A reusable tool window library

This is about a .js file that adds what I think of as tool windows to any web page: dynamically created and positioned HTML elements for certain helper content elements. The tool window retain their position on the window when the page is scrolled, and may be rearranged by drag-and-drop, and support a few other gimmicks. You can find the script on the downloads page.

The basics - try it on this page

Click to add another tool window. Then, scroll the page some, click on the Min/Max buttons in the tool windows' upper right corners, and try some drag-and-drop (start in the tool windows' title areas).

You may also hide a tool window by double-clicking in its upper left corner. Hidden tool windows can be reactivated (you can test that by resetting the ID counter of this test page, and then clicking on the link above until the tool window appears).

Tool windows also support a auto-collapse behavior (you can turn this feature on or off).

How to use the code

To use tool windows in any given document, follow these steps:

1. Include the script "toolwindows.js" (from the downloads page).

2. When the page loads, call the initializeToolWindows function, passing a reference to the current window:

initializeToolWindows(self);

3. To add a tool window, make this call (substituting suitable arguments), and maybe save the reference returned:

var tw = addToolWindow("ID", "Title", "Tooltip", "abc.gif", "Content", left, top, width);

You can subscripe to the onFocus event for each tool window. This allows custom focus management (for example, if a tool window contains form elements), as well as special UI cues (such as changing the status bar text).

Here is a list of all public members of the tool window class.

Dummy text

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