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Autorun CD Project Creator
Reviewed by Geetesh
Bajaj, updated March 9th 2004
...Continued from Page 1
ACDPC Add-in
Throwing Away Luggage
Newer Horizions
Trivia
Related Links
ACDPC Add-in
The same ACDPC application is also available as an add-in from
within PowerPoint. Unfortunately, you have to manually load the
add-in into PowerPoint. In my experiences using a wide range of
add-ins, its almost always taken for granted that an add-in will
be automatically initialized. However, one cannot ignore the advantage
of learning to control your add-ins independently - this control
is great for experienced users, but confusing for beginners. Also
envisage a situation where multiple versions of PowerPoint are
installed on the same system - in that case manual control over
add-in initialization can be a boon.
Once the add-in is initialized from within PowerPoint, the procedure
is rather the same as the standalone ACDPC. You're soon on your
way to autorun nirvana!
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Throwing Away Luggage
As with any solutions incorporating the PowerPoint Viewer, you
need to be aware that a small portion of your presentation will
not be identical to the original. This level of difference varies
with the version of PowerPoint you use:
If you're using PowerPoint 97, ACDPC produces an identical presentation.
If you're using PowerPoint 2000 - there's a slight difference
- although mainly cosmetic involving lack of facilities to display
animated GIFs, picture bullets, screen tips and Word style tables.
If you're using PowerPoint 2002, you're losing a great deal -
PowerPoint XP is a radically different upgrade than PowerPoint
2000 was to PowerPoint 97 - hopefully Microsoft will release a
PowerPoint 2002 Viewer - something which ACDPC can use to create
an autorun CD.
It's worth noting that all VBA (Visual Basic for Applications)
in all versions of PowerPoint (97, 2000 and 2002) is ignored by
ACDPC - the fault does not lie in ACDPC, but rather the viewer
technologies released by Microsoft. Although Microsoft has continuously
updated its core PowerPoint engine - the PowerPoint runtime engine
in the form of a Viewer is three generations old already!
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Newer Horizons
PowerPoint's newer horizons include PowerPoint 2002 with new transition,
animations and multiple masters. There's always hope that Microsoft
will some day issue a new version of the PowerPoint Viewer, geared
towards distribution of files with these new abilities.
I asked Sonia if ACDPC will work with a newer version of a possible
PowerPoint 2002 Viewer - her reply is enthusiastic:
"Should that change, I will ensure that we have early/pre-release
access to the Viewer and ACDPC will be fully compatible."
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Trivia
And now for some interesting trivia - did you know that the two
developers of ACDPC - Steve Hetrick and Sonia Coleman have never
met each other or even spoken on the telephone.
Steve lives in Florida and Sonia in California - their 14 month
friendship and partnership is truly Internet and e-mail based.
It is an excellent example of how two people can work together
very successfully toward mutual objectives with shared ethics,
values, and commitment to quality.
And before I forget - don't forget to visit Sonia's site at http://www.soniacoleman.com -
it's an absolute treasure trove of information for all PowerPoint
users.
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Related Links
For a complete rundown on the autorun concept, read these articles
at MSDN:
Creating
an AutoRun-Enabled CD-ROM Application
Creating
an AutoRun-Enabled Application
Autorun.inf
Commands
Enabling
and Disabling Autorun
Autorun
on the PocketPC
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