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It would be an amazing feat to have to address these capabilities-and and those that will be introduced tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day-in any given fixed function browser. In fact, it would be nearly impossible. Browsers are released in increments that cannot begin to keep up with the changing specifications, capabilities, and increasing volume on a given network. To address the ever-increasing capabilities on the network, browsers are being created that allow you to extend their functionality with enhancement modules. Netscape refers to these add-on modules as plug-ins, which has quickly become the standard industry term for this capability, regardless of the browser.
This capability is what keeps your time and energy investment in your browser from becoming invalid over time. Since you already know the browser, all you'll need to do is to understand the specific add-in's capability and you'll understand how to work with the content.
http://netserver1/mydocs/spec.doc
file:///netserver1/mydocs/spec.doc
In either case, you'll notice that the extension of the file, in this case "DOC," is specified, just as you would specify it if you were opening the file locally on your system. When your browser begins receiving the file, it examines the extension. As with other applications and data files on your system, if an application is associated with the extension, the application loads automatically. This may be anything from an in-place OLE server to a viewer such as the Word and Excel viewers discussed in the coming sections.
Keeping this in mind, you can quickly see that, as long as extensions and content remain tied together, for the browser's sake at least, there are nearly unending possibilities for the client-side functionality offered by the Web.
In the balance of this chapter, you'll see how to install and use just a few of the many different add-ins that are currently available for your network. I don't provide these as any type of end-all list, but only to show the types of things available. It's no exaggeration to say that more of these types of functional extensions are coming on the market every day and they're getting better and better.
With the viewers, you can view the content in its native file format by just clicking on the link that leads to the file on the server. For instance, when you click on the link that indicates that the SPEC.DOC document will be loaded, that's exactly what you get, and it looks just as it does in Word. The great thing about the viewers is that they're free and that they don't require that you have the full version of the respective products installed on your system.
 Don't be confused by the Viewers and Assistants. The Assistants help you create the content, in HTML, for your server. The result from these applications or utilities is a generic, non-application-specific HTML file that you can view on your Intranet or on the Internet. They create files that any browser client application can read. The viewers let you see content in its native, non-HTML format. A viewer makes it possible for you to leave your files (for example, Word files) in their native format and not convert them to HTML before posting them on your Intranet or the Internet. In some cases, this can be an advantage in formatting and appearance of the document. The best description I've heard about this is that HTML is not a document layout and formatting language-it's a markup and highlighting language. You can get around this limitation by showing documents and other objects in their native format, keeping layout improvements intact.
If you have a need to show document with graphics, columns, special custom formatting, or other non-HTML formatting, consider publishing the document object in its original format and providing the users with an appropriate viewer. |
You can provide viewers free of charge to users of your system. Keep in mind that, if you're relying on the viewer to provide the interface to the user, but the user is on a browser that does not support the add-in, the likely result will be that the file will be downloaded to the system. The users may have to manually load the application for the document.
In addition, objects created for viewers can be quite sizable. This is especially true in cases where the document or object contains graphics, special layout or other included objects. If this is the case, you may want to provide both. Give the user a choice and offer the document in HTML format, but also provide the document, possibly even compressed or "zipped", for download and/or online review. This way you give the users a choice and allow them to select how the material will appear.
In some cases, depending on the version and brand of Web browser you're using, the viewer can even be activated in-place. This means that it is activated in the actual Web browser window, and temporarily takes control of your Web browser, adding new menu and toolbar options. The Word viewer is one such viewer. Figure 13.1 shows what the viewer looks like as you display a document.
Figure 13.1 - The Word viewer even allows you to print the document, fully formatted, without going in to Word.
As with many of the viewers you can obtain, there is more than one version of the Word Viewer. There is a version for Word 6.x documents and a version for Office 95 (Word 7) documents. The differences between the two are subtle but important. In the Office 95 version, you can follow links to other documents or Web objects. Also, the user interface (shown in figure 5.1 above) for the Office 95 version is slightly different, offering a toolbar and the ability to edit the object by simply calling it up in Word if Word is installed on your system.
Be sure of two things when you obtain the viewer. First, make sure that it is the most recent version, and second, make sure that you're getting the correct version for the objects you're trying to view. |
In the Office 95 version, it asks you whether you want to use the viewer as your default viewer for documents. Figure 13.2 shows the dialog that you can use to select the viewer as your primary means of reviewing these types of documents.
