I've seen it done, I just can't remember where--when the page first loads, the backgound colors fade through several "shades" before arriving at the final color. I'm almost 100% positive that the effect requires JavaScript, but I can't figure out -how-. So, how?
You're right! Background fading is definitely a JavaScript trick. The two key components that make it possible are the document . bgColor property and the window . setTimeout () method.
Changing the background color of the document is simple enough. All you have to do is assign a new color value to it. You can use either the color's 6-digit hex value or the color's English name, whichever you prefer.
To make the background color fade from one value to the next, assign incremental values to bgColor over a small period of time. The setTimeout () method comes in handy for this kind of task, because it lets you program timed events. In the source shown below, observe how I have used setTimeout () to make the "brighten" methods call themselves after delay milliseconds.
/****************************************************************************** get_hex_color (r, g, b) This function returns a color string given red, green, and blue integers between 0 and 255. ******************************************************************************/ function get_hex_color (r, g, b) { var hexstring = "0123456789abcdef"; var hex_color = hexstring . charAt (Math . floor (r / 16)) + hexstring . charAt (r % 16) + hexstring . charAt (Math . floor (g / 16)) + hexstring . charAt (g % 16) + hexstring . charAt (Math . floor (b / 16)) + hexstring . charAt (b % 16); return hex_color; } /****************************************************************************** brighten_red () This function causes the background to fade from "000000" to "ff0000". It then calls the brighten_green () function. ******************************************************************************/ function brighten_red () { red += inc; if (red >= 256) { setTimeout ("brighten_green ();", delay); return; } document . bgColor = get_hex_color (red, 0, 0); setTimeout ("brighten_red ();", delay); } red = 0; // initial red value /****************************************************************************** brighten_green () This function causes the background to fade from "ff0000" to "ffff00". It then calls the brighten_blue () function. ******************************************************************************/ function brighten_green () { green += inc; if (green >= 256) { setTimeout ("brighten_blue ();", delay); return; } document . bgColor = get_hex_color (255, green, 0); setTimeout ("brighten_green ();", delay); } green = 0; // initial green value /****************************************************************************** brighten_blue () This function causes the background to fade from "ffff00" to "ffffff". ******************************************************************************/ function brighten_blue () { blue += inc; if (blue >= 256) { document . bgColor = "ffffff"; return; } document . bgColor = get_hex_color (255, 255, blue); setTimeout ("brighten_blue ();", delay); } blue = 0; // initial blue value // Set the brightness increment and time delay between colors. inc = 8; delay = 20; // Start the ball rolling. brighten_red ();
As this program loads into the browser, nothing visible happens until the very last line, which invokes the first call to the bright_red () function. From that point on, the functions call themselves until background color is completely white.
It would be nice if we could use this technique to fade text from one color to the other. Unfortunately, current browsers do not allow it.
Charlton Rose
28 August 1997