Creating the HTML

You can create the HTML using any HTML authoring tool that suits, or even a plain text editor such as Notepad.

However, we would strongly recommend you take a look at WebExpress from Microvision Development. WebExpress is a true WYSIWYG editor and is available from a number of sources, including the MicroVision home page at http://www.mvd.com

There are some simple rules you must follow to create the HTML to be used with InfoCourier.

• There is a limit on the size of an individual HTML page of around 32K vertical pixels, and if you exceed this size you will get a message and the display will truncate. The size of HTML file that will generate such a large page is dependent on the size and number of images, font size, general layout and the width of the viewers window. If you hit this limit you need to split larger pages into linked smaller ones (you probably wouldn't want to create such a monster page anyway).
• The compiler includes all .htm .png .gif .jpg, .bmp and .map files in the base directory and in all subdirectories, and also all files that do not have an extension.
  
  • It doesn't check that they are actually referenced, so if you are not careful you can end up including excess baggage that is never used, and bloating the size of your final .exe file. (Note that GIF files are translated to an alternative format before being included for licensing reasons).
  • Attempts to jump to HTML files without an extension may cause a "not found" message at design time, but should work fine in compiled executables. You need to test it.
• All references to compiled pages and graphics must be relative.
  
  • In general, absolute file links (not http:// - see next point) just won't do anything.
  • In an attempt to make this program more useable with some of the "site grabber" utilities that exist, InfoCourier will try to find what it thinks is the correct page or graphic if it exists inside the .exe. It does this by repeatedly stripping the high level path from the URL and seeing if such a page exists, until it finally gives up if it can't find one.
  • Links such as ../graphics/aaa.htm which attempt to refer to a directory off the parent directory won't work, and you will need to change your directory structure so that the graphics directory in this example was a subdirectory of the current directory.
• http:// and ftp:// and mailto: style references can be included and will cause the user's registered Web Browser (i.e. the program associated with the .htm extension) to be started and connected to the specified URL.
  
  • The user can also redefine his preferred Web Browser by using the File/Define Web Browser command. This can be useful if for example the user associates the .htm file extension with an HTML Editor rather than a Web Browser.
• Links to external files are supported. Just make the link target the name of the file you want (and any parameters in the case of executables), i.e. <A HREF="program.exe parameters">Run Program with Parameters</A> or <A HREF="textfile.txt">Display text file using associated program</A> .
  
  • Note that InfoCourier doesn't carry the program or external file with it- you will need to arrange for it to be in the right place relative to the InfoCourier distributable yourself.
  • InfoCourier uses the standard Windows search sequence when executing external programs, so you can easily run things like NotePad if you want.
• Forms are supported. See the Processing Forms topic for more information.
  
  • Bear in mind that the compiled .exe won't actually be running on a server, so what you can do with the results of forms is necessarily limited because of it, and some actions that would make sense on a real server just won't make sense in the context of a compiled .exe
• See the Supported HTML topic for details of the level of HTML support this version of InfoCourier provides.
  
  • We welcome suggestions for enhancements to InfoCourier, and have a policy of continual improvement. If however the functionality you desperately want is not included in the current version have a check at the InfoCourier home page at http:/www.smartcode.com to see if an updated version has been released. If it hasn't been included then we will accept your suggestion for inclusion in a future release, but we make no guarantees about if and when we will include it. Please be aware that unless you've got the best idea ever, we aren't going to be able to do something "tomorrow"! Try to think of an alternative approach that will enable you to express your ideas within the limitations of the current level of support.
• You can specify some additional features that wouldn't really make sense on a web hosted on a server, but that can be very useful in a self-contained web:-
  
  • Securing pages against unauthorized access.
  • Allowing all pages to be printed (for a manual, etc?)
  • Using in place of a Windows Help File.