More Fun with HTML Help Files
Here we go again! In the last article I discussed the extensive changes that were required to make TrackPro compatible with Vista. Well, I rewrote and compiled the TrackPro help file using the de facto Micro$oft HTMLHelp format. It all tested well and looks pretty good too.
Then I started testing the network installation routine for TrackPro. Everything worked well for the server installation. Then I tried the client installation. TrackPro displays its help file on the first use of the application. The help window appeared on the first use of the application. The table of contents, index, and search tabs all worked perfectly! However, the help window displays the following error message:
This program cannot display the webpage
Most likely causes:
- You are not connected to the Internet.
- The website is encountering problems.
- There might be a typing error in the address.
What you can try:
- Check your Internet connection.
- Try visiting another website to make sure you are connected.
- Retype the address.
- Go back to the previous page.
At this point I was completely happy with this error. Why shouldn’t I have been? The utter irrelevancy of the suggested causes and fixes appealed to my to my surrealistic sense of humor. An online search turned up the a knowledge base article 896358 where I was delighted to find out:
- this behavior is by design
- the result of applying a critical security update and
- all I have to do is modify the registry so that the Help file will display as originally intended.
I find it interesting that by default Micro$oft thinks that HTMLHelp files should not be able to work on an internal network or intranet. Presumably, these environments are should be trusted. Under what circumstances wouldn’t they be trusted? I am glad that security is MS’s first priority but this is over the top.
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2008-05-17 1:14 pm , Leave a Reply
Al Weisenborn