What are ViSta Applets?

ViSta Applets are small ViSta application files that are downloaded over the net to your browser, which in turn cause ViSta to run and perform an analysis or visualization. ViSta Applets are very handy in the teaching/learning situation, where the applets can illustrate concepts being learned in the course. 

These files have the .VAF extension. This extension must be associated with ViSta in order to have the files run ViSta. The information on this page tells you how to do that.

1. Set your Browser Properly:  You must set your web browser with the proper options to successfully download and use ViSta applets. If you are using Netscape under Microsoft Windows, you should do both configurations given below. If you are using Internet Explorer, you only need to configure Windows.
• Netscape
• Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT
• Other Browsers

You must set your browser to recognize a "mime type" that is specifically for ViSta. Whatever browser you are using must be set so files with extension .vaf will be recognized as corresponding to mime type "application/x-xlispvista-applet", and so that the mime type "application/x-xlispvista-applet" will cause the ViSta executable to run. The files are text files. The details for doing this will depend on the browser you are using.
2. Test your configuration:  You should now be able to click on any ViSta applet button and have the applet download and automatically run ViSta. Try this ViSta Applet test. It should run ViSta and display a message saying it worked correctly. If the file is displayed within the browser, and ViSta isn't run, try configuring again. (This should work regardless of whether my server is configured correctly, since my server is not involved in this process.)