Platinum software works with an array of variables with predefined names. It parses input submitted via a standard web form, looks for those variables, processes them and sends an output to the web server, mail transfer agent, server's hard drive.
Program input requires HTML forms with control names corresponding to program variables (such HTML forms are referred hereafter as "composition pages").
Program output is controlled by "templates" containing placeholders with names corresponding to program variables. All placeholders have the appearance of a <!--@variable-->. The program inserts user submitted or system generated data instead of those placeholders.
Depending on the output channel we will refer to these templates as "HTML templates" (webserver output) or "e-mail templates" (MTA output).
All program variables can be divided into:
Card composition variables can be used on card composition pages, HTML templates and e-mail templates. All names of program variables are case-sensitive.
On HTML templates and e-mail templates variables can be inserted with placeholders like <!--@variablename-->
On card composition pages all form controls can be set as form controls
None of the form controls can be set as multivalues. In case of multivalues Platinum will parse only the first or the last selected value - depending on the particular browser.
We presume you already know the fundamentals of HTML and form building. Form syntax and attributes used by Platinum software conforms to HTML 3.2 specification. We did not introduce any new notions or concepts.
All required control names are marked by asterisk.
You can use ONLY control names listed below. You cannot invent your own.
| element's name | default value | allowed values | contents and comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| pa * | NA | "receive", "send", "preview" | type of action to perform |
| postcard_action | NA | "receive", "send", "preview" | same as "pa" above - provided for backward compatibility with previous versions, there is no need to use this unless you are upgrading from versions 2-4 |
| ticket | NA | any | postcard number - a number of 15-17 digits, format is: MMDDhhmmssXXXXX[1-25], where: MM - month, DD - day of scheduled delivery day (today or later), hh - hour, mm - minute ss - second of card creation XXXXX - special system info, [1-25] - in case of multisend number of copy. |
| later | "now" | defined in "later.txt" | when to send cards, can be either "now" or date in format defined in "later.txt" (MM/DD) |
| config | "magic" | any | selected configuration, allows you to use other that in default magic.txt configuration settings. Explained in "customization" section. |
| filename | no | any | "card image" name if extension is ".jav"- plain text file will be embedded instead of image (see applet.jav in POETRY_DIR) if extension contains "html" - "icq card" will be shown ("open location") if none of above - an image will be embedded with this HTML code: <img src="file.name" border=0 alt="Loading picture..."> |
| heading | no | any | heading text, can be used for input of any other data, including pictures and HTML code |
| sound / sound_c |
no | any | postcard sound, "sound_c" inserts sound as is, "sound" inserts browser-sensitive HTML code. Some browser peculiarities are explained in "customization" section |
| poem | no | any | embedded poetry files (MAX size - 20 kb) |
| text | NA | text input, 20 kb MAX | No input restrictions, HTML tags are allowed. For security reasons quotes within HTML tags will be deleted. |
| signature | no | any | signature text, can be used for input of any other data, including pictures and HTML code |
| fcolor | no | color name | color="value", where value = font color in valid HTML format (both HEX and mnemonic) |
| bcolor | no | color name | bgcolor="value", where value = background color in valid HTML format (both HEX and mnemonic) |
| SENDER * | NA | any | name of card sender |
| recipient * | NA | any | name of card recipient |
| SENDEREMAIL * | NA | any (valid syntax) | email address of sender, syntax is validated (format "xxx@yyyy.zzz", where "xxx" and "yyyy" can contain periods, but not commas or spaces, multiple addresses are not acceptable, address syntax checkup conforms to RFC 819) |
| email * | NA | any (valid syntax) | email address of recipient, syntax is validated (format "xxx@yyyy.zzz", where "xxx" and "yyyy" can contain periods, but not commas or spaces, multiple addresses are not acceptable, address syntax checkup conforms to RFC 819) |
| body | NA | any | background image, can be used for input of any other data |
| stamp | NA | any | second picture, can be used for input of any other data |
| multi | "no" | yes/no | selector of single/multiple card recipient mode |
| next | NA | send/fwd/print/save | next action to perform, used in card previewed and received |
| field[1-10] | NA | any | additional custom fields (field1 thru field10 inclusive), can be used for any input |
| page | NA | any | in the process of multi-step card composition or viewing - the name of the next page template (e.g. "birthday.html") |
| nopick | NA | yes | switch disabling the delivery of received card notification mail |
| yourself | NA | yes | switch enabling the delivery of copy of "you have a postcard" notification email to sender |
System-generated values can be used in HTML templates and email templates. You cannot redefine or alter those values.
You can use those values in received card templates and received email notifications. However the most reasonable usage for those is user session tracking in case of e-mail abuse complaints.