2. Encode Datafile
The next step is to encode the datafile you created in Step 1. The encoding replaces certain characters in the file with character-codes, and prefixes all but the first line of the file with &. (For the technically-minded, the text is encoded to the MIME type application/x-www-form-urlencoded.) After encoding, the example parameters shown in Step 1 would look like this:
BgColor=FFFFFF
&TextColor=000000
&TextFocusColor=0000FF
&TextPressColor=FF0000
&Font=Verdana|Sans,8,plain
&Testmode=yes
&Item1=Products %26 Services

There are two ways you can encode the text file:

  • If you use Windows and have our Design Studio application installed, choose Tools, Convert Text File to Datafile and select the text file you created in Step 1. Design Studio will create a new encoded file in the same directory with the same name, but with a .INF extension instead of .TXT.

  • Use our online encoder at www.coolfocus.com/flash/encoder.asp. Copy-and-paste the contents of your text file into the upper text field and click Encode. The encoded text will be shown in the lower text field. Create a new empty text file named QuickBar.inf and copy-and-paste the encoded text into it.

Using a datafile named QuickBar.inf is the simplest way of working. If you want to name your datafile something different (or you already have a file with that name) see Using Datafiles for details of how to tell the applet which datafile to load.

We recommend that you keep the original un-encoded text file. This way, you can add or edit the parameters easily in the text file, then re-encode them and replace them in the .INF file. However, you can edit the .INF file directly by following the rules in Encoding Datafiles.