Figure 13.2 - You should allow the viewer to be the default mechanism for reviewing your documents, since it's faster to load and presents no roadblocks to continuing on to edit an object that you're viewing.
If you allow the viewer to be the default application for working with these types of objects, any time you open an object with an extension of DOC or DOT, they will open in the viewer. It's worth a minute or two of consideration about whether you want to make the viewer the default browser. There are quite a number of benefits, and the drawbacks are minimal.
Of key interest is the fact that the viewer is smaller, and therefore faster to load, than the full-blown Word system. If you find yourself waiting on your system while Word loads, starts up any initial processes, loads templates, and then loads your document, the viewer may be just the answer. By setting the viewer to be the default viewer for that file type, you'll save this time waiting for Word to load. You can still edit a document by selecting the Edit button, which loads Word as usual and passes the object to Word just as if you had called up Word originally.
Once in the viewer, you have several options, including how you want to review the document on-screen. You can use page-layout, normal, or outline view. See Figure 13.1 for a look at the different controls on the User Interface. You can open additional documents, print the document, and format the page as you need it. The only thing missing is editing. You cannot make changes to the document. You can copy text to the Clipboard or to another document, making it possible to make some modifications and save them in a separate document.
You can also follow hyperlinks in the documents. If the author of the document inserted a hyperlink using the Internet Assistant for Word, you can simply click on the link and the viewer loads the appropriate item for you.
For more information about the Internet Assistants, see Chapter 12, "Using Microsoft Office Assistants to Create Web Content." 
If you set up the viewer as your default browser, and you later determine that you want to use Word as your default browser instead, you can re-install Office's default options by re-running the setup program from the Office distribution set. When you do, run the setup program with a /y parameter, indicating that you merely want the settings in the installation refreshed. This will effectively remove the viewer from the options to view content.
This also means that, if your browser encounters a DOC file, it loads Word instead of the viewer. You may have noticed that you can also set up file associations in the Internet Explorer that you can configure the Helper Applications and the applications they use. See Figure 13.3 for an example.
Figure 13.3 - You can control which applications your browser uses to view your content by setting up the file associations within Internet Explorer and other browsers.
Be advised, though, that if you do this, you'll be changing settings system-wide, at least in the case of Internet Explorer. The application uses the system Registry to determine what items to load. If you make changes here in Internet Explorer, they will be reflected in other places if you load the same type of object. For example, if you indicate that files with an extension of "DOC" should be loaded with the SNAFU.EXE application, this will hold true anytime you open a DOC file, whether it be from the Windows Explorer or from the Internet Explorer.
In some browsers, such as Netscape Navigator, this is less of an issue, as they maintain their own database of helper applications. In these cases, you may want to consider making the viewer your default for Internet content, and allow Word to be the viewer for other instances of these types of objects.
See the CD for the latest version of the template that you can install to help prevent Word-based viruses now and in the future.
One of the excellent side effects of the viewer applications is their inability to process macro commands from the incoming objects. This means that any virus or other problem materials that you may encounter are effectively neutralized, at least until they're opened in the native application.
As you can see in Figure 13.4, the Excel Viewer allows you the same look and feel of Excel, while still offering the read-only access to the file.
Figure 13.4 - The Excel viewer brings with it the familiar look and feel of a worksheet.
You'll notice that, if you load a worksheet that contains modules, the tabs appear along the bottom of the display, but they will be shown as standard worksheets with gridlines. As with the Word Viewer, Excel Viewer will not run code, so the modules are ignored. You'll be able to see any macro tabs you have, but, as with modules, there is no mechanism for running them.
Another facet of the Excel viewer is that you cannot see the formulas. This can be a blessing and a curse, depending on what you're distributing and what type of feedback you're soliciting. If you're only presenting numbers, and the method of obtaining the numbers is not relevant to or needed by the person using the worksheet, this is a great way to protect your worksheet. If, on the other hand, you find that you need to provide access to the formulas, the viewer may not be the answer for distributing your worksheet.
