How does rotator work?

[louis chan]

Hi guys,

If I want to databound rotator with a datasource, does it pre-load all of the item and then render all the data to the client? If so, does it slow down then page loading on client side because all of the record is pre-loaded? Thx.

[Pero]

Hi Louis,

When the rotator is bound to a DataSource all of the items are pre-loaded. So if the data source is large, it may take additional time to load the page. With the latest version (Q2 2010) we introduced load on demand, so the rotator can be bound to a WebService, and load new items when they are requested. Here is an example showing this functionality: http://demos.telerik.com/aspnet-ajax/rotator/examples/loadondemand/defaultcs.aspx.

Best wishes,
Pero
the Telerik team

[louis chan]

Hi Pero,
Thx for the reply! I like the loadondemand! But I have a questions again.

Suppose I have some flash object that will be added into the rotator. Each of them is about 1Mb and the interval of them are about 30 seconds. If my client should take 10 seconds or more time to load the flash video, then does the rotator accept the buffer time? If no, what is the suggestion that u can advice me? Thx.

[Pero]

Hi Louis,

Could you please explain what do you mean by "does the rotator accept the buffer time"?

I believe the HTML and client scripts [of the rotator] will be rendered in the same amount of time, no matter if the rotator contains flash video or not. So, when the rotator is initialized the animation will start immediately. You could choose the type of the rotator and entirely customize it when RotatorType="FromCode" is used: http://demos.telerik.com/aspnet-ajax/rotator/examples/default/defaultcs.aspx.

Greetings,
Pero
the Telerik team

[louis chan]

Hi Pero,
Thx, I got yr point. But, do I need to write a method such as using jquery document.ready method to monitor the flash/pic is loaded, then call the rotate-it method?

Regards.

[Pero]

Hi Louis,

If the RotatorType is "AutomaticAdvance" "SlideShow" or "Carousel" the rotator will start scrolling after the FrameDuration has elapsed. The rotator will scroll to the next item regardless of the fact that the flash object has not been loaded in that time period. So, depending on whether the FrameDuration is enough time for all the flash objects to be loaded, you might need to use method similar to document.ready (you could also handle the OnClientLoad client-side event of the rotator)to postpone the start of the scrolling items, until the flash objects are loaded.

Greetings,
Pero
the Telerik team