempting not feasible?
Not at the moment no, because the number of boxes has to be stable - if you add new boxes into the group then they will not be dynamic, and the other boxes will freak out because their group content has changed and so the DOM relationships are different.
But ... I can now announce that dbx3 is well in development, including all the new features that have been requested, and some very tasty stuff besides A quick precis:
* support for two-dimensional sorting, including a rules engine for defining and limiting the movement of objects within a grid
* the number of boxes in a group can be truly dynamic; you can add or remove boxes externally to the program and subsequent page views will handle it, and you can add or remove boxes in the middle of a page view and call a refresh() method to re-initialize them
* you can move boxes between groups on the same page
* there are new API methods that allow you open, close and move the boxes programmatically
And of course, all the behaviors are accessible to the keyboard as well as the mouse. There'll be a version 3 beta in the next few weeks.
In the meantime, I've just upblished a 2.02 update that patches a couple of bugs, including the 10-box limit mentioned in this thread.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-04-04 at 14:58:34 (GMT)

@marc Well IE does have a whole range of image-loading bugs that might be responsible. Have you got a demo online to show?
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Andy Skelton on 2006-04-16 at 22:48:08 (GMT)

A bug report relating to dbx was filed on the WordPress bug tracker.
http://trac.wordpress.org/ticket/2660
The reporter suggests encoding the commas in the cookies. Alternatively, you could use a different delimiter.
Cheers!
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-04-17 at 17:52:13 (GMT)

Okay that's cool, I wasn't aware of those limitations on the data content of cookies - it's never come up before!
I think the best thing (keeping down the data size) is to use a different delimiter, probably a "|" symbol; then the script will have to recognise the existing comma-based format, and convert to the new format seamlessly.
I'll try to get a patch out in the next few days. Thanks for the heads-up
Close opened Boxes when i open a new box...

Posted by txupete on 2006-04-20 at 15:46:56 (GMT)

I want that only one box be opened at the same time.. so how can i do??
Selection in IE

Posted by Thijs van Ham on 2006-04-22 at 11:44:48 (GMT)

* you can move boxes between groups on the same page
That would be pretty cool! Got 2 menu's (left and right) and I want to swap boxes between them.
Any idea how I can fix the no-select thing in IE? When I remove the document.selecstart = return false; part the selection works but the menu's don't anymore ...
And I got some page where selection is needed :/
But also the menu's ... Hard choice.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-04-22 at 12:16:43 (GMT)

@txupete Once again I shall have to pass the buck to the next version - that functionality is coming
@Thijs van Ham You've got me worried now The selectstart is added and removed dynamically, so it should only affect the page while a drag is actually happening - as soon as you let go of a box, the selecstart is released and text selection should work as normal.
Is that not what you're seeing?
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by anon on 2006-04-22 at 12:22:22 (GMT)

Brothercake, fast response ;)
But no, indeed. I can't select anything, not while dragging nor when I don't touch the boxes at all.
Even on your own page (http://www.brothercake.com/site/resources/scripts/dbx/) I can't select any text in IE. So it's not the modifications I made to the file (even the default one doesn't work).
Using IE 6.0 Build 2900.2180 Service Pack 2 on Windows XP Pro.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-04-25 at 21:25:04 (GMT)

Okay, the 2.03 update is now released, which fixes this cookie format issue.
For page selection - it's not supposed to do that! It should be transparent .. I shall investigate further. Ta
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by ward on 2006-04-28 at 01:02:56 (GMT)

Anyone know of a way to avoid the fold out/fold in effect when loading a new page with some menus minized? Am I missing a configuration setting? Essentially all boxes seem to be loaded in fully expanded position first, and only then the minimized status (if any) is applied.
This is 2.0.3 on Firefox.
Thanks,
Ward.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Thijs van Ham on 2006-04-28 at 17:56:27 (GMT)

Ward, Firefox displays the page while loading, when done it triggers the onLoad function (which collapses the necessary menu's). Internet Explorer loads it first, triggers the function and displays it.
Probably the problem is in the way Firefox "parses" a website that way and you'll get stuck on that problem. I think - correct me if I'm wrong - you can't do anything about that ...
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-04-28 at 20:47:15 (GMT)

