Eolas Technologies and Microsoft
Please note that as of ToolBook 9.0+ you should not
need this tool.
Just when you thought it was safe to pick up the tech support phone...
Ouch :-( Microsoft, having lost a patent dispute with Eolas, has
modified launching ActiveX controls through Internet Explorer to require
a click for embedded content such as Flash, or Media like vector
graphics. Big deal...what does this mean to you???
Here is what it means...if your exported ToolBook project requires
Active X controls such as Flash or perhaps draw objects that you have
set to export as vector graphics, when your users mouse over the item in
Internet Explorer they will get this tool tip message:
"Click to activate and use this control".
Or perhaps:
"Press ok to continue loading the content of this page".
Damn, that's annoying your user is thinking!
So, what is going on anyway? Basically, Microsoft lost a patent dispute
with Eolas (a software company), regarding embedding media in webpages.
So, the way that Active X Controls used to be processed by Internet
Explorer no longer can work the way that they did. When you or your end
users update their computers with the latest MS updates, this change
will be updated on your computer and your end users will be required to
click for any interaction with embedded media. Wow! We are supposed to
be encouraging our users to take our training - not discouraging them
from it!
So...What can you do?
One alternative is to disable this feature by applying the Compatibility
Patch for Internet Explorer for Windows XP Service Pack 2. This patch
reverts the IE Active X update behavior contained in the April 2006
Security update.
SumTotal Systems is working on a patch to address this issue and it
should be available soon. However, this patch will require you to
re-export all of your ToolBook projects. Not a problem with only one or
two books, but a nightmare with 20 or 30 books! But, never fear...
Download and install my Eliminate the Click to Activate FreeBee. This
FreeBee will fix this annoying problem for all of your existing ToolBook
projects! AND...best of all...you will not have to re-export your books
because this fix gets applied AFTER you have finished your export. Click
here for more information.
How Does the FreeBee Work During
Development?
After downloading the tool and assuming you use the default install
folder it will be in your "C:\Program
Files\NirvanaBound\FreeBee\FixEolas" folder and in
here you will see FixEOLAS89.tbk book. You
can run this tool directly off you hard drive or as
a Developer's Exchange tool through the Developer's
Exchange System in ToolBook. Note that the tool is not available
in the "Remote Developer's
Exchange Tools", you need to
select "Import tool" in the "Local Tools" tab of the "Developer's
Exchange" dialog. After an export you would launched
the tool via Developer's Exchange system.
If you have a number of books that do not need to be re-exported then you
can launch the tool directly off you hard drive, when the tool is opened
in this way you will be able to select an export folder. The folder
needs to be the "ie5" folder within the export folder, in this mode you
may select a new ie5 folder allowing to update all of your previously
exported books. Note that the tool will only fix pages that have an
ActiveX control, so you may find that no pages (html files) will be fixed
- this is OK:-)
Btw if you need help running this Developer's Exchange Tools locally, click
here for the SumTotal Knowledge Base Article that explains what you need to do.
FreeBee Features
-
Automatically updates all HTML
pages in your ie5 export folder.
-
No need to re-export all of your books
-
Have
instant access to the tool through your local Developers Exchange Tools.
FreeBee Details
Developed for ToolBook 2004 SP2+ (8.9)
Get FreeBee
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