To create an #html cast member, simple use the menu item HTML-Field in Directors insert menu.
You can also use the Lingo function new like new (#html, member num) to create a new #html member at the cast member num.
Now you can drag this cast member (identificated with the small Xtra icon in the cast window) onto the stage or into the score window. This will display the empty cast member at default size. Like all other sprites you can change position and size of this sprite.
To import a html file into the cast member, switch to the media editor by double clicking the cast member in the cast window. The media editor of a html field shows only a file selection box, enabling you to select the file you like to be displayed. After the OK button is clicked, the file is loaded, parsed and displayed.
The purpose of the HTML Xtra was to handle lots of huge external text files, avoid problems with the different charsets of MacOS and Windows and to provide support for hyperlinks.
To prepare HTML documents for use with this Xtra, you can use any available HTML editor. We do not recommend to use Microsoft Word for HTML authoring, as Word uses tags, charsets and entities, that are not compatible with standard html.
The HTML Xtra is the front end for the Index Xtra, a search engine that creates indices on HTML and text files. Both Xtras are designed to cooperate and are tested on a CD-ROM project containing about 10.000 pages of text.