It's a good idea to select the default viewer to be the Excel Viewer. If, after an object loads, you find that it is something you want to work with, you can still do so by choosing to edit it. As with the other Office applications, if you do later decide to reverse this decision to use the viewer, you can do so by running the Office setup application with the /y switch on the command line.
You'll notice, too, that if you load a worksheet with outlining turned on and active, the viewer supports the display and manipulation of the outlined items. You can also use the data filtering with the AutoFilter option. It supports changing the panes and freezing them for viewing, as well as setting the column width and row height.
In short, it supports any manipulation of the look of the data, but not manipulation of the data itself.
The viewer enables you to view the presentations as standard PowerPoint presentations, rather than as pages created with the PowerPoint Assistant.
For more information about the PowerPoint Assistant for the Internet, please refer to Chapter 12, "Using Microsoft Office Assistants to Create Web Content."
In some cases, you may find that it's better to create HTML pages with the PowerPoint Assistant than it is to use the viewer to view native PowerPoint documents. If you create the pages with PowerPoint Assistant, they will display in any Web browser, and your users don't need to have either the viewer or PowerPoint. HTML pages also load faster than a PowerPoint presentation does. The downside is that the images you'll see on an HTML page might not be as high-quality as those in the original PowerPoint presentation, and you won't be able to provide some of the more exotic features of PowerPoint like transitions and sounds.
In the coming sections, you'll learn how to install and use the PowerPoint viewer and how you might apply it to your Intranet site.
Installing the viewer is as easy as running the self-extracting file, PPTVW32.EXE. The program prompts you to accept the license agreement for the software, and then installs to either the existing PowerPoint subdirectory or to a directory you select during the standardized installation process.
Once the viewer is installed, your browser uses it automatically when needed.
With other viewers, it's possible to indicate which viewer you'd like to use as your default content browser-either the complete application, like Microsoft Word for documents, or the newly installed viewer application. This is not the case with the PowerPoint viewer. If you have PowerPoint installed, the application (PowerPoint in this case) will remain the default choice for browsing content. If you want to use the PowerPoint viewer, you'll need to manually open it to review the content online. |
Figure 13.5 - You can set the viewer options for future presentations by starting the viewer (PPVIEW32.EXE) manually and then modifying the options presented.
Perhaps one of the most interesting options for viewing content online in this manner is the Run in a Window feature. Using this option, you can still view and advance the presentation, but it executes in a window, providing you with continuing access to your other applications, including the Web browser.
As an alternative, consider placing a standard first slide in all online presentations you provide. This slide should show how to move about in a presentation and how to exit the presentation, and provide other tips for using the viewer.
One final point is to make sure you name your presentation with standardized extensions. While it's certainly possible to modify file extensions and behaviors on your system, you don't have this same level of control over the people that may be browsing your content online. Name your PowerPoint objects with the PPT extension, your Excel worksheets with the XLS extension, and your Word documents with the standard DOC extension. This ensures the greatest compatibility on the different systems referencing your content.
If you're developing content that you want users who have the viewer to read, consider making the slides automatically advance. By doing so, you can make sure the user doesn't open the presentation and, being possibly unfamiliar with PowerPoint, get "stuck" on the first slide, not knowing how to advance the presentation.
For example, consider the Java language. Really brought to bear on the Web by Netscape, Java now sports an add-in for the Microsoft browser that makes it possible to work with Java content on the Microsoft software, even though it was not originally designed to support it.
Other examples include mail clients, other Web automation tools like VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) and many, many more. Be sure to check in with the Netscape and Microsoft sites frequently, <http://www.netscape.com> and <http://www.microsoft.com>, to make sure you know about all of the latest tools available.
You configure these types with the same type mapping as when you set up the Gopher server and its related content. You must set up the content type, the extension that it relates to, and the Gopher information type. Using this information, IIS can work more closely with the browser.
If you have a file that does not map directly to a MIME type, it is sent to the browser with the type associated with the asterisk (*) type. This typically causes the browser to respond by prompting the user to save the file to disk, unless the browser has the ability to recognize the file type locally and respond with the appropriate viewer.
With the Microsoft Internet Explorer, if you transfer a DOC file, for example, it automatically loads the appropriate application. This may be the viewer, Microsoft Word, or another application associated with that extension, and it loads when the file is finished transferring.
