Digital Workshop

I have run into a problem when using the 'Launch Web Page' action from a pub. The problem still occurs when when running the pub on different computers. This is the first project I have authored using Opus Pro XE 04. I'm using Opus Pro XE revision 4.50 but it was doing the same thing with the previous sevice pack.

Add a text object or image to a page. Assign a Left Mouse Click trigger, select "Launch Web Page" and enter an internet URL/domain name like this:

http://www.anydomain.com


When I preview the pub and click on the object, the default browser launches(Internet Explorer), goes directly to the domain and promptly loads the page as expected. The status bar at the bottom of the browser window displays "Opening page: www.anydomain.com".

After publishing, the same action launches the browser window but it apparently does not go directly to the page and the status bar at the bottom of the browser window now reads "Finding Site: www.anydomain.com". It seems like the browser may be searching the local machine for the page first and then goes to the web and begins searching for the domain there but I can't tell for sure. I am sure this action is taking an inordantly long time to find the requested URL.

I have read "Choosing the Correct URL Protocol" in Opus help and seem to have the URL entered correctly. I dug out and tested some pubs I created in Opus Pro 3 and they do not suffer from this problem.

Please help. My deadline is looming!

Thanks,
Keith Martin
Intramedia

Keith

I don't know if this will help but the attached file is a 2-page Opus 4.5 program (zipped source and exe). All I did was use a variable to the target web page and it worked like a dream in both test mode in Opus and in the stand-alone exe. Take a look for yourself. I built the Midnight II Nissan Skyline site to sell my son's car on eBay - I need the garage space!

Good luck.

Paul
Opus XE 04
AMD 2.5GHz CPU, 1 gig memory running Windows XP

It should read I used Opus Pro XE 04 to produce the program. The variable was a public variable used to hold the string "www.meriton.greatnow.com". Declare the variable. Under the image/textbox Left-click action use Set Variable to Expression action to set the variable to your default web address. Lastly, stick the variable after the http:// <Webpage> (like this) in the browser object webpage address box. Tick the automatically go to this address automatically and you are away.

Good luck

Paul

Paul,

Thanks for the tip but I need to launch the default browser rather than a browser object in a page. Since I'm using an internet URL protocol, http://www, it should go directly to the designated page; no searching. This has not been a problem in previous versions of Opus.

I tried your suggestion of using a variable to point directly to the URL when launching a web page in a default browser window but it reacts in the same way; the status bar at the bottom of the browser window reads "Finding Site: www.X.com" and then a long wait until it finds the page. The same page is found almost immediatly when previewing.

I'm beginning to wonder if for some reason the browser is searching for the page on the pub first and then goes to the internet. The Opus pub is over 150mb and includes about a dozen embedded mpeg1 video files when published so it would take a while to search it. That could explain the wait but not why it isn't just launching the browser and going directly to the web server at http://.www.X.com.

Thanks again for your help,
Keith

Keith

I had a go at replicating your problem with no joy. I followed your directions:

1. put text box on page
2. assign Left click
3. assign Launch Web Page and specify the address
4. Test program in Opus - works fine
5. Publish program and test again ----------- works fine!

If you are just launching the Internet Browser to go to the site and get a delay it may be that:

a) internet traffic is heavy
b) memory is low on your computer because either:
i. other programs are running
ii. the Opus program is loading you MPEGs and these are hogging
memory. Are you preloading these files? Try letting them load
on demand.
c) some other cause I can't think of!

Try just a single page with your text/image box on with the Left click and Launch Web Page assigned and publish it. Close all other running programs. If it works, then its in your Opus program. If it doesn't then its some other problem that will have to wait until DW gets back to work tomorrow.

Good luck

Paul
Good luck.

Paul,

I took your suggestion and tested a single page imported into a new pub and published it to a CD. The long delay in the 'launch web page' action was gone.

I then started importing other pages from the project and testing in the same way. So far, I've managed to narrow it down to embedded video. It appears that the problem occurs when I embed the dozen 30mb+/- mpeg1 files in the pub, play the publication on a WinXP based machine and attempt to launch a web page. The delay in finding web based pages does not occur if I uncheck 'enable video embedding' during publishing.

The problem does not seem to occur either way on my Win2000 based system so it may be somehow specific to WinXP. I will be doing more testing in the morning to narrow it down further.

BTW: We have a 3Mbit broadband connection. Launched Web Pages are found almost instantly except under the conditions mentioned above. The video files, by default, are not set to preload. All the machines mentioned have 1GB of ram installed and I'm running the published pub from CD so I doubt it could be related to Opus hogging ram memory.

Thanks for your help.

Keith

Keith

Glad to be of help. DW warns that embedding large amounts of video will slow even the best machines. In addition, I think IE shows the message 'Finding Site...' when it's actually finding somewhere to put it in memory! I've had this problem when running several programs at once (video, radio, etc) and sometimes only a machine restart will resolve it as this clears the memory. My machine had a gig of memory and broadband runs at 0.5 gig. Most of the time page download is instant, but sometimes the wait can be endless due to internet traffic. Around here this occurs mostly between 4-5pm when the kids get home from school. Anyway, I hope you meet your deadline more easily and good luck with your project.

Paul

After further testing, I can state with some certainty that this specific problem is not related to system or program ram use/allocation or network traffic problems. I realize that a pub will run faster without the video being embedded but this is a commercial publication and that would leave the video files unprotected. Embedded video is one of the main reasons I upgraded Opus Pro to Opus Pro XE. Fortunately, the publication itself, including the video, runs quite well on every machine tested so far; it's only the 'Launch Web Page' action the is causing a delay on some machines.

Back on the investigative trail:

All my WindowsXP based systems have the launch web page delay problem but my Windows 2000 system does not. If I don't embed the video or I remove it all together, my two XP systems no longer have the problem either.

Over the last three days, all the people I have given a beta version CD with the video embedded have windows XP based computers that launch the browser window, promptly find the site and load it as expected; no problem!

This news led me back to my two XP computers and the obvious difference is that I have Norton Internet Security installed on them and the other machines tested do not. The delay in finding and loading web pages only occurs from a URL launched from within the pub. Even after creating a new firewall rule allowing the specific CD publication's executable program unrestricted outgoing access, the problem persists. It may be that Norton personal firewall/antivirus is scanning the CD for malicious content before loading the web page but it makes no difference when I disable either or both of these programs. I'm hesitant to uninstall them as a test option but it may come to that if I want to know for certain if they are creating the delay.

Since there are plenty of computers out there using Norton or some other 3rd party firewall software, I need to find a work around that allows me to solve the problem while maintaining the security of the video files. I'm currently considering dividing the the project into two interconnected pubs; one contains the pages with 'Launch Web Page' actions and the other has the instructional pages that contain the embedded video. I'll test this idea today and post the results here. Please feel free to offer any suggestions along these lines that come to mind.

Best,
Keith

When you said that you tried disabling Norton, I've found that in order to truly disable it I have to uncheck the 7 Norton apps in the system startup and reboot (selective startup). Remember what you take out so that you can check them again to bring them back...

hth

Melanie

Have you tried putting your URL in a luanch file action to see if this makes any difference to the speed?