You're right - in the normal flow of things there's nothing can be done about that; to ensure accessibility to nonscript devices, the content is rendered visible as normal, then the script kicks in and applies the class name to those boxes that should be closed. Even if you use domFunction to initialize it, there will still be some latency between the default CSS being applied, and the change in state.
But as I was musing this I had an idea that might work ... basically the idea is to do immediate procedural coding in the main script (which is in the <head> section - or should be ;)) and use that to generate a stylesheet which applies a closed state to the content area by default; since it's procedural and in the head section, it should kick in immediately and hence the boxes will be rendered closed.
This would have no access to the HTML structure, but it would have access to config data - so although it would not be possible to use this to pre-close selective individual boxes, it should be possible to use it where all the boxes are closed (such as when the config is auto-hide and no user settings yet apply).
Worth doing do you think?
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Ben on 2006-05-04 at 21:53:08 (GMT)

Nice script, but i will have one small question.
Let's say i will like to use a 2 columns structure. It is possible to move one box from one column to another ( from possition 1-2 to 2-3 for ex )... ? sorry for my english
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Thijs van Ham on 2006-05-05 at 18:49:00 (GMT)

@Ben That seems to be an option in version 3 of the script: * you can move boxes between groups on the same page
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Ben Hill on 2006-05-10 at 17:27:26 (GMT)

Excellent script.
I am having a problem with my script in IE. After some debugging, it is throwing an error on this line:
var button = arguments[0].appendChild(dbx.createElement('a'))
...and throwing this error:
"Unexpected Call to Method or Property Access"
any ideas?
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Ben Hill on 2006-05-10 at 17:30:36 (GMT)

ah, I got it...
I needed to set the item "include open/close toggle buttons ['yes'|'no']" to 'no'.
Thanks again!
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Ben Hill on 2006-05-10 at 21:48:35 (GMT)

Greetings-
I am seeing some bizarre behavior - whenever I initialize the dbxManager object, the script re-orders all my boxes. Seems to be pretty random what order it chooses - it seems to vary from load-to-load and from ie to firefox.
Anything I am missing?
Ben
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Ben Hill on 2006-05-13 at 16:59:24 (GMT)

All is well...turned out to be a issue with me changing the sid a few times, and cookies got all eff'd up. Thanks a bunch for the response.
One thing - I tried to set it up so that a table is the "group" and the individual columns in the tables are "boxes". Looks like that's not working for me. You ever see it work?
Ben
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-05-20 at 13:55:31 (GMT)

There's a 2.04 update now available, which fixes the text-range selection problem in Internet Explorer (that was broken by the 2.02 update )
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-05-20 at 14:00:29 (GMT)

@ben No I've never seen it working with table cells or rows; table cells have a unique display property ("table-cell") which can't be set explicitly in all browsers, hence they have to be display:block and floated, but that messes up the table layout completely. I don't think table-rows are rendered elements per-se - afaik you can't pick them up or even style them reliably (..?)
@ashley I'm just getting an "account suspended" message from that link.
I removed your first message because you yourself said it was badly formatted. Can I suggest you get together exactly what the problem is - description of circumstances, and a demo, and then post your question again. In the meantime I'm going to delete your other posts.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by ashley on 2006-05-21 at 14:05:49 (GMT)

my site should be working ok now..
my problem is that when in ie (im currently using 7 but it also happened in 6) the right hand menus (boxes) do not function properly and an error is thrown when attempting to move them. also note how the boxes do not close up to have round edges at the bottom.. on my local machine they do
however when usng firefox the boxes function correctly.
i just updated to 2.04 that fixed the selection error
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by ashley on 2006-05-21 at 14:23:24 (GMT)

oh the site is treble.lfhost.com/1024/
don't access via treble.lfhost.com/1024/index.php - it won't work because of my php includes file (fixing that now)
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Dezz on 2006-05-22 at 04:13:31 (GMT)

great script!! hows dbx3 going? i wanna use 2d
thanks
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Moosh on 2006-05-22 at 09:55:11 (GMT)

Hi brothercake
Excellent script that has saved me a lot of time and I'm really looking forward to the dbx3 update!
One of the things that I'd like to do is move individual content items between boxes e.g. say I have the following structure:
Box 1
*item 1
*item 2
*item 3
Box 2
*item a
*item b
*item c
Is it possible to move item 2 from Box 1 into Box 2?
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Thijs van Ham on 2006-05-27 at 12:07:33 (GMT)

