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Run application or open file...

fh1805

By fh1805
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fh1805 Advanced Member

fh1805

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I'm working on a manually controlled sequence and, at one point in the sequence, I am using a Button object to do Run application or open file... The file in question is a Microsoft Word 97-2003 document (a .doc file). When I built the sequence and tried to preview it, this button remained inactive. It was only after I had done Create of the exe file and was running the exe file that the button became active. The Word document file is in the same folder as the PTE project file. The exe file is in that same folder. The Button was set to use just the filename (I was relying on the existing file association to launch Word).

Has it always been the case that Run application or open file.. works only in the exe file and not in a Preview? I feel sure that, in the past, I have successfully opened a file whilst only doing the Preview of the sequence.

regards,

Peter

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nobeefstu Advanced Member

nobeefstu

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Peter,

When I built the sequence and tried to preview it, this button remained inactive

PTE Preview will remember the original path of/to the file when done in the same build seession of PTE (even if you have manually edited out the filestring path location).

Once the .pte file has been saved, closed, and reopened in a new session ... PTE Preview no longer remembers the original file path location (file cache) in the reopened session. The inactive button response is due to the file cannot be located and opened by its filename only. The .pte file only documented and saved the edited filestring which now only contains the filename only.

*Actually the reopened session would logically look relative ... in this case senario it would be the Users Temp files when PTE builds it Preview.

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Conflow Advanced Member

Conflow

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Hi Peter,

Yes you are quite correct ~ in all previous versions from Pte4.12 to 4.49 I used the preview

extensively to test the functionality of the following:- Word Docs, WebLinks, External Exes'

and many more items such as bringing up "Live" Booking Forms for Airlines & Shipping etc.

All this before I created the final Show-Exe after which I burnt all to various CD's.

All such (external) items were put on the CD.Root-Directory and performed perfectly.

However I have not tested this in V6.0xx as it was surplus to my current work.

Hope this helps...

Brian (Conflow)

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fh1805 Advanced Member

fh1805

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Thanks for the input guys - but I'm simply getting more confused. I decided to try and re-create the problem by building a new sequence, stripped down to just the essentials. I created a test Word document file (called Testdoc.doc) and placed that in a folder. Then I created a test Audacity project (called Testaup.aup) in the same folder. I checked, via double-clicking on each of them, that they launched successfully. I then created a new project in PTE with just four slides: Black, Black plus Button1, Black plus Button2, Black. I set the Project Options to: Wait for a keypress..., Show mouse cursor always, Left button=Next, Right button=Previous, Transition effect=None (i.e. Quick changes). I saved this project and then re-launched PTE and customized the buttons as follows: Button1 to Run app=Testdoc.doc and Button2 to Run app=Testaup.aup. And then, without saving the PTE project did a Preview. Hey presto - it worked, no problems!

I then opened the other PTE project (the one that would not let me run apps in Preview mode) - and it still refuses to run them! So I have two PTE projects both built using the same features of PTE: one will run apps off buttons in Preview and the other will not.

I've opened both project files in Notepad and tiled the windows alongside each other and done a visual compare of the parts that I think should be very similar if not identical (except for path and file names) - and they ain't! There are commands present in one that are not present in the other. There are lines placed differently in one compared to the other. I think the next step is to upload the two pte files to the forum and ask Igor and team to have a look-see. At first glance to my untutored eye it appears as though PTE is not 100% consistent in the way it builds the project file.

Stu, do you have an alpha-code version of PTE Reporter yet that supports v6.5 of PTE? Ideally I'd like to let your baby take a shufti at these two projects but I realise that you may not yet have a version that is compliant with PTE v6.5

regards,

Peter

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fh1805 Advanced Member

fh1805

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For the attention of Igor and team:

The two project files in the attached zip file exhibit different behaviour on my system. In "Adding Voice-over v3.pte" the buttons on Slide #10 and Slide #20 (Slide names Slide10 and Slide22) do not function at all when Preview is used but do function correctly when I run the exe file that has been created from this project. In "TestRunApp.pte" the buttons on slides 2 and 3 work correctly in both Preview and in exe file.

In both cases, the project file was created using v6.5.1 of PTE, starting with a File...New... operation.

I cannot explain why they should behave differently - and that worries me. As you will see from my post above, I can observe differences in the two project files in sections where, apart from the path and file names, I would expect the code to be identical. This apparent inconsistency worries me. I'd welcome the opinion of yourself or one of your team.

regards,

Peter

TestRunApp.zip

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nobeefstu Advanced Member

nobeefstu

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Peter,

In "Adding Voice-over v3.pte" the buttons on Slide #10 and Slide #20 (Slide names Slide10 and Slide22) do not function at all when Preview is used but do function correctly when I run the exe file that has been created from this project

My tests of your Adding Voice-over v3.pte worked with PTE Preview just fine on XP-SP3. I was only able to test with a AVO-Storyboard-1.doc file supplement ... and not the V-Demo.aup because my newly built PC is only partially setup and formated for barebone operation at the moment.

My only simple suggestion at this time, is that you test with the "quotes" at the beginning and end of the filestring (in your case the filename) ... I know some systems are picky when the quotation marks are not used in particular filestring execution. Your use of dash marks without quotation marks may be the culprit. Remove the dashes within the current filename and/or add the "quotes" as a test.

Stu, do you have an alpha-code version of PTE Reporter yet that supports v6.5 of PTE? Ideally I'd like to let your baby take a shufti at these two projects but I realise that you may not yet have a version that is compliant with PTE v6.5

I lost time & momentum in updating PTE Reporter for v6.5 when my older P4 PC was having terminal issues. Since my new i5 PC is only partially operational ... I hope to complete its full setup within a week and then begin again work on PTE Reporter updated release

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fh1805 Advanced Member

fh1805

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Stu,

I don't see the value in adding quotes around the filename string or in removing any characters from that string. Everything works as it should when I run the exe file that I created from the project file; so my system can quite happily find and access these files. But when I use the Preview button within PTE on that self same project file, the buttons do not have any effect.

regards,

Peter

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nobeefstu Advanced Member

nobeefstu

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Peter,

I only suggest as a test to add/use the "quotes" in the named filestring. Actually, PTE by default automatically adds the "quotes" to the filestring when you browse/select for the external file.

I also suggest as a test to omit the dashes used within the filestring/filename because your other project file TestRunApp.pte worked correctly in PTE Preview when the filenames contained no dashes and no "quotes".

Another Test:

Replace your current single filename using the normal browse/select for external file. PTE will automatically add the full path and the "quotes" to the filestring to execute. Does this senario work correctly when executing the AVO-Storyboard-1.doc in PTE Preview ?

*My best resolve is that the "quotes" be maintained to insure proper execution for all case senarios.

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fh1805 Advanced Member

fh1805

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Stu,

OK. Tests done. Put name in quotes - still doesn't launch in Preview. Use short name (AVOTest.doc) - still doesn't launch in Preview. Note that the project was saved, PTE closed and re-launched before trying to use the button to do the Run app in Preview mode in both tests.

This is a very "hard" fault in that particular project file; and one that I cannot re-create in a new project that was built using the same techniques. Baffling!

regards,

Peter

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nobeefstu Advanced Member

nobeefstu

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Peter,

Very baffling ... since you cannot recreate the issue in a new project. I would assume that if your original uploaded file was damaged or corrupted in some manner it would also act impoper in my tests.

* I just noticed my tests were done with v6.5 and not the latest v6.5.1

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