A

Anonymous

Question

Links to exe and back to menu builder not working

Forum|Forum|18 years ago
September 17, 2007
6 replies
1162 views

I have read through all of the messages in the Forum and have seen similar questions on this topic but no actual answers for this precise situation. I apologize if I've just missed it. I'm fairly new to Captivate and am using version 2. I am building a project that will have 15 - 20 standalone .exe files.
This client is one of of the very few that does not have Flash Player and will not due to security reasons. We will publish and play from a DVD/CD.

The problem -
I need to have a course menu to link to each exe and then link back from each exe to the main menu.

I have built a sample menu builder and exported it as an exe. The links to the other files from this main menu work; however, I cannot get the links in the separate exe files to access the main menu exe (i.e. menu builder file). I either get a blank browser window or other url window, or nothing happens and the screen just stays there. The same thing will happen if I'm using the menu in the skins feature.
I have ensured that all my files are in the same folder. I have variations on the link, such as "relative" links as suggested (i.e., removing path information and including only the file name).

I'm not sure Captivate Player will help because it sounds like that is more for Web applications.

Please help!
Thanks
lahkab

This topic has been closed for replies.

J

jbradley88

Participating Frequently

Interesting. I wonder why IE would open when linking to a .exe file?

There's definitely something afoot...

If publishing to .EXE is a requirement, one product I've used in the past is Multidmedia Zinc (www.multidmedia.com). It's a SWF to EXE converter that we've used with good results. Unfortunately, I don't know if/how it would allow you to link between .exe files, so it may be a dead end.

With .EXEs, there's something else to consider. All the .exe compilers (Adobe, Multidmedia and others) actually work by temporarily installing a version of the Flash Player when the project is launched. This might not work in a tightly-controlled PC environment where users don't have Administrator rights on the PC.

Since it sounds like the target PCs are pretty locked down, you might want to test launching a single Captivate .EXE file in the target environment before continuing the hassle of tracking down the linking problem.

A

Anonymous

Hi jbradley88

Thanks for your comments. Something does seem to be strange, but I can use dchilder's suggestion for menu builder and will go for that for now.

BTW, the client has tested an example executable in the environment and it does work. My quest was for a structure that would have the individual exes available to the user Plus a menu to link to each exe. All running on the DVD. MB will give it to me with dchilder's solution. I thought the skins menu might provide a more useful solution because learners could access the main menu from every exe without having to close the current file.
But menu builder it is unless I later find something. The project must move forward.

Thanks for your help too.

Captiv8r

Legend

Hi lahkab

I do know of a way you may reasonably link from a Captivate .EXE back to a MenuBuilder .EXE if that is your intent. It's a bit involved, but if you are interested, post back and I'll be happy to provide the outline of what you need to do to make it happen.

It also seems to work in Firefox (IE gives an odd behavior) if you are using .SWF format.

Cheers... Rick

D

dchilder

Inspiring

Hi lahkab,

One last suggestion. Since the MenuBuilder EXE option isn't working and you seem desperate for an option - mainly since you need the project files published with .exe, perhaps you could just export an html file from Menu Builder (or create your own). The drawback for this is that there will be one or two dialog boxes before loading the files, but it should work for you off the DVD.

Good luck,

David

A

Anonymous

Hi dchilder
I guess my comments about the Menu in Skins Editor was a little misleading.

I did get MB to work just by closing the exe files at the end of the project as you suggested. I was trying to also use the menu in the skins editor if possible -- but doesn't seem to be.

So, for now I will go with the MB suggestions.

Thanks much.

D

dchilder

Inspiring

Hi jbradley,

I too had read this and gave this a try before I posted. This approach does seem to work if you publish to SWF (though as I mentioned above, it requires you to have both the .htm and .swf file in the relevant directory to work). However, it didn't seem to work for me when I had published the project to an executable file (didn't work at all in that case. Like I said though, I didn't try all of the different variations of how to open the file (Current, New, Parent, or Top)... just too lazy :). If you know otherwise, please let us know - maybe I missed a step or option or something.

Thanks,

David

A

Anonymous

To cchilder and Jbradley:

Thanks for both your answers concerning the Menu on Skins; unfortunately, nothing seems to work in regard to linking to exe files. I have tried both of the following using Captivate 2 and the trial version of Captivate 3 (hoping this had been fixed):

- Linking to the original cp file
- Creating relative links with different names (e.g., file name only-no path; file name and path; file name preceded by back slash; file name preceded by forward slash; file name preceded by ./). Depending on what I did there would be different outcomes (e.g., nothing, going to blank IE browser; IE displays message saying xxxx.exe file did not match.)

Anyway, so far I have not found a way to make the skins menu work with executables even though it says in the dialog box includes this note: "Indicate the swf/exe file to open" leaving one to believe it should work.

If anyone has other suggestions, I'd appreciate it. Without that working 3 doesn't hold much value.

I've also checked out a few other programs mentioned in other thread (e.g., CDAutomenu), but my project requires everything be executable from a CD/DVD. The PCs do not and cannot have Flash Player.

Thanks for your help!

D

dchilder

Inspiring

Hi lahkab,

I don't have an answer for you - I don't think it works either, though I didn't try all of the possible variations. When you link to a project, it looks for the project .htm file. If you link to an EXE file, it fails. You can link to a project .htm file or .swf file directly though from that menu option.

Good luck,

David

J

jbradley88

Participating Frequently

If you're linking to a file that is published from another Captivate project, try linking to the original .cp project.

From what I've read in these forums, that's just how Captivate works. You point it to the original project and it just somehow knows to point to the "published" version.

It seems like magic, but would make sense if Captivate is smart enough to read the publish settings of the other project and pull the "published" name from that other project when you publish your first project.

That said, I'm going with 'magic'...

D

dchilder

Inspiring

Hi Lahkab,

Although I'm doing something similar, I do it from a flash drive rather than a CD - though this solution should work the same for you.

Instead of linking back to the menu builder file, instead change your other project properties so that when you complete the project, it closes. This will then close that file and automatically take you back to the menu builder .exe file.

Let me know if you need help doing this. When we download these from the Web, the first time we run the files we get a dialog prompt asking if we want to run them - but we can select an option not to see the message again. I'm not sure if it would do this on a CD or not.

dlmtundra - If you're using a .exe file for the menu builder, is there a reason you are linking to .swf files rather than exporting them as .exe files too? Either way, you should be able to follow the same recommendation as above, but if you link to the .swf file (rather than the published .htm file) you'll probably get a dialog prompt asking if you really want to close the window.

Good luck,

David

A

Anonymous

Dchilder
Thank you for your suggestion. It did indeed work. Yea!

While I was trying to work that out, I was alternately looking at the Menu available on the Skins option. Can you - or anyone - explain why links to executables will not work? I've tried multiple naming conventions (e.g., again the relative links), but typically I get a blank explorer browser or it does nothing).

Thanks for your help.
LAHKAB

A

Anonymous

Hello, lahkab.

I am experiencing the same problems. I am trying to build a standalone menubuilder .exe with links to other .swf files.

I keep getting an error message saying '$ is not a valid integer' and another blank window pops up, even though I've set the MB to open links in the same window...

HELP?!?!?!

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