@brothercake, Thanks for the great update in 2.04.
Really looking forward to dbx3, keep up the good work!
The last box is always open

Posted by Pablo Impallari on 2006-05-31 at 17:54:44 (GMT)

The last box always shows himself open after reloading the page.
For example:
if I close all teh boxes and then I reload the page and the last box is now opened.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-06-02 at 19:37:16 (GMT)

Okay ... here's a very early alpha of version 3 - dbx3-alpha1.zip
I should stress that it really is an alpha, in that:
- the script files are huge
- and not entirely stable
- there are lots of little bugs in various browsers
- it probably doesn't work in IE
Having said that, it is feature complete - everything that it's going to do is there, and there's a range of demos in the zipfile that show off the various new features.
Definitely don't use this on a production site, and even pre-development with it would probably be premature, but it should give a good sense of what the new version will do and how it can integrated.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by charlie on 2006-06-16 at 20:26:52 (GMT)

very nice code. Is there a way to get this to work in two dimensions? ie: I'd like to have a grid of items, that user can rearrange both horizontally and vertically to their liking.
I believe Kim Taylor had something like that in place, though I haven't been able to re-create it with DBX yet.
Thanks for any light you can shed on this. Again - nice code.
~c
Last Box Remains Open

Posted by Theanarchitect on 2006-06-23 at 05:00:06 (GMT)

I am experiencing the same problem as Pablo - the last box (no matter what order) returns to an open state on page close/refresh/exit to another page.
In my case the issue seems to be the product sharing a cookie with another (in my case WebWiz Forums). I come to this conclusion as if I delete the cookie then go into the site, the boxes work as expected. However as soon as I go in to my forums and the forums add their bit to the end of the cookie (which doesn't seem to affect the dbx part), the box opens up again and there is no way to get it to remain closed.
I am not sure if this is a v2 issue or not. Any thoughts on how to fix, or whether v3 might address the problem?
TIA
PS

Posted by Theanarchitect on 2006-06-23 at 05:04:52 (GMT)

Apologies for the extra post, but thought this might help. The cookie text (with added forum cookie) is as follows:
dbx-main
cabsidenav:0+|1-|3-|2-|4+
cabnet/
1088
1204705792
29865298
3476361888
29791872
*
WWF
LTVST=38891%2E6188541667&UID=browndaC4BC36E651&NS=0
cabnet/
1024
484705792
29865298
2767431888
29791872
*
I don't have an online demo as this is for an intranet site.
Same Problem

Posted by Dave on 2006-06-23 at 05:18:02 (GMT)

I am getting the same error on the brothercake website. Doesn't happen straight away (ie with fresh cookie) but on revisiting the site it happens all of a sudden.
Doesn't seem to be linked to the cookie issue above - the brothercake cookie I have is only being used by the dbx application.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Mike Elledge on 2006-06-23 at 15:05:41 (GMT)

This is a very interesting script...I can't get it to work in JAWS, however. I can close or open the box, but not sort them. I've tried a variety of key and arrow combinations to no avail.
Suggestion?
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-06-29 at 14:20:01 (GMT)

RE: last box returns to open state: Okay it sounds like there's something going wrong with the script there, rather than (as I initially suspected) a problem with a particular use environment. I shall investigate.
RE: JAWS support: The script is actually designed so that the scripted handlers don't work in JAWS and other screenreaders. The problem is that what the script does, fundamentally, is a linear re-ordering of content, and for a user who can't see that happen it's difficult to convey the meaning of it.
In the absence of any way to make the reader just speak the explanation (because you can't make a reader just "say something" on demand), how does a blind user know that the content has changed? And how meaningful is that change in content anyway?
These are tricky questions, and I don't have the answers, so it seemed to me the safest thing to do overall was to degrade the content to non-scripted, as it is for non-JS devices.
But sure, it's not an ideal situation. Really we'd like to be able to make scripts that do work and provide meaningful functionality to screen readers and other access devices. Google for "screen readers javascript" ...
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Rupesh on 2006-06-30 at 09:41:48 (GMT)

hi,
I want to save the order that one gets when using this.state
and the next time when a user logs in i want to populate the elements order from the databse. Is this possible?
Could you explain me how to do it?
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Rupesh on 2006-06-30 at 12:31:31 (GMT)

hi,
I want to save the order that one gets when using this.state
and the next time when a user logs in i want to populate the elements order from the databse. Is this possible?
Could you explain me how to do it?
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-07-11 at 15:26:19 (GMT)

