Links to Microsoft Office and PDF files do not open

Article #: OUTW1017F  Product: Flare   Version: 2.x and Later

 

Summary:

Non-HTML files such as the Microsoft Office suite (.DOC .XLS .PPT) and Adobe PDF's (.PDF) do not open when compiled with Webhelp output.

Full Description:

After placing Non-HTML files into your project, and generating Webhelp output, the files such as Microsoft Office documents or Adobe PDF's will not open. When clicking on a link to these files, No action will be preformed, nor any error messages are given. This will occur if the WebHelp is on your local machine or webserver.

Solution:

This occurs because Mark of the Web has been enabled in your Webhelp target. Mark of the Web allows you do disable the ActiveX Warning when viewing webhelp locally on your system. Mark of the Web (MOTW) is a comment added to the HTML markup for a Web page. When users open the Web page from their local machine, Internet Explorer references this comment to determine the security zone in which it should run the page.

You will need to remove the Mark of the Web setting. Listed below are the steps:

  • In Project Organizer go your targets folder.
  • Select your Webhelp target.
  • On the Advanced tab uncheck the Insert Mark of the Web.
  • Save your changes and generate your help

Attribution:

Last updated:

November 12, 2007

Author:

Richard Ferrell