A Clipstream® Video applet embedded in a page requires the clipstreamvideo.zip, a buttonset graphic and the .vcs files existing on the same web server.

You can upload and host easily by simply uploading all of your .vcs files, the clipstreamvideo.zip and buttonset to the same folder on your webserver. You can learn this in the Uploading and Hosting Clipstream® Video quickstart page.


As long as you don't move any of the files from that folder, you are fine. However, if you have more than one project, you may want to create new folders to help organize your files.

The Clipstream® Video Applet contains parameters that identify what the resources Clipstream® Video needs and where they are located on a server. By default the applet only refers to the resources as if they were located in the same folder. But by rewriting the parameters you can refer to the resources by relative or absolute hyperlinking. This means that you can place commonly used resources in one location on your server to save on duplication, file size and for simplicity.

Resources that can be shared commonly are:

• clipstreamvideo.zip
• buttonset (panelimages.jpg)
• title images/end images
• codekeys.txt (KeyURL licensing)

By keeping your common resources in a central location on your server and then uploading your separate .vcs projects into subfolders, you can cut down on complication and also make updating the common resources a one-step process.

The diagram below illustrates this organization.


Multiple folder video hosting

If you are relatively linking to a resource, note that it is relatively linked from the location of the clipstreamvideo.zip mini-player. This is why you should place individual projects in subfolders below the common resources. The location of the clipstreamvideo.zip is specified in the codebase statement.

To show the applet where the clipstreamvideo.zip is located:

1. Open up the page with the applet embedded in it.
2. View the source in Notepad or other HTML editor and find the applet code.
3. Find the line where the applet code starts:
   
   
   document.writeln( "<APPLET mayscript ...
   
4. Make a space and type:
   
   
   codebase='http://[yourserver]/[path to the folder where clipstreamvideo.zip resides]'
   
   The top line of the applet code should look like this:
   
   ex.
   
   document.writeln( "<APPLET codebase='http://[yourserver]/clipstream/' mayscript archive=clipstreamvideo.zip code=videoclipstream.class cabbase=clipstreamvideo.cab,clipstreamvideo_unsigned.cab name=clipstream_video alt='Clipstream Video Player' width=240 height=132>");

Once the codebase has been written out then all other links in the applet code can be expressed as relative links to the codebase location. A relative link is a link that is expressed relative to another file or folder, in this case the clipstreamvideo.zip location.

In each of these examples, the files reside in a folder below the codebase (mytestmovie/). From these examples you can see that it is easy to set up multiple folders for each individual project, with each folder varying in the movie files, graphic files, while keeping the same clipstreamvideo.zip and buttonset.

The advantage of this method is that you can upgrade common resources. A new clipstreamvideo.zip? Simply upload over the old one. Changing your branding in the title or end image? Upload new ones over the old filenames. You will not need to update any of the code.