@Rupesh If you want to do all this server side, all you need is the state information, and that's stored to a cookie - so you should be able to access it from $_COOKIE in PHP, or equivalent in whatever you're using, and that will give you information on the order and state of each box.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-07-11 at 15:30:39 (GMT)

@Theanarchitect You're right - it is the cookie that's the problem; it's failing to take into account unwanted values at the end, only those at the beginning.
Since Version 3 is still a little way off (stability is not a feature ) I'll publish another v2 update soon to patch this problem.
If anyone has any other minor glitches or bugs to report - now's the time
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by John Allen on 2006-07-13 at 15:56:12 (GMT)

This thing rocks!
dbx you are cool, cant wait for the update!
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by John Allen on 2006-07-13 at 15:59:58 (GMT)

Hit post to fast.
I to am experencing the 'open box issue'
Again, this thing RULZ
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Lawrence on 2006-07-18 at 15:33:10 (GMT)

I have lost all my Email folders to DBX files in Cookies. How do I convert them back again.
I am confused.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Robbin on 2006-07-20 at 16:33:14 (GMT)

Is there a function that you can collapse/expand all the boxes with one button/link? And a resetfunction, that resets boxes to the original poisoning? If not, plz add to the next version or send me the skript (=
By the way nice script, no problems at all!
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by micol on 2006-07-21 at 11:15:18 (GMT)

Hiya
Nice script, very neat!
Only, when I drag and drop boxes in IE, they sometimes leave "ghosts" behind, or the handle duplicates.
I didn't notice anyone else posting about the same problem, so I guess the problem should be with my css. Err... Help, please?
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by AndieR on 2006-07-22 at 15:37:32 (GMT)

Hello,
Congratulations for this great script - it's exactly what I was looking for!
I'm wondering if you could perhaps put me on the right track concerning a small mod though. I'd like to keep the cookie on the user's computer and always read from it even after several days without visiting the site etc. Of course I understand that if the user cleans his browser's cookies he'll loose his layout and go back to the default one, but that's ok. I'd just like to know if it's possible for me to change the code so that the cookie stays active throughout several sessions. Any tips really appreciated.
I'm also really looking forward to version 3 and using multiple groups!!!!
Best regards,
AndieR
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by AndieR on 2006-07-22 at 15:52:38 (GMT)

Hello,
Congratulations for this great script - it's exactly what I was looking for!
I'm wondering if you could perhaps put me on the right track concerning a small mod though. I'd like to keep the cookie on the user's computer and always read from it even after several days without visiting the site etc. Of course I understand that if the user cleans his browser's cookies he'll loose his layout and go back to the default one, but that's ok. I'd just like to know if it's possible for me to change the code so that the cookie stays active throughout several sessions. Any tips really appreciated.
I'm also really looking forward to version 3 and using multiple groups!!!!
Best regards,
AndieR
Fading in and out of Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Urs Widmer on 2006-07-25 at 07:13:39 (GMT)

Hi there
Well done. I like and use your script. For my opinion its just the best.
My idea: Start the dbx with an opacity (by example 50) and when the users moves over the dbx-box it fades in. Then when another box gets the focus, the former fades out and the selected box fades in.
Best Regards
Urs Widmer
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by mdawaffe on 2006-07-27 at 06:09:30 (GMT)

I'm working on implementing nested dbx-groups.
dbx2.04 implicitly requires that the dbx-box elements are direct children of the dbx-group elements (as opposed to grandchildren, etc.). If this requirement were made explicit, and if dbx-handle elements were similarly required to be direct children of the dbx-box elements (which is currently not required), control over nested dbx-groups can be accomplished fairly easily with a little CSS and JS.
Would you consider this for your next release? I can offer the actual code I'm working with as an example if you'd like to see it.
Thanks for the awesome script.
--- dbx[commented].js 2006-05-20 14:34:18.000000000 -0700 +++ dbx[commented]-new.js 2006-07-26 23:01:32.000000000 -0700 @@ -343,7 +343,7 @@ for(var i=0; i<this.eles.length; i++) { //if it's a docking box and not a dummy - if(/dbx\-box/i.test(this.eles[i].className) && !/dbx\-dummy/i.test(this.eles[i].className)) + if(/dbx\-box/i.test(this.eles[i].className) && !/dbx\-dummy/i.test(this.eles[i].className) && this.eles[i].parentNode == this.container) { //re-inforce relative positioning and block display this.eles[i].style.position = 'relative'; @@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ } //if it's a handle - if(/dbx\-handle/i.test(this.eles[i].className)) + if(/dbx\-handle/i.test(this.eles[i].className) && this.eles[i].parentNode.parentNode == this.container) { //re-inforce relative positioning and block display this.eles[i].style.position = 'relative';
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by mdawaffe on 2006-07-27 at 08:13:49 (GMT)