On the server, if you want to add mappings to the Registry, you need to do so with the Registry editor. The keys are located in the following Registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\
InetInfo\Parameters\MimeMap
The items in this key are the different MIME mappings. Each item has the same format, as noted above, that indicates the Gopher type that corresponds to the data type to be associated with the information being transferred.
Remember, you don't typically have to update these keys to allow the browser to correctly use the appropriate viewer. The only time you should modify these values is if you're implementing non-standard content extensions. |
The format of the entry is:
<description>,<extension>,<reserved>,<gopher type>
The entry, when you add the new value to the Registry Key, is of type string. To add a new value, first move to the correct location in the tree. You should have "MimeMap" highlighted in the left pane. Click on any value in the right pane and select Edit, Add Value from the menus. Figure 13.6 shows the dialog box that prompts you for the information for the key.
Figure 13.6 - File transfer formats help the browser determine how to display retrieved information.
You must enter all of the key value in the first prompt for Value Name. You must also choose a Data Type of REG_SZ, indicating a string. Once you've selected OK, it prompts you for a string value. You can leave this item blank, as it will not be interpreted when the key is retrieved. |
In Table 13.1, you can see some of the more frequently used MIME types. The type of file transfer used determines how the browser displays the content. For example, for the items in the table that have an asterisk, the browser examines the extension of the incoming object and compares it against the local copy of the Registry. If it finds a file association, the helper application loads to display the item.
| Commonly Used Gopher Mime Transfer Types | Description |
|---|---|
| 0 | Text file |
| 1 | Gopher directory listing |
| 4 | Binary/Hex Macintosh file |
| *5 | MS-DOS Binary file |
| 6 | UUencoded file |
| *9 | Binary file |
| g | Graphic Interchange File graphic (GIF) (will display as a picture in most graphical browsers) |
| h | HTML World Wide Web hypertext page. |
| : | Bitmap image |
| ; | Movie |
| < | Sound file |
I have covered these helpers in this appendix. The helper application takes the item transferred and displays it appropriately, or acts on it in a way that makes sense. Note that items that don't directly match the multitude of pre-defined mappings on the server will transfer with a type of 5, indicating a DOS Binary file. This allows the browser to step in and handle the items.
The VIEWER.HTM file, located in the root directory of the Web server's directory structure, contains a very simple page that maps the images, shown in Figure 13.7, to their appropriate locations on the server. By doing this with the standard menu of choices, the user becomes used to seeing the viewer options, and the site becomes a bit easier to understand, if only with respect to the viewers.
Figure 13.7 - Simple icons help users select the viewer they need.
In cases where PowerPoint shows are available, the users have the option of seeing the pages in their Web browser, from pages created with the PowerPoint Assistant, or they may choose to see the pages with the PowerPoint viewer or their copy of PowerPoint. This gives the users the flexibility to review the information in a manner that best suits their connection, their need for the information, and their access to appropriate tools. In actual use, it was apparent that people would rather use the Web version of the presentations until such time as they needed the actual presentation. The time to load the objects using the PowerPoint viewer remains a stumbling block to providing information in this manner, even in the case of an Intranet where data transfer speeds are higher.
By putting emphasis on enhanced content with the document and worksheet objects, it was possible to overcome the objection to load times. The objects meant for viewer use are still somewhat slower and so should justify the use of the viewer. If your content does not have additional formatting and graphics, and does not use special features not available in HTML, consider using the Internet Assistant to create an HTML version instead, so that the user can read it with a standard Web browser without the viewer enhancements.
You can reduce some of the load times significantly if you keep the object size that you're transferring small. This is especially true where you're allowing access only from an Intranet and do not have remote users. In these cases, if you can keep objects to less than 50k in size, you can provide a reasonable compromise between content, layout, and load time.
Copyright ©1996, Que Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without prior written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Making copies of any part of this book for any purpose other than your own personal use is a violation of United States copyright laws. For information, address Que Corporation, 201 West 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290.Notice: This material is from BackOffice Intranet Kit, ISBN: 0-7897-0848-5. The electronic version of this material has not been through the final proof reading stage that the book goes through before being published in printed form. Some errors may exist here that are corrected before the book is published. This material is provided "as is" without any warranty of any kind.