Dr. Website

Creating Sites For RealAudio Files Without RealAudio Server

By Dr. Website

Dear Dr. Website®: We began creating Web sites for bands recently, and people are asking if we will be capable of providing RealAudio files soon. I can't seem to find an ISP that has RealAudio capability. Ideally, I'd like to continue the relationship we have with our current ISP but have RealAudio files stored on someone else's server. Have you heard of anyone out there who would do this? If you're not in a position to buy a RealAudio server, you could sign up with a Internet service provider that offers access to a RealAudio-capable server. The RealAudio Server: ISPs with RealAudio Streams page on Progressive Networks' site contains a list of such companies. Most of these ISPs are in the United States; telephone numbers, geographic information, and e-mail addresses are supplied. However, this is far from your only option.

With RealAudio 3.0 or higher, it's not necessary for your ISP to use a RealAudio server in order for you to serve up RealAudio content. Instead, you can achieve this functionality by downloading the free RealAudio Encoder from Progressive Networks' site. You can follow the instructions on the RealAudio site for uploading and linking your content using a standard Web server with what they call "HTTP pseudo-streaming." With the HTTP pseudo-streaming method, your server must first be configured to recognize several types of RealAudio files. You'll need to upload your encoded RealAudio files to your ISP's server and use a text editor to create a metafile--ending with the extension .ram--that contains a RealAudio URL. When you embed a link to RealAudio content in your document, the link should go to the metafile, not the actual RealAudio (.ra) clip. This can provide a workable solution for sites with a low volume of visitor access to RealAudio content.

No Comment?

Dear Dr. Website®: Most of the time when I look at other people's source code, I see hidden comments that don't display on the page itself. Since I don't usually create comments for my own pages, I want to know if there are any times when it's a good idea to include these kinds of statements? Is there a proper syntax I need to follow for adding them to my source code? Placing comments in your HTML documents can make viewing your pages a more instructive experience for anyone who takes the extra step of viewing source code. The traditionally open nature of the Web encourages users to look at source code, especially when a page designer has created an unusual effect that sets others to wondering how it was accomplished.

To create an HTML comment, include the characters . You shouldn't attempt to nest comments--that is, include comments within comments. It's also important that you don't use a double-hyphen sequence (--) anywhere within a comment except in the closing tag (-->).

While to some it might just afford an opportunity to make a hidden wisecrack (e.g., "Hey, what're you doing looking back here anyway?!?"), it's also a useful way to include instructions for co-workers or curious readers, reinforce a copyright notice, or set off information that needs to be hidden from certain browsers.

For example, if you work as part of a team where any of several people update the same pages as a matter of course, you can use comments as a warning or to explain cryptic coding that might puzzle your fellow Web designers: Depending on how frazzled you get, your comments might even help you remind yourself why you set things up the way you did! And while it's difficult to prevent readers from accessing and copying your HTML code if you don't want them to, you can use comments as an opportunity to emphasize parts of your code that you developed and own, such as a JavaScript script: It's also interesting to note that JavaScript recognizes the HTML comment opening and closing sequences, and these are frequently used in JavaScript scripts to hide scripts from older browsers.

Similarly, server-side includes are specified on Web pages using HTML comments so that they'll be ignored by any browser that doesn't support them. A server-side include is a mechanism for embedding special commands in your Web pages that are executed by the server--for example, it can enable you to specify a signature or copyright file that's added to all your other files, or include the output of a CGI script in an HTML document.

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Reprinted from Web Week, Volume 3, Issue 10, April 14, 1997 © internet.com Corporation All rights reserved. Keywords: audio html Date: 19970414