It seems I jumped the gun with my previous comment. My example code does not work
Any chance dbx3 will support nesting?
More Nesting

Posted by mdawaffe on 2006-07-30 at 20:04:25 (GMT)

I have since fixed my example code. I now have (somewhat inefficient) nested dbx-groups that depend on the above patch. The method I settled on relies on external storage of each group's state; It would not work with the native cookie based storage mechanism.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by harris on 2006-08-03 at 05:31:22 (GMT)

i can't able 2 download the script
help me
page : http://www.brothercake.com/site/resources/scripts/dbx/
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by RCAman on 2006-08-04 at 17:15:19 (GMT)

I believe dbx is a registered trade mark and name of a company that makes or did make professional audio gear. You would be wise to check this out.
dbx3

Posted by Jesper Ordrup on 2006-08-06 at 08:07:13 (GMT)

Just downloaded both dbx and dbx3 alpha. This is totally cool. I'm planning on creating portal features in Umbraco ( http://www.umbraco.org ) and I would like to know how DBX3 coming on?
I'm particular interested in the new feature being able to move boxes between groups.
Best,
Jesper
http://www.jesper.com
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-08-07 at 19:42:31 (GMT)

There was a problem with my site for a while today - the whole thing went offline for about half an hour - but it should be all good now.
re: trademark Yes I'm aware that there is already a product called "dbx", but the trademark is one of that name with a specific appearances and context - there's no trademark or copyright in just the word, and there's no connection or passing-off between what I'm doing here and that product. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe there's any reason why I can't use this name?
re: nested boxes That's not directly supported no, but with Version 3 will come the ability to move boxes between groups, and that can amount to the same thing - it's just a case of styling and semantics - nested boxes is the same as groups of boxes.
FYI - v3 will also include the ability to re-initialise all or individual groups at any time after page load, and this will allow for AJAX-controlled dynamic groups.
As to when v3 will be ready - well I gotta be honest and say it won't be for a little while yet; there's quite a lot of work still to do, and I don't have a lot of time. It could be a few months yet.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Mosey on 2006-08-10 at 21:26:35 (GMT)

Wow... I haven't checked out the accessibility etc. and details about the script but this definitely is a snazzy add-on that is functional enough to add to alot of sites!
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by hayden on 2006-08-17 at 09:06:06 (GMT)

when you say for v3 that "there are new API methods that allow you open, close and move the boxes programmatically" are you referring to the ability to combine with other libs like scriptaculous or moo?... which would be incredible of course. I havent been able to mashup your code because im unsure how to dynamically pass the name of an ID to the open/close toggle button.
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-08-17 at 17:41:21 (GMT)

I'm not planning any specific library tie-ins, but it means the script will have API functionality that allows for external control.
So for example, you instantiate a dbxGroup and save the reference:
var group = new dbxGroup
Then you'll be able to identify specific boxes and manipulate them, for example:
group.toggle('box1', true); //to open the box with ID 'box1'; group.move('box1', false); //to move 'box1' up/left within a row or column group.swap('box1', 'box2'); /to exchange 'box1' and 'box2'
What kind of mashups are you looking to be able to do, that aren't possible now?
RE: Mashup

Posted by hayden on 2006-08-18 at 09:04:46 (GMT)

hi brother (or should that be Mr. Cake? - at any rate much better than beefcake)
I was trying to tie in to the scriptaculous library so the open/close toggle could be smooth.
Scriptaculous requires an id and for the id to be used in the toggle button, hence the id would need to be included in the parent div?
eg
<div class="dbx-box"> <span class="title">Thanks dbx!</span> <div class="dbx-handle" id="myBox"></div> <div id="myBoxCont" class="dbx-content"><div> <a href="">a heap</a><br> <a href="">a tonne</a><br> </div></div> </div>
this way in the dbx function that writes the toggle button i could include something like (im not a programmer) button.onclick=javascript("Effect.slide([parent.id] + "Cont"))
??
thanks in advance for comments
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Mosey on 2006-08-20 at 19:49:18 (GMT)

Following on from my previous comment/post: I've just managed to integrate Dbx as the main menu for a site I'm creating with Joomla - it turned out to be relatively straightforward (thanks to the step-by-step instructions and examples given, thank you!) although one core file required a few hard edits. I'm hoping to tidy this up into a proper module to release to the community in the near future (with full credit to BC).
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-09-05 at 01:15:45 (GMT)

@hayden I'm not entirely sure what you mean here - the script requires references to elements within a box, and you need to know the ID of those elements? Can you not just a use a DOM reference, for example using myBox.getElementsByTagName('a')[0] to refer to the toggle?
@Mosey Sounds cool What hard edits were required, maybe that's something I can cater for?
RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Jay on 2006-09-20 at 21:40:55 (GMT)

This is incredible code! I'm trying to do something very simple with it, but I am having issues in Windows IE. I have created 2 different columns with 2 different widths. I was able to do this by modifying the dbx-key.js file and adding a new instance of var purple = new dbxGroup(), and then adding new delimiters in the dbx.css file. Is there a better way of doing this? In IE PC it lets you drag windows, but they duplicate themselves and other strange things happen.
In a nutshell, is there a proper way to have 2 different columns with 2 different widths?
Sibling has no properties

Posted by Suri on 2006-10-25 at 07:35:57 (GMT)

I have incorporated dbx into one of our applications. On clicking any of the dbx-boxes, I get an error "Sibling has no properties, visibox has no properties" in line 1355 of dbx.js.
Any help is appreciated.
-Suri
Sibling has no properties.

Posted by Suri on 2006-10-26 at 11:12:39 (GMT)

Hi,
I found that the this problem occurs when the DOM is dynamically created. Basically I am adding a dbx-box dynamically within a dbx-group. When I try to move the boxes around, it fails with the error mentioned.
Any help in making dbx work in a dynamic DOM situation is appreciated.
Regards,
-Suri

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Discuss: Docking boxes (dbx)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by josh on 2006-02-21 at 18:01:45 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-02-22 at 08:06:05 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Fred on 2006-02-22 at 17:18:15 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Glen on 2006-03-02 at 16:27:11 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-03-02 at 19:54:37 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-03-02 at 20:00:08 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by boscomonkey on 2006-03-07 at 00:56:34 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by ward on 2006-03-12 at 23:00:43 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by ward on 2006-03-13 at 02:30:53 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-03-17 at 21:22:06 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Marc on 2006-03-24 at 11:02:13 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Eric on 2006-03-31 at 02:35:31 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-04-04 at 14:56:02 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-04-04 at 14:58:34 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Andy Skelton on 2006-04-16 at 22:48:08 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-04-17 at 17:52:13 (GMT)

Close opened Boxes when i open a new box...

Posted by txupete on 2006-04-20 at 15:46:56 (GMT)

Selection in IE

Posted by Thijs van Ham on 2006-04-22 at 11:44:48 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-04-22 at 12:16:43 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by anon on 2006-04-22 at 12:22:22 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-04-25 at 21:25:04 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by ward on 2006-04-28 at 01:02:56 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Thijs van Ham on 2006-04-28 at 17:56:27 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-04-28 at 20:47:15 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Ben on 2006-05-04 at 21:53:08 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Thijs van Ham on 2006-05-05 at 18:49:00 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Ben Hill on 2006-05-10 at 17:27:26 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Ben Hill on 2006-05-10 at 17:30:36 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Ben Hill on 2006-05-10 at 21:48:35 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Ben Hill on 2006-05-13 at 16:59:24 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-05-20 at 13:55:31 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-05-20 at 14:00:29 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by ashley on 2006-05-21 at 14:05:49 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by ashley on 2006-05-21 at 14:23:24 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Dezz on 2006-05-22 at 04:13:31 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Moosh on 2006-05-22 at 09:55:11 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by Thijs van Ham on 2006-05-27 at 12:07:33 (GMT)

The last box is always open

Posted by Pablo Impallari on 2006-05-31 at 17:54:44 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)

Posted by brothercake on 2006-06-02 at 19:37:16 (GMT)

RE: Docking boxes (dbx)